THE Department of Urban Roads (DUR) has started replacing all traffic lights in the Kumasi metropolis, to ensure sanity at the various road intersections.
Already, the traffic lights between the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) link road, including that of Amakom and Anloga junctions have been replaced with new ones.
Also replaced are the traffic lights around Kajetia, the Abrepo junction and that of Aboabo and Krofrom.
Explaining the rationale behind the replacement of the traffic lights to the Daily Graphic, the Kumasi Metropolitan Director of the DUR, Mr Theodore Quaye, said the old traffic lights had not only become outmoded, but broke down regularly, thereby making it difficult to adequately regulate vehicular traffic in the metropolis.
“The traffic lights in Kumasi were outmoded, and we decided to replace them with these new ones to make them more functional” he said explaining further that “ the cost of maintaining the old traffic lights were huge, besides we were not getting the spare parts we needed to maintain them, so we decided to change them to keep them in conformity with what is being used by the international community.”
Mr Quaye said in all, the Department was installing 12 new traffic lights in the Kumasi metropolis, assuring that when completed, vehicular flow in the metropolis would be smooth”
He said the project, expected to be completed by the end of the year, was part of the measures being taken to address the issue of traffic jams at various traffic intersections in the cities.
He said the new traffic lights had been equipped with batteries that would support the facilities to function effectively in case of power outages, stressing that “this will help the free flow of vehicles in the metropolis”.
Mr Quaye, however expressed concern about the rate at which some motorists destroyed the traffic lights by crashing their vehicles into them and said although drivers who caused these accidents were expected to pay for the cost of replacing the traffic lights, “ most of them run away, making it impossible for us to trace them”
He said to address the problem of safeguarding the traffic lights, there was the need to build concrete buffers around the facilities, “ but we are also mindful that when we do that, there may be loss of lives , especially when vehicles crash into the concrete and the impact of the accident are too great”.
He, therefore, urged motorists to drive within the speed limits in residential areas to avoid crashing their vehicles into the newly installed traffic lights.
He also urged the public to be vigilant by helping to arrest motorists who attempted to escape after crashing their vehicles into traffic lights
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