Traffic Lights At 44 Intersections In Accra To Be Modernised

Monday March 01, 2010
By Lawrence Akpalu

THE Department of Urban Roads is to replace the signal heads of traffic lights at 44 intersections in Accra with Light Emitting Diodes (LED).

LED is an energy efficient bulb powered by an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) device that can store electricity for about 48 hours whenever there is a power cut.

The department will also install an “Areas Wide Panel Traffic Control System that will capture details of vehicles that jump traffic lights and those which commit other traffic offences at the intersections.

Dr. Daniel Darku, Director of the Department of Urban Roads, who made these known to the Times on Thursday, said the change was in line with the Ministry of Energy’s policy to phase out the in candescent bulbs currently in use at the intersections.

He said the LED bulbs were energy efficient and consumed about 10 per cent of electrical current as compared to the candescent bulbs that consumed more than 60 per cent current.

He said the Area Wide Panel traffic control system to be installed on the traffic lights would have a central monitoring point that would capture details of vehicular movements at the intersections.

The practice of motorists, committing traffic offences such as knocking down traffic lights and overspeed to jump the red lights would be a thing of the past,” he added.

No policeman, he said, would have to chase any driver again as the control system would capture every detail of the vehicle thus making it easy for personnel of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit and the police to apprehend the offenders.

Dr. Darku said any driver arrested for any such acts would be dealt with according to the law.

He appealed to drivers to avoid knocking down traffic lights saying they were very expensive.

The Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Highway Authority, Nobert Quarmor, said the initiative would help protect life and property.

He said in the past it was difficult to establish whether incidents at the traffic lights were purely by accident and noted that now the traffic control systems would capture everything that happened at the intersections.

Mr. Quarmor said anyone who damaged any traffic warning system would be made to pay for it.

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