Road Network and Conditions

The Municipality consists of two main road corridors made up of the main Teshi-Nungua Beach Road and the Spintex Road which both link the Municipality to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly on the west and Tema Metropolitan Assembly on the East. These roads are currently classified as having fair surface conditions and are also not wide enough to accommodate the large volumes of vehicular traffic. Traffic congestion is therefore experienced most hours of the day on these roads. The map below shows the road network for the Municipality.

Road Conditions

In general only about 15% of roads in the Municipality are tarred. Apart from the Teshie Link which can be calssified as having good fair surface condition, other tarred roads are classified as fair. These include but are not limited to Teshie Link, Spintex Road, Teshie-Nungua Beach Road, Old Teshie and Nungua Township Roads, Roads in Residential Estates such as Teshie-Nungua, Frempoma, Manet and Greda. Apart from these roads as much as 85% of roads in the Municipality are not tarred. Such roads are mainly made up of access roads and lanes to the various localities which apart from having poor surface conditions also lack drains causing severe flooding in most townships whenever it rains.

 Perhaps the greatest challenge facing the Municipality with respect to the road network relates to a few roads that are not motorable throughout the year. Such roads are found in middle income communities such as……………….. Where residents are not able to get access to their own houses with cars.

Indigenous and low income areas of the Municipality are however blessed with relatively better roads than most of their middle income counterparts. This is because such areas benefited from International Developmental Programmes such as the Urban 4 and 6 Programmes. The Challenge facing the Assembly now is to shift more resources to develop roads in the middle income areas

Traffic Congestion

The major road corridors in the Municipality: Spintex Road and the Teshie-Nungua Beach Roads are well known for long hours of traffic congestion. This is due mainly to limited width of these roads and lack of well-designed and properly constructed alternative routes. For instance, a route such as the Teshie Link which was originally designed to facilitate an alternative north-south (or vice versa) linkage to the Spintex and Beach Roads is in such poor state that motorists tend to avoid it thereby causing congestion on the main road arterials. The situation therefore demands a complete redesign of the road network of the Municipality.

Rail Network

The Assembly is also fortunate to have a rail line passing through but she is yet to develop the full potential of the rail line for its own development. This is because the rail line provides an asset to facilitate transportation with neighbouring districts. It would therefore be necessary for rail terminals to be provided at various locations in the future to facilitate linkage with other districts. Such an intervention would however call for strong synergy to be established with all stakeholders such the Ministry of Transport and Communication and Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

Current Initiatives for Improvement of the Road Network

To improve circulation of traffic, Department of Urban Roads in collaboration with the Town and Country Planning Department have initiated a feasibility study and design to ensure a good road network at the Accra East Corridor, much of which falls within the Municipality. As part of the new proposed design, the beach road is to be expanded and improved. This is to be complemented by a corresponding expansion and improvement of the Spintex Road.

Alternative routes such as the Teshie Link and Maate Tsuru roads shall also be expanded under the programme to ensure efficient alternative linkage between the north and south of the municipality. Perhaps an important intervention to the new design will be the extension of the Tsuibleo road westwards to a new road to be constructed through Burma Camp to meet the Giffard Road at Unique Floral area. The same Tsui Bleo Road is also to be extended westwards towards the Nungua Barrier to link with the coastal road to Tema and the Lashibi Road. Such an arrangement is expected to ensure that motorists moving from Tema to the Giffard Route in Accra may not necessarily have to use the Spintex Road of Beach road thereby reducing the traffic congestion.

Ongoing Road Projects

To address the traffic congestion on the Teshie-Nungua Beach Road, the Department of Urban Roads has currently embarked upon a road expansion/ improvement project from the Teshie Military Shooting range area to the Kofi Annan area. The Department has also embarked upon other minor projects in the various localities through the Road Fun.

Apart from the above mentioned projects, there are some projects that are critical in the communities. Some of them include improvement of surface conditions and drains on Boundary Road, improvement of surface conditions and drains on Nungua Zongo Road and replacement of dangerous culvert at East Buade.

Key issues relating to Road network and Conditions

In general only 15% of roads in the Municipality are tarred while 85% are tarred.

The major road corridors in the Municipality

Spintex Road and the Teshie-Nungua Beach Roads are well known for long hours of traffic congestion due mainly to limited width of these roads and lack of well-designed and properly constructed alternative routes.

The Assembly is fortunate to have a rail line passing through but she is yet to develop the full potential of the rail line for its own development.

Most Road Projects are Ongoing.

A feasibility study and design for road improvement has been initiated to ensure a good road network at the Accra East Corridor, much of which falls within the Municipality.

Water Supply & Demand

The source of water to the Municipality is the Kpone Water works which has its catchments area in the Volta River Basin. There is however marked variations with respect to income classes in the access to water. First class residential areas such as the Greda Estates, Manet Gardens etc are connected to the water supply network and in most cases receive water most days of the week and pay official rates, which range from Ë18 a bucket to a maximum Ë65 per bucket. In recent times it is common to have polytanks in such areas to supplement shortage that may occur.

However large sections of the middle and low income earners in the Municipality have very poor or irregular supply of water although they are connected to the network. In such areas residents who can afford polytanks are compelled to purchase them as a matter of necessity to supplement their water supplies. Those who cannot afford the polytanks purchase water from vendors at high prices. The most critical water problem in the Municipality however relates to inability of supply of water to meet demand.

It is estimated that water leakage is estimated at 30% for the entire supply system. Efficient measures on leak detection and repair can lower this percentage to approximately 25%. A decrease in 5% in the leakage rate is expected to save water within the margin of 30 000m3 daily which represents substantial savings. In the medium term efforts should be made to collaborate with stakeholders to increase investments to the sector, especially in low income settlements like Old Nungua and Old Teshie.

In Old Nungua most of the 150m A/C distribution pipelines are in disused state owing to corrosion of jointing. Other sections also run under buildings and have as such become nonfunctional. Consequently residents do not have access to direct pipe-born water.

A new elevated GRP reservoir in Old Nungua with a capacity of 450m cube and a booster system to lift water into the tank has been planned to improve distribution pressures inside the community. Presently, the elevated tank has been erected but the booster pumping set is however yet to be installed to enhance water supply in Old Nungua. The following indicate the piping that would be required to improve the network in Old Nungua.

In the absence of such interventions attempts have been made by the Assembly to provide Polytanks to be supplied by water tankers as an interim measure to address the water problem in the Municipality, especially in deprived communities. The Assembly hopes to establish relationships with local organisations in the sustainable management of the polytanks for the benefit of the affected communities.

Footbridges

The Municipality is very unique with respect to neighbouring districts in the sense that it has a respectable number of streams running through it. This has necessitated the need to construct footbridges to ensure adequate linkages among the various communities in the Municipality. In view of this issue, areas that lack footbridges or have weak ones that are not in use are completely cut off from neighbouring communities, especially during heavy rains.

Community members in such areas are therefore compelled to make long detours to get to their destinations. In some case, residents (including school children) cross the stream to get to school without any of support or protection. The situation does not augur well for safety and convenience and hence footbridges are important development projects in the Municipality. It must be mentioned therefore that although the Assembly has provided a number of them she would welcome assistance from her development partners to assist further in the provision of this basic community facility.