Ghana’s road infrastructure must prioritise pedestrian safety

Matilda Ohenewaa Bekoe, a PhD candidate at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at New Mexico State University, is urging the Ghanaian government to prioritize pedestrian safety in the design and construction of road infrastructure. According to Bekoe, pedestrians regularly face issues like missing or discontinuous sidewalks, open drains, unpaved shoulders, parked vehicles, and other obstructions while navigating busy roads.

The researcher, who focuses on active mobility and transportation policy, made these remarks during an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA).

Bekoe emphasized that while pedestrian fatalities have been attributed to individual behavior, the role of inadequate infrastructure often goes unnoticed. She pointed out, "There is something fundamentally wrong with a transportation system that guarantees continuous space for vehicles while forcing pedestrians to improvise." She further explained, "A road cannot be considered complete merely because vehicles move smoothly.

If a child cannot safely cross it, if an older person cannot comfortably walk beside it, and if a wheelchair user cannot navigate it, then it is incomplete."

Bekoe called for a deliberate shift towards constructing or upgrading existing road infrastructure to ensure pedestrian safety. She insisted that cities, which are continuously expanding, should integrate sidewalks, safe crossings, curb ramps, cycling facilities, and traffic calming measures from the initial stages of road projects, drawing inspiration from Kigali's approach to integrating non-motorized transport into urban planning.

This strategy would necessitate dedicated funding, clear accountability, and the protection of pedestrian space from obstructions.

Bekoe stressed that Ghana does not need to halt road construction, but rather, it needs to reconsider its approach to ensure that the people inside vehicles are not the only ones being prioritized.