The ‘New’ Spintex Road; A Chance To Get It Right!

I’m buoyed by the positive responses I received from readers and contributors to Ghanaweb and readers of Ghanaian newspapers in reaction to my article “Spintex Road agonies; Is there an end in sight?” I’m also gladdened by the quite remarkable coincidence that the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) have since that write-up gone to lengths to delineate the limits of the new “Spintex Road”. Thus emboldened, I’m spurred into making suggestions with regard to how the new road should look and function.

The new Spintex Road presents a great opportunity for The Department of Urban Roads, the AMA, the Town Planning Department (TPD) and all other agencies that may be involved in the execution of the road to ‘get it right’ and build us a road ‘that works’.

A road that works must in my lay opinion be unlike the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange; constructed at great cost, but portions of which are utterly dys-functional. Those involved in this project must ensure that on completion, traffic flows on the road and there are no bottlenecks at various points of the road which mean that whilst we have a new, nice looking, pothole free route, the traffic is the same. We shouldn’t hear; as an engineer who worked on the design of Tetteh-Quarshie lamented; “we had cash constraints”. Government must find the cash to build this road and make it function as it should. This road should take us into the future. Those involved in its design and construction should be able to boast to their grandchildren that they were part of it!

Roundabouts do not work well/or at all in heavy traffic areas. If there are any roundabouts/circles in the design being contemplated, I humbly urge a re-think. Reason? Tetteh Quarshie, Kwame Nkrumah and Danquah Circles! A frustrated Korean visitor wondered why we had so few cars in Accra and yet so much traffic. He put it down to our many “rotaries” (roundabouts) and wondered why we couldn’t build simple interchanges in their place. He grumbled that Accra’s traffic and the traffic at the Tema motorway roundabout traffic was due to these “rotaries”. I had to agree. Can the proposed design be displayed to the general public and bodies like the Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE), The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), the Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA) and other professional ‘clubs’ with relevant knowledge in these matters invited to look critically at the design and submit their input for alterations, modifications etc?

The road will work if it is safe. Whilst we have some “nice looking” new roads in Accra, some are manifestly unsafe; death traps waiting to be triggered. I am nervous every time I am on some of these roads. Examples are the rather sharp bend in the Olesugun Obasanjo Highway from 37 Roundabout towards the BNI Office, where a three-lane stretch morphs into a a two-lane right in the bend right without any warning. The other is the bit in front of CAL Bank on the Independence Avenue. I’m always unsettled when driving on those portions of road. And I’m no rookie!

The road will work if buildings along it comply strictly with building regulations and modern industry trends and practices. Buildings that house shops, banks and fast food restaurants lead to increased human and vehicular traffic. They must be set back a considerable distance from the road to ensure that cars do not back up into the road and hold traffic up. Our town planners and city authorities have been presented with a great chance to rigidly enforce their rules. The erroneous notion that every new building is “development” must be discarded. The current trend where buildings spring up without permits must be banished. Construction must be done to precision. Permits must be refused for buildings which do not meet the NEW standard the AMA, Department of Town Planning etc must now set themselves. The hideous ‘developments’ that dot the Spintex Road must not be allowed to flourish. We must be ‘elitist’ and ‘modernist’ in our outlook or we’ll never meet the standards set by Malaysia and Singapore our leaders are always gaping at.

Building designs, especially those for shops, banks and restaurant must be modern, classy, well built, and up-market. If they fail to meet these criteria they should be rejected. AMA must ensure that buildings conform to the designs that were submitted and that developers do not submit modern designs and build something else. AMA’s rules must give it discretion to refuse building permits. It must use this discretion positively and with an eye to the future.

