THE Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Governs Kwame Agbodza, has dismissed claims by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Caucus in Parliament that the scope of the Suame Interchange Project has been reduced from a four-tier to a two-tier design.
According to him, there is no discontinuity in the project, stressing that the ongoing modifications are intended to enhance value for money and deliver a more practical solution to traffic challenges in the area.
Mr Agbodza was responding to allegations by the Ashanti Regional Caucus of the Minority in Parliament that government’s decision to alter the approved four-tier interchange was a deliberate attempt to abandon the project.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament on Monday, February 9, the caucus, led by the Member of Parliament for Bantama and former Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, argued that reducing the project’s scope would fail to address congestion at the Suame Roundabout and could result in cost overruns, technical compromises and unnecessary delays.
The Caucus, therefore, urged government to revert to the original four-tier design, which it described as a long-term solution to traffic congestion on the Suame corridor.
However, Mr Agbodza explained that although the interchange was initially conceived as a four-tier project, greater emphasis had been placed on funding arrangements than on the full scope of work and the practical challenges at the Suame intersection.
He urged critics to place the proposed modifications in proper context, noting that a detailed cost-benefit analysis shows the revised design to be a more efficient and sustainable solution. He added that the new design would involve fewer demolitions and provide a longer stretch of roadway infrastructure for the benefit of residents in the Ashanti Region.
The Minister indicated that the main challenge with the original design was not functionality but the high cost of expropriation and compensation. He said the fourth tier would have affected two-storey commercial buildings along the Suame Road and Western Bypass Road, as well as the Suame Police Station.
In addition, he noted that the initial design did not fully account for the cost of relocating utilities. Although water and electricity lines at the roundabout had been moved, additional relocation works remain at the Krofrom Intersection and Abrepo areas.
Mr Agbodza further explained that the four-tier design did not comprehensively factor in land and property compensation. The north-south leg of the proposed viaduct, he said, would have partially encroached on land owned by the Garden City Mall, the Suame Police Station, and several three-storey commercial and residential properties—costs he estimated at nearly half the total project value.
He maintained that the revised design offers a more appropriate connection from the N10 at Akom to the N6 at Boankra and will shorten travel time for vehicles moving between the northern and southern parts of the country.
He assured the public that the government remains committed to delivering a durable and efficient interchange to ease congestion in the Suame area.
BY LAWRENCE VOMAFA AKPALU
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