Project Manager for the Accra-Tema Motorway expansion project, Ing. Ben Sackey, has explained that the diversions currently inconveniencing commuters are temporary measures required to fix decades-old drainage and crossing infrastructure along the stretch.

The Accra-Tema Motorway is one of Ghana’s busiest highways, linking the capital to the country’s main port and industrial hub. The ongoing expansion project aims to ease congestion, improve safety, and modernise the ageing road infrastructure.

Speaking on the Joy Super Morning Show, Ing. Sackey said, contrary to public complaints, contractors are not diverting traffic from the main motorway onto the Urban Highway as part of a long-term plan. Instead, the diversions are designed to allow engineers to reconstruct critical culverts and water crossings beneath the road.

“Our construction methodology is to keep traffic on the main road as much as possible,” he explained. “So we are not diverting traffic on the main motorway onto the Urban Highway at this time.”

According to him, the project has uncovered old crossing culverts that have been in place for more than five decades, some dating back 50 to 60 years.

These structures, he said, must be reconstructed to ensure proper water flow and prevent future flooding and road damage.

“These culverts have been in existence for over 50 or 60 years. We have done most of the sections, and now we are left with the motorway itself,” he said.

Ing. Sackey explained that the existing drainage systems on both sides of the motorway must be properly linked to allow free flow of water.

“What we are doing right now is to create a series of diversions from the motorway onto diversion sections so that we can excavate the middle of the motorway and construct those covers properly,” he noted.

The explanation follows mounting frustration from commuters who have complained about traffic congestion and confusion caused by the diversions, particularly during peak hours.