Madina-Adenta Footbridges Turn ‘White Elephants’; Pedestrians Abandon Them And Prefer To Cross Busy Highway | General News

Footbridges con­structed along the Madi­na-Adentan highway in Ac­cra to promote road safety are not being used by many pedestrians.

The bridges completed in 2019 have become ‘white elephants’ as pedestrians continue to cross the busy highway directly, disregarding road safety regulations.

During a visit to the area last Friday, the Ghanaian Times observed that both young and old pedestri­ans were risking their lives while crossing the road.

Some sections of fencing in­stalled to prevent direct road cross­ings had been cut through, allowing pedestrians to cross immediately after alighting from vehicles.

The bridges have also become havens for substance abusers while some pedestrians had turned the bridges into refuse dumps and a place of convenience.

The disregard for the footbridges comes about five years after they were completed following agitation from pedestrians who called on the government to build footbridges in order to reduce the number of persons who die from crossing the highway.

This was after a 22-year-old student of the West Africa Senior High School in Adentan was killed by a speeding taxi while crossing the highway in front of her school.

Residents interviewed by the Ghanaian Times assigned various reasons for not using the bridges.

Irene Dadzie, a trader, cited the length of the bridges as an excuse.

She said “Using the roads takes less time. I also avoid the bridges at night due to fears of being attacked or robbed by the people hanging around there.”

Akua Morrison, a student, said it was faster to cross the road directly especially when she is carrying load.

She said she was usually careful when crossing the road.

However, Ama Dansua, a plan­tain chips seller, said despite the length, she uses the bridges “for my own protection”.

Some drivers expressed serious concerns about the situation.

Mr Kweku Agyeman noted that “We have to be extra careful to avoid hitting pedestrians crossing the roads. It’s very dangerous.”

The Adentan Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Ebenezer Doku, told the Ghanaian Times that the Assem­bly was aware of the situation and was embarking on public education towards attitudinal change.

He said the Assembly would get more taskforce personnel to boost the manpower to ensure safer roads and collaborate with the Police Service to prevent attacks from re­calcitrant pedestrians on their men.

The Greater Accra Regional Di­rector of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Ms Catherine Hamilton, said the Authority was aware of the worrying trend at the area.

She said officials from the NRSA collaborated with the Police Service and the District Assembly to arrest recalcitrant pedestrians to deter others but the sustainability of that strategy is a problem.

She said despite public aware­ness campaigns some commuters have refused, while others verbally assault the personnel.

Ms Hamilton advised the pedes­trians to use the footbridges to save lives.