Safety enhancement works begin on N1 Lapaz intersection

• Posted on September 17, 2018
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) says it will begin road safety enhancement works at the Lapaz Intersection on the George Walker Bush (N1) Highway today.

The project, which was inaugurated in July this year, is to reduce the high rate of pedestrian deaths at the intersection.

The enhancement works are expected to be completed within 68 working days, after which pedestrian lives are expected to be safeguarded. 

The Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), the Department of Urban Roads (DUR) and the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), under their Partnership for Healthy Cities programme, are supporting the project.

Project to enhance pedestrian safety

In an interview with the Head of Public Affairs at the AMA, Mr Gilbert Nii Ankrah, said there would be no blockades on the N1 highway.

However, he said, there would be minimal interruption of vehicular movement.

“All road users commuting through the Lapaz intersection on the N1 Highway and immediate surroundings should bear with the authorities for any inconvenience this may cause,” he said.

He added that the move was to enhance pedestrian safety, while improving safety of other commuters at the intersection.

Mr Ankrah said works at the intersection would include increasing the pedestrian signal timing, lowering of kerbs at places where pedestrians cross, re-marking pedestrian crossings and other pavement markings.

Works will also include the narrowing of lane widths, widening the median refuge and replacing damaged signals and crash barriers.

Pedestrian data

The Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, at the inauguration stated that a data collection exercise conducted by the AMA-BIGRS team showed that there were about 203,661 pedestrian activities at the intersection.

“Data collected by the AMA-BIGRS teams suggest that at least 11,130 pedestrians are counted every hour at the intersection,” he added.