Ghana: Killer dust on the Adenta-Dodowa reconstruction roadway

Transportation infrastructure is among the very few indices that serve as the bedrock of national development in a given nation.

Traffic delays not only compromise productivity of a nation but also have the potential to create health hazards through vehicular fuel emissions, especially for the young and the elderly. Efficient roadway infrastructure is therefore an effective tool in nation building. 

The Adenta-Dodowa reconstruction road project started in earnest on March 25, 2024, with a sod-cutting ceremony by Ghana’s quondam president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo on August 8, 2024.

The 22-kilometer multi-lane roadway, with service lanes, drainages, and pedestrian facilities at strategic points along the way, is over 65% completed and is expected to be fully operational in March 2027. Oswal Investments Limited, considered among the best as per previous road works, is the contractor.

Given Ghana’s political endgames, where a new government prefers to initiate its own projects rather than continue inherited projects, both observers and critics were doubtful that the Adenta-Dodowa road reconstruction would see the light of day by the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) government under President John Dramani Mahama.

But both have been proven wrong.

After seemingly initial challenges and delays in right-of-way acquisition, application of eminent domain, and their attendant compensatory payments, among others, project execution has been steadily progressing under the current government’s Big Push Initiatives.

However, the greatest challenges that confront roadway and highway reconstruction, rehabilitation and restoration in Ghana is the problem with dust generated not only by roadway equipment but also by regular traffic flow.

Because Ghana has comparably fewer motorable intra-and intercity roadways, road diversions become a challenge. As such, roadway reconstruction and/or maintenance become a problem for the road contractor and vehicular movement.

Contractors have to employ measures that facilitate traffic flow on the road being worked on and shared by other vehicles at the same time.

The end result is compromised rate of work, commuter inconveniences, and accumulation of dust generated by construction, commuter, and personal vehicles. Quality of life is thus compromised.  

Uncontrolled dust inhalation impacts on both humans and the equipment of those close to construction sites and even beyond. Commuters, residents, and businesses that operate closest to construction sites bear the brunt of dust.

The frequency of specialized water trucks that are supposed to help stem dust is woefully inadequate. If and when they appear, only the roadway in front of the watering vehicle is treated.  Return trips, if any, are few and in between, leaving the other side of the road/lane dustier. 

This single act is causing businesses and residents to be on edge. Dust has taken a toll on the immediate environs of both humans and machinery/equipment.

People with pre-existing upper respiratory conditions may experience elevated symptoms, while others may potentially develop chronic and debilitating health issues later on in life.

Roadway contractors must therefore develop systems to mitigate and enhance quality of life in execution of duties.

Probably, more and closer speed-controlled road bumps are needed to mitigate speeding vehicles – including company trucks – that zoom on dusty roads as if they were on Germany’s Autobahn or on U.S. I-95, thus generating more dust into the atmosphere and affecting nearby residences and businesses.

Food and Dust

Businesses along roadway construction projects do not stop or come to a standstill. They must work to sustain their operations and their families.

We are not sure if there are laws in the books of Ghana about Mom & Pop eatery joints along roadway construction. Frontline structures, kiosks, and anything in between that prepare dishes on site or have them pre-prepared from elsewhere are scattered and openly sold/served alongside construction projects.

Some of these eateries operate on the roadway under construction, or close to or near activities of operating equipment. Obviously, the last thing on their minds is dust in the food. So long as their services are patronized, they would gladly serve them – germs, viruses, bacteria, etc., mixed with dust.

Ignorant or Foolhardy

The 22-kilometer Adenta-Dodowa road reconstruction may seem like a relatively short distance to complete in 36 months, but the roadway has its challenges.

Chief among them is the flow of rivulets from the Akuapem Ridge that cross the Adenta-Dodowa roadway at various points and empty into the sea.

More often than not, in an attempt to control traffic flow, the contractor constructs temporary speed bumps or humps. Other times it places heavy-duty concrete barriers at strategic points to facilitate uninterrupted workflow.

Unconscientiously, two-cycle motorized vehicles locally known as Okada, as well as local tricycles machines such as pragyia and aboboyaa, and commuter trotro vehicle operators have been observed to push away these heavy-duty concrete barriers so they could have shorter, easier, and faster access to roadway usage.

If this is not lawlessness, then we have to look for a different meaning of it.

Why else would a vehicle operator climb off his vehicle and call for extra hands to disengage and disentangle a road barrier?

In a nation where basic common sense is an integral part of law, a simple signpost of “No Through Road”/ “Road Closed” or variations thereof would be all that is needed for people to not drive – or peddle wares – on a road under construction.

But this is Ghana!