[ 2016-02-08 ]

Motorway expansion project begins in March
Roads Minister Inusah Fuseini has said that works
on the Accra-Tema motorway expansion will begin in
March this year, by which time feasibility studies
to establish the project’s viability will have
been completed.

He explained that the feasibility studies are
already underway and will give the project backers
an understanding of the entire cost for the road,
which is expected to be executed on a
public-private partnership model.

“We will give the private partners a concession
over a period of time to amortise whatever
investment they do on the road. Until they know
how much money will go into constructing the road,
we are unable to give a concession because it will
require some negotiation; and so they are there
doing feasibility studies now

“If you go to the motorway right now, you will
see some people doing surveys to determine the
structural integrity of the road and the soil
conditions underground. They have started work,”
he told B&FT.

The Accra-Tema motorway is a 19km 2-lane
dual-carriageway with cement-concrete surfacing,
and 2m bituminous surface dressed shoulders. The
motorway forms an integral part of the National
Route 1(N1) starting from Aflao (in the Volta
Region) and ending at Elubo (in the Western
Region). It is also part of the Trans West African
Highway (Abidjan-Lagos Corridor), linking the city
of Accra, the Kotoka International Airport and
Tema Port.

The weighted Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT)
volume recorded in 2008 on the road was 65,200
vehicles per day (vpd), which comprised 16%
vehicles in the medium and heavy groups.

Out of the 65,200 vpd, about 20,000 vpd are local
traffic commuting in and out of the abattoir
residential enclave through an unapproved route to
join the motorway. This is due to the fact that
the approved route for these commuters experiences
congestion at daily peak hours.

The condition of the road is generally fair, with
deplorable sections in the outer lane of the
Tema-Accra direction. The project design
comprises: replacement of existing 150mm
reinforced concrete slabs with 200mm ones;
provision of 2-lane service roads at both sides of
the motorway with Asphaltic Concrete surfacing;
provision of 200 – 300mm crushed rock base on
the service roads; provision of 200 – 300mm
natural gravel sub-base on the service roads.

Mr. Inusah Fuseini added that Meridian Port
Services (MPS) is the company behind the expansion
project; “The Company has decided to source
funding to ensure that construction of the
motorway is added to the port expansion on the
PPP”.

Meridian Port Services (MPS), one of the top
container terminal operators in Africa and the
Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) signed a
deed for commencement of work on the US$1.5billion
Tema Port expansion project in June last year.

MPS is a partnership between GPHA and the Joint
Venture of APM Terminals and Bolloré Africa
Logistics, as principal investors and leading
container terminal operators in the world.

It is projected to be completed in four years and
will make Ghana a maritime hub and the most
efficient one-stop port services centre in the
region and the rest of Africa.

The project, to be funded by MPS, also has a road
component that will see the Accra-Tema motorway
expanded into six lanes in each direction to
facilitate easy access to the port.

Besides increasing the throughput capacity of Tema
Port to adequately handle the country’s trade
growth, the MPS-financed investment will generate
massive added value to the country during and
after the construction phase.

It is expected to create close to 5,000 jobs for
skilled professionals as well as unskilled labour,
besides taxes and social security contributions.

Source - B&FT

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