Accra, Aug. 13, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Friday cautioned road contractors against activities that could jeopardize the lives of residents along the roads they work on.

"I want to sound a word of caution to all road contractors along the highways in the city, for the sake of the health of residents, to water the roads on daily basis to avoid dust."

Vice President Mahama gave this caution when he commissioned the Mile 7 Interchange Bridge between Achimota and Ofankor in Accra.

The GH¢14.5 million 380-metre long bridge is meant to avoid the Accra-Nsawam traffic congestion at the Mile 7 Junction.

With the commissioning, the Nsawam-Accra lane of the road would now be opened to traffic as part of the city traffic management plan.

Vice President Mahama said government had advertised for the bidding process of the Awoshie-Pokuase road to further ease traffic congestion on the Accra-Nsawam road, while the Dansoman major roads were receiving major rehabilitation.

He said a total of 58 kilometres of roads in the Tema-Ashaiman-Kpone areas, which had not received any major rehabilitation since independence, were under construction.

The Vice President, who also inspected the Tema Motorway, called on the authorities to clear all trees along the road and to replace them with flower species.

He said the presence of the trees could endanger the lives of motorists in case of any accident.

"I want you to replace the trees with small species that would serve as flowers to beautify our only motorway in the country."

At the Fiesta Royale Hotel-Legon by-pass, the Vice President announced that government would do everything possible to ease the high level of congestion in the city and urged all road users to respect road signs to avoid congestion.

Mr Joe Gidisu, Minister for Roads and Highways, promised to construct more roads in the country to facilitate the movement of people all over the country.

He said government would continue to source money to complete and to embark on other road projects to make roads motorable.

Nii Armah Ashietey, Greater Accra Minister, said government was committed to constructing roads that would have over 50-year lifespan.