The Seventy-one-metre road that was destroyed and closed to traffic due to the Appiatse community explosion was said to be opened to traffic on Tuesday, February 15.
This was disclosed by Mr Samuel Adjepong, site Manager for Asabea Engineering, the company undertaking the project in an interaction with the media on Sunday at Appiatse.
However, as of Friday, February 18 that the igoghana visited the site, it was uncovered that the road was still closed pending completion even though no work was being done.
The road would have 20mm thick by 500mm wide line rumble strips on the shoulders to reduce run-offs and road crashes by warning drivers they are leaving their lane, just beyond the white line or the travelled portion of the roadway.
Also, there would be thermoplastic road marking – a kind of powder paint that is sprayed on the road surface as coating becomes a hard, polymer line after cooling.
The company’s scope of work involved the construction of asphalt concrete layers to withstand the explosive devastation to the street and heavy traffic loading on the road in accordance with best practices.
Major works included the bituminous binder, spreading, compaction and paving of 80mm asphalt binder and 60mm asphalt wearing course.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta had early on applauded the constructors working on the section.
The Minister who gave the applause in a recent visit to inspect the progress of work on that stretch of the road said the explosion created a crater of about 10.2 meters deep with a length of over 27 meters.
He came in the company of the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Director General of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) Nana Agyemang Prempeh and the Western Regional Director of the Ghana Highways Authority, Mr Seth Richard Komeng-Ofori.
Work on the stretch began on Thursday, February 10, and was expected to be completed on schedule to ease the plight of commuters.
However, some drivers and commuters are worried over the inability of the contractor to open the road to traffic as stated early on.
They were of the view that the completion of the road would lessen their travelling challenges as the bumpy nature of the diverted road prevented cars from speeding, thereby increasing travel time.
On Thursday, January 20, a truck carrying explosives from Maxam Ghana Limited, exploded killing about 17 people and wiping the entire community away.
