Deteriorated State of the Lower VOLTA Bridge- Fix the Bridge NOW!!

The Lower Volta Bridge is one of the country’s busiest because of its location on the strategic East ECOWAS Highway and links Ghana to neighbouring countries such as Togo, Benin, Nigeria and beyond. It is located on the National Road One (N1) which connects the Volta and Greater Accra regions.

The Lower Volta Bridge popularly known as the Sogakope bridge located in the South Tongu district of the Volta Region has developed into a death trap following the fast deterioration of expansion and contraction joints on the bridge.

Motorists, especially motorbike riders (Okada), face grave danger as the rubber insulators covering the metals have worn out and exposed the metals to the elements of weather leading to wear and tear.

The state of the bridge now is such that one would feel violent shakes at sections of the bridge that when vehicles pass by, the surface of the bridge is uneven and in poor structural condition, iron bars in the joints of the bridge are rusted and the rubber bands holding them together falling to pieces.

To make matters worse, all the streetlights on the bridge are not working.

We consider it would be improper to post the Petition on the Platform, that would be tantamount to making public the communication to Mr President even before he receives it. Bad protocol.

It is not amiss however to highlight the core issues of the Petition for which we are collecting these signatures .

These include:

a. Our grievances as a Community losing our youth in avoidable accidents on the Bridge due to negligence in maintenance.

b. Our request that the 'death spot' be fixed with dispatch

c. That Mr President directs the appropriate Authority to delegate its officials to meet with our Community Leaders for a holistic discussion on our Community's views as regards the maintenance of the bridge.

d. An appeal that Government consider dedicating a fraction of the Toll collected at the Bridge Head for the regular maintenance of the Bridge.

We remain focused that we shall march en masse as an aggrieved community to present the Petition to the DCE for onward delivery to Mr President.

We crave your indulgence to sign this petition to support the advocacy to #FixTheSogakopeBridgeNOW!!

Signed

Concerned Citizens of South Tongu