Damaged footbridge on N1 highway poses danger to commuters

A footbridge on the George Walker Bush highway, close to the Menzgold office at Dzorwulu is in a deplorable state, posing danger to commuters who use the bridge and ply the road.

The footbridge has developed cracks and shifted from its original position after it was hit by a heavy duty truck last Thursday, January 10.



Read full articleCommuters, giving a grim forecast of the nature of the footbridge said from afar, the bridge looks perfectly fine but closer observation reveals the rugged nature of the footpath on the bridge as well as some displacement of bolts and main joints of the footbridge.

Some areas on the deck of the bridge have also been chipped off as a result of what they described as “the continual chipping off by overloaded long vehicles plying the highway”.

An eyewitness account revealed that on Thursday, January 10 a speeding long vehicle loaded with an excavator ran into the footbridge causing further deterioration of the bridge.

According to him, several bolts joining some parts of the bridge had been displaced and the “bridge has been slightly skewed”.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Highway Authority has stated plans are underway for work to begin on the damaged footbridge.

Assuring Ghanaians that the damage caused to the footbridge poses no risk to public safety; it announced plans to fix it soon.

“The Ghana Highway Authority wants to assure the general public that, plans have been completed for the repair of the deck. A contractor is presently mobilizing to execute the repair works which are expected to be completed in 3 days”, the statement indicated.

About 60% of road crashes on major national highways in Accra were recorded on the N1 highway. This is according to the first AMA Road Safety Report, analyzing data from 2011 to 2015.