Pedestrians ‘carelessly’ abandon new Tetegu footbridge, dangerously cross highway

The newly constructed overhead footbridge at Tetegu, a community in the Weija-Gbawe Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, has been abandoned by some pedestrians who are dangerously crossing the busy Accra-Kasoa highway.

The Accra-Kasoa highway, which is a part of the ECOWAS Express Highways, is one of the busiest highways in Accra, where motorists move at a top speed.

That crossing previously had an installation of a traffic light with regular police presence to prevent pedestrians from being knocked by speeding vehicles.

However, the installation of the traffic light slowed down the free flow of traffic. The situation compelled the authorities to pull down the traffic light and instead construct an overhead footbridge.

In Accra, it is common to come across overhead bridges that have been abandoned by pedestrians who choose to cross the road without considering their safety.

Before the construction of the footbridge at Tetegu, pedestrians struggled to cross the road due to the speeding vehicles. It was thus expected that they would easily opt for the footbridge after its construction.

Although some pedestrians were using it at the time Myjoyonline visited the scene, others carelessly crossed the road in their numbers with varied excuses.

Some drivers who spoke to Myjoyonline expressed surprise at the decision of some pedestrians to cross the road despite the availability of the footbridge. They condemned those pedestrians, insisting that no excuse was tenable.

Joseph Danso, a ‘trotro’ driver who uses the Kasoa-Lapaz route, expressed worry about the deliberate disregard of traffic regulations and non-usage of the bridge.

Madam Amaley Okain, who was among a group of people who had crossed to the other side, told Myjoyonline that she has a knee problem, and so using the foot bridge was a challenge for her.

A resident, who described himself as a concerned citizen, called on the police to arrest those flouting the rules and prosecute them to serve as a deterrent to others.

He said the law must work to ensure that people will not simply refuse to use a foot bridge that the government has spent huge sums of money to construct for their own safety.

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