The Director-General of the Department of Urban Roads, James Oduro Amoo-Gottfried, says the local roads component of the Suame Interchange Phase Two project will be completed and opened to traffic by October 2026.

He said the completion of the phase would provide alternative routes for motorists and help ease congestion in the Suame area.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ engagement in Kumasi, Ing. Amoo-Gottfried said work on both phases of the Suame Interchange project was progressing steadily.

He explained that Phase One involves construction of the main multi-tier interchange, including an overpass from the Suame Roundabout to Abrepo Junction and the widening of the road along the Western Bypass.

Phase Two covers about 15 kilometres of local roads within the project’s area of influence and is almost complete, he said.

The second phase includes three overpasses at Anomangye, New Road and Ebusuakruwa.

Ing. Amoo-Gottfried said Phase Two was being completed ahead of Phase One to provide alternative routes for motorists when construction works on the main interchange begin.

“Phase Two is almost complete, and hopefully by the end of October, we would have opened the road to traffic and allowed people to use it,” he said.

He added that the overpasses would improve northbound traffic movement and provide additional routes for motorists.

On the main corridor between the Suame Roundabout and Abrepo Junction, the Director-General said the road would be widened to increase vehicular capacity and ease congestion.

He said a grade-separated underpass would also be constructed at Abrepo Junction, one of the busiest points along the corridor.

Traffic from Bantama and the hospital area would pass underneath the junction directly towards Abrepo, while vehicles using the bypass would continue at ground level, he explained.

“Between Suame Roundabout and Abrepo Junction, we’ll widen the road to allow for more vehicles. But most importantly, at Abrepo Junction, which is a heavily congested area, we are going to grade-separate it and create an underpass.

“So when you are coming from Bantama, the hospital area, you go under straight to the Abrepo area. But when you are on the bypass, you’ll be on a level ground.”

Ing. Amoo-Gottfried also addressed concerns over traders and other structures located within the project’s right of way.

He said persons operating within the affected areas were there on a temporary basis and that the Suame Municipal Assembly would engage them to facilitate their relocation and allow construction works to proceed.

“We have engaged the Assembly, and the Assembly will deal with them. For some of them, the Assembly is the one that had the arrangement for them to be there temporarily.

“So the Assembly will deal with them to move out, so that we can do the work. The time is now for us to do it, so that we can all be comfortable. It’s almost immediate,” he stated.

The completion of Phase Two is expected to provide alternative routes for motorists and reduce pressure on the existing road network as work on the main interchange progresses.