Osu’s ‘Oxford Street’ is a classic example of how haphazard and uncontrolled ‘development’ impedes traffic flow. Portions of that road leading up to Papaye and Frankie’s Restaurant and Stanchart and Barclays Bank always have heavy traffic, caused by cars struggling to park and cars backing out into the road. Without doubt, fast food restaurants, banks and now; shopping malls constitute the guiltiest parties in creating snarl-ups. Our regulators must not allow this to re-occur! Set up clear rules as to where you can/cannot have banks, restaurants and shopping malls. Use your muscle! I’m sure Frank Tackie and S.Y Akoto; proficient professionals have something to say about this.

At the end of the day when the road is completed and buildings have fully sprung up on both sides, it should be a joy drive up and down that road at weekends, do some banking, shop or sight see and return home within a set time frame. One should be able to ride a bike, stroll or jog on a shady, tree-lined pavement; (Parks and Gardens, get involved!). AMA must seize this great opportunity to show that it can take us into the future. We must shed our humble pie approach to development and ensure that only the best is good enough for this road. Every detail must be thought out carefully. We can get it right.

In Ghana we have only a few shapes of paving blocks on our public walkways. Made out of concrete,they are found on the pavements of every city and town. Come on! We have abundant granite! Can’t we use some in limited quantities to break up the monotony of our pavements? Pavements add to the character of cities. We must give them life! Even our pavements are boring. If we must use concrete can’t we find new shapes/moulds for concrete paving blocks?

The road will work if we control the mounting/erection of directional signs, advertising signs etc. Currently there seems to be no limit to what one is allowed. Provided you are well resourced you can do anything you wish with regard to the size and shape of your advertising billboards, signboards etc. MTN’s flags have clogged our pavements at the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange, the Liberation Road and the Independence Avenue since CAN 2008 in January 2008, ten months ago. They only just left. The concrete blocks in which the flags were mounted are still there. They show no sign of wanting to leave. They pose a danger to pedestrians! I wonder how much MTN paid for obstructing pedestrian traffic in the name of advertising! AMA must not sell itself for a mess of pottage. But I’ve strayed….

We must control sign and advertising boards. Now sign boards are also advertising boards. They block motorists and pedestrians view at junctions, impede traffic flow and cause accidents. Imagine the chaos that would ensue if every shop on London’s Oxford Street or New York’s 42nd Street mounted a sign/advertising board on the pavement! Yet on our ‘Oxford St.’ humans jostle with billboards for space. We should not allow this. The shops, restaurants and banks have shop-fronts, they must use them to advertise. Our street corners cannot have a proliferation of various sizes, shapes and colours of signboards. We must regulate this. Currently our on-street advertising is akin to madness.

As I write the frame of a new, giant billboard has been erected opposite the Goil Station, near Regimanuel-Gray Junction on the Spintex Road. At least two (2) feet of its ‘wingspan’ is on the road! I’m no prophet of doom but a truck will run into it soon! Who put it there? Aren’t there rules regarding the minimum distance from the road these behemoths can be situated?

I was horrified when I saw Melcom’s ‘boast’ of a “mega-store opening soon” across the road from that same Goil Station on Spintex Road. Melcom is a discount store. It attracts scores of hawkers, traders, taxis and ‘tro-tros’. “This will lead to increased/uncontrollable traffic”, I thought. Imagine my angst when I discovered that Melcom are feverishly preparing to open a shop some 150metres from Flower Pot Junction! The Spintex Road was principally designed to house factories. Factories don’t produce traffic; discount shops do! Who gave Melcom a permit to open a shop there?

I could go on and on but who will take action…

But I’m determined to end on a high. In our sea of wretched planning and shoddy real estate construction, Regimanuel-Gray, real estate developers provide fine relief from the shoddy fare anxious home buyers are getting. Their Golden Gate, Platinum Plaza and Silver Bells’ gated homes, ensure a fine mix of serenity, tidy construction, fine fit and finish, lush greenery, good layouts, well lit boulevards and security. Every time I drive by their gates I grin at the thought that there are still people out there with an eye for detail. Detail makes a whole lot of difference…… Enough respect to them.

Johnny Blukoo-Allotey Accra, Ghana.