Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA) in partnership with IBISTEK is to construct the much awaited five- kilometer New Takoradi road at a total cost of GHc28 million.

The project, which will commence by December 19, 2017, is expected to be completed within 12 months and will be executed by Justmoh Construction Limited.

The construction of the road will be in two sections; first will be the rehabilitation of existing road from the Paa Grant roundabout through to the New Takoradi roundabout to the Takoradi Port Gate 10.

That section, is expected to be design with a different pavement structure; concrete, will be use as base and pavement blocks will be used on the surface, walk-ways and streets lights are all included in the design.

The second section, is from the new Takoradi roundabout, through the marshy area to (Takoradi Container Terminal) TACOTEL.

Also, the TACOTEL road will link the Sekondi road for easy access from the residence at New Takoradi to the various part in the area; Kwame Adjei, Consultant for the Design and Supervision of the project and Residence Engineer of Hag Consult told B&FT in an interview.

“From the Paa Grant Roundabout to the Takoradi Port will be pavement blocks of high quality since most of the bigger trucks use the road in and out of the port; again, it will to serve TACOTEL, where they have to evacuate the containers from the port to the terminal; based on the studies we conducted, asphalt, will not last on this road, hence, pavement blocks which will be the best”, he added.

Capt. Ebenezer Afadzi, Director of the Takoradi Port at the handing over of site for the construction of Paa Grant Roundabout- New Takoradi Road explained that the Port, promised the people of New Takoradi for the construction of road three years ago which did not materialize.

“Today, we are here to witness the construction of this road which has seen the agitation of the communities and opinion leaders for a long time; we have heavy duty cars which ply this road to GPHA, Takoradi Flour Mills, CARMEUSE Lime Products Ghana Limited, Manganese, GHACEM, Western Diamonds among others”, he said.

He mentioned that over 10million tons of cargo have used the New Takoradi road within this year; it is expected that within the next two years when the road has been completed, we will have 20 million tons of cargo.

He assured the residents of New Takoradi that should there be job opportunities at the Port after the construction of the road, they will be the first to be considered.

He urged the communities to be patience during the construction of the road to enable the contractor execute his job effectively and efficiently.

Dr. Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Member of Parliament for Takoradi and Deputy Minister for Aviation pointed out that the people of New Takoradi are now to heave a sigh of relief since they started complaining and demonstrating about the road in 2008 to date.

He mentioned that the road is expected to join other adjoining communities such as Nkotompo which is closer to the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital and other surrounding communities when completed, is laudable.

He expressed hope that there will be a lot of investors coming to Sekondi-Takoradi when the project is completed and encouraged Justmoh Construction Limited to employ a lot of locals during construction.

Mr. K.K Sam, the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) announced that there will be fly over at the Kwame Nkrumah Roundabout in Takoradi to ease traffic congestion on the road.

Also, he said STMA will construct a modern car park to free the Central Business District (CBD) of Takoradi traffic and urged traders who sell at the inner perimeter and on pavement at the Takoradi market circle to move to the Apremdo market.

Again, he mentioned that there will rehabilitation work at the Takoradi market within the next two years; I hope the construction of the New Takoradi Road will open more job opportunities.

Nana Abekah, Chief of New Takoradi pointed out that the road has been a worrying issue to drivers who ply the road; today, we are happy to witness the construction of this road which has been full of pot holes and dust over the past years.