Pedestrians and traders at the Mallam Market in Accra yesterday heaved a sigh of relief following the opening of a footbridge over a portion of the Odorkor-Kasoa Highway near the market to reduce road accidents and ensure the free and safe movement of people.
The disability-friendly footbridge is part of a national turnkey project to construct four footbridges at selected locations by the end of January 2016, all at a cost of 76 million euros.
The three remaining bridges are located at Tetteh Quarshie and Shiashie, both in Accra, and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Junction in Kumasi. Funding for the four footbridges is being provided by the Austrian and the Ghanaian governments.
The 46-metre Mallam Market footbridge will help commuters to cross the six-lane Odorkor-Kasoa dual carriageway safely. Work on the bridge was started in April this year.
Reaction
The traders and pedestrians could not hide their sentiments when the Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, inaugurated the footbridge Wednesday.
The Mallam Market Queen, Ms Elizabeth Naa Lamley Lamptey, said before the construction of the footbridge, traders found it difficult to carry their wares across the road to the market due to speeding by drivers plying the highway.
She recounted instances when traders and other commuters had been knocked down and some killed as they tried to cross the road.
“The completion of the bridge is a big relief for us. We can now go across the road safely to ply our trade and undertake other activities,” she said.
Objective
Inaugurating the footbridge, Alhaji Fuseini appealed to traders, pedestrians and commuters along the Mallam Market stretch of the Odorkor-Kasoa Highway to make use of the facility to help reduce the number of road accidents on that part of the road to the barest minimum.
He said the government was determined to safeguard the lives of all road users and, therefore, would continue to provide safety measures nationwide.
Alhaji Fuseini expressed worry over the number of pedestrians who had been knocked down by vehicles and killed in their attempt to cross various highways.
That, he said, had informed government’s decision to construct footbridges at selected locations.
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