The Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA) have installed additional traffic light system on the intersection leading to the Northern Regional Coordinating Council to regulate the fast-growing vehicular traffic on that stretch of the northern regional capital.
The move is in line with efforts by the city authorities to maintain law and order and curb road accidents which sometimes result in fatalities in the fourth largest city in Ghana.
The Tamale metropolis which is the fastest growing city in sub-Saharan Africa can now boost of human population in excess of one million.
THE CUSTODIAN has learnt similar efforts are being made to installed the traffic light systems at other busy roads in the metropolis to enable traffic flow in and around the central business area.
The other notable roads for consideration includes the intersection at Vittin, the Tamale Central hospital intersection leading to the Kalpohin Estate enclave and the Pag’sara road intersection at Sabonjida.
There are always vehicular congestions at peak hours on the above mentioned roads and motorists believe this intervention will open up the traffic flow and enable socioeconomic activities to thrive.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive of Tamale, Sule Salifu, announced some months ago that the assembly was committed to using part of it’s share of the Gulf of Guinea Social Cohesion (SOCO) initiative with funding support from the World Bank to implement these interventions.
The metropolis records significant number of road accidents involving motorcycles.
The Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) recorded 89 motorcycle accident in 2021. It was reported that all the 89 people died from severe head injuries as a result of motorcycle crashes in the Tamale Metropolis.
Motorcycle is the common means of transport for most families and it is absolutely crazy sometimes to see a family of more than four crammed up on the back of a motorcycle without a single person wearing a crush helmet for safety.
Meanwhile, some road users in an interaction with THE CUSTODIAN have said it is better late than never, saying one must always be extremely careful when using that road.
“Sometimes you wonder why police officers are stationed here (pointing to some police personnel seated closely) because people crash with their bikes almost every morning when I’m going to work” one commuter lamented.
