Article by George Arkhurst
“Study the past if you would like to define the future.”
— CONFUCIUS
Introduction
I begin with the great words of Confucius which says, “Study the past if you would like to define the future”. I believe a look at historical projects and an understanding of the thought process gives us a platform to build future projects.
The Tema Motorway provides a glimpse of history that all countries especially across Africa can learn from and not just Ghana. This article shares the facts around the Tema Motorway and some strategic lessons we can learn from it.
1962
The construction of the Tema Port was completed in 1962 to provide cargo handling services to the neighbouring countries (Port of Tema Expansion, Tema, 2017).
1965
After the completion of the Harbour, the first President of the country started the construction of the Tema Motorway in 1963 to link Accra to Tema and to aid in the transportation of cargo to the surrounding region. The number of people in Greater Accra was 499,000 people.
The Motorway facts
It is 30th November, 1965 and the Tema Motorway has just been opened to link the harbor city of Tema to Accra. The Tema Motorway is a 19 kilometer highway that was fashioned after the Autobahn in Germany (ghanaweb, 2021). It was supposed to be the first of many motorway systems that would link many major towns and cities. The construction started in 1963 and was completed in 1964 at the cost of GBP3,380,000.00 ($9,482,356.00) (Lungu, 2015).
The width of each dual lane is approximately 8meters and so the two directions will be a total width of 16 meters. The total size of the motorway will be 304000 sqm. This means that the cost per sqm of construction of the Tema Motorway was US$ 31.19.
The 19km road had no settlements around it in 1965 when it was opened but had a lot of cattle ranches and farms and thus the design of the road had about nine (9) underpasses with some serving as drainage for the streams of water from the mountains and other places that finds its way to the Sakumo lagoon and later into the sea. The remaining underpass served as a passageway for the cattle to prevent them from crossing the motorway which could cause accidents.
There were no street lights along the Tema motorway when it was constructed. It was not until 2002, that it was reported that the government will spend 1.95 million Ghana cedis to light up the motorway. This was suspended due to cable thefts.
Lessons learnt in 2022
Lesson #1 – Expanding the Motorway and alternate routes
The first phase of the Tema Harbour expansion project was completed ahead of schedule on 30th April 2020 (APM Terminals, 2020). The expansion works is to triple the traffic at the port. If we are to learn from the past by also considering that the number of people in Greater Accra Region has increased from 499,000 people in 1965 to 5,455,692 people in 2021, coupled with the expansion of the harbor, it is justifiable to expand the motorway and alternate routes from the harbour.
I believe the plan is to increase the motorway to a 10 – lane 19.5km motorway (4 lanes of reinforced concrete freeway, 6 lanes of Urban Highway), Reconstruct the Tetteh Quarshie to Apenkwa (5.7 km), Remodel Tetteh Quarshie, Apenkwa and Achimota Interchanges, construct five (5) new Interchanges (Lashibi, Abattoir, Teshie Link, Fiesta Royale and Neoplan junction), construct 14 new Pedestrian Footbridges, Toll Plazas and Streetlights. (Yartey, 2021)
Lesson #2 – Road Quality and Cost Optimization
Considering the fact that for 57 years the motorway is yet to undergo any major maintenance barring the pothole patching and bridge repair works, we can say that Ghana spent approximate US $166,357 per year to construct the motorway which is good value for money.
We need to ensure that the expansion works will serve Ghana for a longer time and provide value for money as the original motorway construction by regularly maintaining the road to increase its lifespan
Lesson #3 – Interchanges, Underpasses and Bus Stops
Considering there are settlements around the Tema Motorway now, we ought to build interchanges and footbridges to allow easy movement from one side to the other. Bus stops will also have to be constructed at locations with lots of human activities. The original construction had underpasses which could also be expanded in some areas to provide other avenue to cross over to the other side.
Lesson #4 – Streetlights
We need to also learn from the past to have streetlights all over the expansion. If we are to learn from 2002, we are to ensure that the streetlights are solar paneled lights instead of using streetlights with cables.
Lesson #5 – Expanded Roads
If there is anything we can learn from the construction of the motorway in the 60s until now, we need to learn that the number of vehicles and people are going to increase and as such we need to build larger quality roads for the future and not only think short term. We can start by looking at intercity and interregional roads – these roads should at a minimum, two lanes at both directions
References
APM Terminals. 2020. Tema Port expansion works finalised two months ahead of schedule. [online] Available at: <https://www.apmterminals.com/en/news/news-releases/2020/200507-celebrating-success-tema-port-expansion-works-phase-one-finalised> [Accessed 4 August 2022].
Ghanaweb.com. 2021. Today in 1965: Nkrumah opened Ghana’s first stretch of motorway. [online] Available at: <https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Today-in-1965-Nkrumah-opened-Ghana-s-first-stretch-of-motorway-1413382> [Accessed 4 August 2022].
Lungu, Prof., 2015. Accra-Tema Motorway Still Is Another Kwame Nkrumah Sika Duro!. [online] Ghanaweb. Available at: <https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Accra-Tema-Motorway-Still-Is-Another-Kwame-Nkrumah-Sika-Duro-388351> [Accessed 4 August 2022].
Ship Technology. 2017. Port of Tema Expansion, Tema. [online] Available at: <https://www.ship-technology.com/projects/port-of-tema-expansion-tema/#:~:text=The%20Port%20of%20Tema%20was,the%20eastern%20coast%20of%20Ghana.> [Accessed 4 August 2022].
YARTEY, N., 2021. The Facts About the Accra-Tema Motorway Extension Project – Ministry of Roads & Highways. [online] Mrh.gov.gh. Available at: <https://mrh.gov.gh/the-facts-about-the-accra-tema-motorway-extension-project/> [Accessed 2 September 2022].
