Tamale Interchange 80% complete, says Urban Roads

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo inspected ongoing work on the two-tier Tamale Interchange on Saturday 7 August 2021, during a two-day tour of the Northern Region.

According to the director of the Department of Urban Roads, Alhaji Abass Awolu, who guided President Akufo-Addo during a tour of the project, the Tamale Interchange – whose total length consists of one kilometre of bridges and ramps and five kilometres of ancillary roadworks – is 80% complete.

The interchange, the director of Urban Roads said, has 19 spans, of which 13 have been completed. So have all the ramps, and work is taking place on the six outstanding spans.

The completion of the six spans is expected in the next three months, with ancillary works – mainly asphalting, street lighting and road safety works – to be complete by the end of 2021.

Assuring the president the project will be complete before the end of the year, Alhaji Awolu noted that the contractor, M/S Sinohydro, is using two teams to undertake the works.

One team is working from the Dakpema’s Palace section, and the other gang working from the Bolgatanga road section.

The Tamale Interchange is an integral part of comprehensive measures put in place by the Akufo-Addo government to address congestion in urban centres, and to help improve travel times on major arterial roads.

Other interchanges being constructed include the PTC Roundabout Interchange in Takoradi, the Nungua Interchange which is part of the La Beach Road Completion Project, the Adjringanor Overpass, where ongoing works will be completed by the first quarter of 2022, and phase II of the Tema Motorway Interchange.

The Tema Steelworks Road, the only concrete road to be built by government since the Accra-Tema Motorway, has also been completed. Other, similar works are being undertaken within the Tema Industrial Enclave.

The Legon/Adjringanor roads, aimed at improving travel times within that corridor, are 52% complete; the Kumasi Roads and Drainage Extension Project, which includes  dualisation of the Lake Road and lining of the Sissai River Drain in Kumasi, is 75% complete; and the Teshie Link Road, popularly referred to as the LEKMA Road, is 90% complete.

Tamale asphaltic overlay

Akufo-Addo also inspected ongoing work on asphaltic overlays on sections of the road network in Tamale, in the Northern Region.

The contract, being undertaken by M/S Queiroz Galvao Konstruktion, will lead to the construction of 100 kilometres of road in the Northern, North East and Savannah Regions. Work commenced in March 2021 and is expected to be complete by September 2022.

Eighteen out of the 40 kilometres of road network in the Tamale metropolis has had the benefit of the overlays of asphalt, with work on the remaining 22 kilometres under way. Fifteen kilometres of town roads in Yendi will also have asphalt overlaid on them.

Tamale-Daboya road

President Akufo-Addo also inspected work on upgrading the 30.2-kilometre Tamale-Daboya road, specifically the section between Tali and Daboya, from a gravel surface to a bituminous surface treated road.

The improvements include earthworks to embank the road in low-lying areas, construction of drainage structures to ensure that the road is drained effectively and, therefore, does not fail prematurely, paving and surfacing works.

The contract for implementation of the works was awarded to Messrs Maripoma Enterprise Ltd, at a cost of GHC119,657,337.41. The schedule for completing the project is 36 calendar months from now. The works commenced on 16 November 2020 and should be complete by 16 November 2023.

Multiplier effects

When completed, the project will allow significant reductions in vehicle operating costs, travel time and accidents. The project, together with the upcoming Daboya Bridge project, will shrink travel time between major towns in the Savannah and Northern Regions.

It will also improve access to socio-economic facilities such as markets, schools and clinics, which invariably will translate into a higher standard of living for people residing in communities along the project corridor.

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