Open drains pose danger to motorists on Graphic Road

Some sticks placed in the open drain to warn road users of danger

Motorists and pedestrians who ply the Graphic Road-Kaneshie-Odorkor road, are exposed to danger, as a result of the removal of many drain coverings on the road.

The dual-carriage stretch has most of the slabs covering the gully drains on the outer lanes of the road removed.

The Graphic Road-Kaneshie stretch is a major route for thousands of motorists and commuters.

The situation, therefore, threatens the safety of motorists and commuters who are required to exercise caution at the various spots of danger.

Some of the uncovered drains have sticks placed in them by some concerned individuals to warn motorists of the danger ahead, but that act in itself is dangerous.

To worsen the situation, some of the street lights along the corridor, particularly those in front of the Graphic Communications Group Limited and the Graphic Road overpass, where a lot of the uncovered drains can be found, are not functioning.

Dangers

Some petty traders and hawkers along the shoulders of the road told the Daily Graphic that the situation regularly impeded the flow of vehicular traffic.

They said many vehicles had their tyres burst in the holes left after the removal of the covers.

“A lot of drivers have fallen into these holes. They mostly call on us to assist them. We cannot be here all the time so we have placed sticks into some of them as a form of caution,” Mr Prince Asare, a trader, said.

He indicated that some pedestrians, in an attempt to cross the road, had also suffered injuries after falling into the open drains.

Traffic light

The traffic lights situated at the intersection connecting Adabraka Official Town to the Graphic Road are also not functioning.

According to some traders, the situation had been unattended to for close to a year.

Coupled with driver impatience and recklessness, the situation renders the intersection accident prone, as motorists jostle to access their right of way.

Urban roads

In an interview, an official at the Department of Urban Roads, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that the absence of slabs to cover the drains was due to the “unpatriotic” behaviour of some individuals who “deliberately” removed them.

“It is something that we are struggling to bring under control. People deliberately remove them so that they can have direct access to the drains for disposal of waste,” the source noted.

The source was, however, quick to add that failure on the part of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to apprehend offenders had further escalated the situation within the metropolis.

Refuse dump

In a related development, a tunnel situated under the Graphic Road overpass has been converted into a refuse dump.

Heaps of refuse, mostly plastic waste, have been dumped in the tunnel that serve as a route for some commuters to cross the road.

Smoke also puffed out of some of the heaps of refuse.

One of the hawkers who identified herself only as Brago said some scrap dealers resorted to setting fire to some of the waste materials in the tunnel, usually at ungodly hours.

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