The abandoned Kwafokrom-Apedwa portion of the Accra-Kumasi Highway, which is now being dualized, has finally been opened to traffic on Wednesday, December 22, 2021.
The 31.7-kilometer road will be available for two weeks to relieve traffic congestion on the highway during the holiday season.
Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Atta on Wednesday accompanied by the Ghana Highway Engineers and contractors stormed the Kwafokrom Junction to officially open the road.
The Minister after inspecting the works done on the road also cautioned the drivers to drive carefully to ease accidents on the road.
The contractors had so far completed more than 70 percent of the work, targeting completion of the entire project by March next year.
The Ghana Highway Authority had also earmarked eight separate footbridges at the various towns along the road to guarantee the safety of residents in those areas.
The 32 dual carriage road project was started by the then Former President John Agyekum Kufour in August 2008 but was abandoned by the NDC administration throughout the 8 years term in office.
The project, however, suffered a long period of suspension but works eventually resumed in June 2017 on the southbound carriageway including the Suhum Flyover after negotiations with the Chinese contractor, China Water and Electric Corporation (CWE), and payment of $20 million and GHC40 million of their outstanding arrears.
The work on the Kwafokrom-Apedwa project, which commenced in October 2018, was scheduled to be completed in 24 months by the China International Water and Electric Corporation.
The Government has targeted to build 11,000 km of road between now and 2024, out of which 6,000 km are expected to be fully completed by that time.
Regular payments were made to the company since 2017 to ensure that the contractor stays to complete the outstanding works.
The works for the northern bound carriageway, including 8 footbridges along the corridor were repackaged and awarded to CWE for completion in April 2021.
BY Daniel Bampoe