Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Minister Mahama Ayariga has said the contraflow system will remain in operation as the government works on longer-term solutions to congestion in major cities.
Ayariga said President John Dramani Mahama had been satisfied with the initial results of the contraflow trial, which has helped thousands of commuters move through congested areas during peak hours.
He said the President had scheduled a meeting with relevant stakeholders to determine how the system could be sustained.
“The president has convened a stakeholders meeting so that we can discuss how to sustain the contraflow system by making sure that there are permanent features of our roads that enable the contraflow to function without the riders that we are using now because we cannot use riders forever,” Ayariga said during Government Accountability Series.
According to the minister, the meeting would consider infrastructure changes that could allow the system to operate without the current temporary arrangements.
Ayariga said public feedback had been largely positive, but many commuters wanted to know whether the system could be sustained.
“Whilst they are happy with the contraflow system, the question they ask is how do we sustain that?” he said.
He stressed that contraflow was not being presented as the final answer to urban mobility challenges.
“I want to assure you that contraflow as a way of rapid mass movement of commuters within our congested cities has come to stay until we have developed other ways of easy mobility in our big cities,” Ayariga said.
He said other mechanisms were being considered to improve movement in Ghana’s increasingly congested cities.
