The Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakum stretch of road in the Upper East Region will be opened to traffic in March 2023, Mr Peter Dagadu, the Consultant to the Brazilian Construction Firm, Queiroz Galvao MI has said.
The 117.94 kilometre road with dual carriage at some sections, he said had three huge bridges with 120 years life span each, located at Zuarungu in the Bolgatanga East District, Tilli in the Nabdam District and Bazua in the Bawku West District, was valued about 21 million Euros.
He said the construction work started in the latter part of 2016, and the over-all progress of work was 45 percent complete, and 70 percent complete in terms of the road network.
The Consultant disclosed this when the Regional Minister, Hon. Stephen Yakubu, led a team to inspect the progress of work on the bridges along the road.
Mr. Dagadu said a one million Euro package was arranged by the Ghana Highways Authority, Land Valuation Board and the Contractor to be given to legal property owners along the road as compensation.
He told the Minister and his team that there were no challenges with funds, saying that government had made available the required financial resources for the speedy completion of the project per schedule.
The Minister after inspecting the progress of work, described the quality of work done so far as “fantastic,” and thanked the Akufo-Addo-led government for securing an amount of 127,229,014.28 Euros to complete the work on schedule.
He said for the first time in the history of the Region, there would be a by-pass in the Bawku Municipality to expand the road network to attract potential investors to the area, and improve on the living conditions of residents.
The Minister noted that the importance of the road could not be over emphasized as it linked the region to Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Togo, with the potential to increase revenue generation for Ghana.
“Our food basket is Bawku, therefore the road network is very important for us. Not only that, the perennial flooding problem would be a thing of the past, and also increase farm produce,” he said.
The Regional Highways Engineer, Mr. Philip Samini, said Axle Monitoring Station would be constructed at Saaka, a community along the road to check overloaded vehicles as part of measures to prolong the lifespan of the road.
He cautioned drivers to desist from doing repairs works along the road, as the act often led to drops of diesel or engine oils which destroys the bitumen on the road, and further advised cattle owners to cross with their animals at designated places.
