Commuters in Tema are questioning the planning behind temporary road closures and diversions causing heavy vehicular traffic at the Tema Motorway roundabout.
Hundreds of drivers trying to enter or exit Tema were stuck in a traffic jam for up to four hours yesterday due to the diversions by contractors carrying out the Tema Motorway Improvement Projects.
The Motorway Roundabout was temporarily closed to traffic last week as part of the second phase of a GH¢28 million expansion works being undertaken by Meridian Port Services (MPS)
As part of the project, roads near the roundabout will be turned into dual carriages to connect Tema, Aflao and the Tema-Akosombo roads.
Though the contractors, Synohydro Ghana Limited had put in place slipways that pass in an effort to ease vehicular traffic, it has proven to be ineffective as many have had to find their own alternative divert routes.
"Since the Tema Roundabout congestion, movement has become more difficult. We don't know all the diversionary routes that we're supposed to use", one commuter who spoke in an interview on Joy FM's Super Morning Show lamented. He said many of the alternate routes are also in poor shape, limiting commuters to a few good ones.
But according to the resident engineer for the project, Kwabena Bempong, they had considered alternate routes and thus requested the contractor to put in bypass plans to reduce congestion.
"There are a number of routes already here but I am not very sure whether the announcement and the traffic management plan that we sent out had got to those who ply these roads", he explained on the same programme.
He promised an upgrade of some of the alternate’s routes to ease the congestion, admitting that they had been rendered unmotorable as a result of heavy downpours,
He, however, pointed out that the traffic situation was not only as a result of the lack of enough diversions but the indiscipline of some drivers who ignore traffic direction and guidelines.
Mr Bempong assured that measures will be put in place to  restore sanity to the roundabout.
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