Decayed and Neglected: The deplorable state of roundabouts in Accra and Tema

Potholes have ravaged major roundabouts in Accra and Tema, worsening congestion on major roads in the two cities during rush hour.

At the Ogbodjo, Atomic, Ashaiman, and Tema Valco Roundabouts, rush hours are marked by heavy, crawling traffic due to the potholes that have taken over sections of the roads, as drivers have to swerve and navigate to avoid damaging their cars. For some residents, the situation has gone beyond inconvenience and is now a looming danger.

Ogbojo

At the Ogbodjo roundabout, the problem is made worse by recent downpours. The potholes become muddy pools of water after it rains. The rain water masks holes deep enough to punish any driver who mistakes the surface for safe asphalt. The roundabout is a busy route for commuters, linking Madina, East Legon and Adenta/Ashaley Botwe.

Ironically, the La Nkwantanang Municipal Assembly, which is responsible for basic infrastructure in the area, is less than 300 metres away. Despite the proximity of the assembly to the heavily damaged roundabout, the state of the roundabout has remained unchanged save for some occasional patchwork.

Tema Valco Roundabout

At the Tema Valco Roundabout, the most severe damage is within a lane that leads commuters from the Tema Harbour to other parts of Tema and Accra. The stretch has deteriorated so badly that it is described by some drivers as “manholes.” Rather than easing traffic, some residents told The Fourth Estate that the route is accident-prone. 

Drivers using the stretch are forced to slow down to protect their vehicles from damage. A narrow pavement along the road has turned into a contested turf between pedestrians and motorists avoiding the damaged road. Most of the drivers, in an attempt to dodge the potholes, drive over pavement straight towards a busy bus stop, often startling pedestrians. 

Atomic roundabout

The story at the atomic roundabout is no different.  Deep and wide holes have taken over the inner circle of the road, notorious for traffic jams from Madina, Legon and Westland. Shattered glasses from vehicular clashes are a regular occurrence. Drivers say their complaints have fallen on deaf ears. Some of them attribute the potholes to blocked drains around the roundabout. Rainwater that should naturally flow through the gutters gathers on the surface of the road. Over time, it weakens the asphalt forming craters.

As Abdul Razak, a motor rider who uses the stretch regularly explains, “when it rains, it passes through the gutter to go out but the gutter is choked and it has been covered. So, it cannot be desilted… when the water gets stagnated on the road for a long time, it erodes and leads to potholes.”

Ashaiman

At the Ashaiman roundabout where the gridlock is fueled by traffic from Afianya, Tema and its environs the roundabout is riddled with multiple potholes.

Here, residents offer a slightly different explanation, stating that the roundabout falls within a road network that is still under construction. But on the ground, the explanation does not change the constant manoeuvring that drivers do as a result of the deep potholes and uneven surfaces.

Residents turned “patchers”

In response to the worsening conditions of the road and the slow official response, some residents have taken matters into their own hands. At the Tema Valco Roundabout, Peter Teye is among those who regularly fill the potholes with sand and stones just to keep the roads motorable. Sometimes, he says, grateful drivers offer a token in return.

“The filling of the potholes, it touches my heart to do it because no one is giving me money, no one gives me anything,” he said. 

“But the reason why it touches my heart is that the traffic delays the work of the drivers,” he explains.

According to him, all his complaints have not yielded any intervention from the government or the assembly. Residents of Atomic share similar frustrations as there have been no official efforts to rehabilitate the roads, apart from community-driven efforts to patch the holes.

However, that is often short-lived.

“Usually, the boys gather and patch them up. But now it has started raining, when they come and do it, it washes away within two days”, Saviour Dekpe, the Dome Branch Chairman for the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) says.

The ripple effects

Beyond the risk of accidents, drivers also bear the brunt of the situation in the form of damaged car parts and increasing maintenance costs.

“Within one year, you can change your shocks about three or four times. As for the shocks, when we go to buy, they are expensive”, Sule Yusif, a driver at the Madina Main Station, explains. “If you don’t hit potholes, it will take a long time for your shocks to get damaged. Everything is expensive, so we beg them [the government], when they are constructing the roads, they should do them well for us so that when we are also driving, we’ll be comfortable”. While new road projects such as the Big Push Roads Project are frequently drummed in the ears of citizens, existing infrastructure, such as these appear to be neglected, becoming sources of inconvenience and danger to commuters.