While the government, through the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, deserves commendation for providing us with an impressive urban road network, which has no doubt eased the horrible traffic congestion that motorists used to be confronted with, particularly within the Greater Banjul Area. There are however some important structural issues that need to be urgently addressed if the general public is to reap maximum benefits from the road network. For instance, it is hard to understand why the authorities had not seen the need to include in the contract the provision of footbridges across the six-lane 22-kilometre Bertil Harding highway that pedestrians can use to cross from one side of the highway to the other.
Instead, they had to resort to erecting speed bumps and zebra crossings. With the billions of Dalasis spent on constructing the highway, it would have made more sense if they had at least included a few footbridges at strategic locations to allow the free flow of traffic rather, than motorists being required to put up with frequent speed bumps and zebra crossings. Which is hardly seen anywhere else in the world. It is also hard to understand why the National Roads Authority (NRA) has not seen the need to erect footbridges in certain areas within the Greater Banjul Area, to bring sanity within the urban transport system, which presently, is quite chaotic.
For instance, it is quite an irritation and a nightmare for motorists plying that stretch of the road between Tabokoto and the Westfield Junction during the morning rush hour, and after offices close in the evening, with pedestrians crisscrossing from every angle of the road. If there were footbridges, that would have reduced the problem that both pedestrians and motorists are constantly confronted with.
Therefore, failure to provide even a single footbridge anywhere on that road is an apparent indication of the NRA’s lack of regard for the welfare of motorists and pedestrians. We can recall that the few footbridges in the Greater Banjul Area that were serving the public quite well when the traffic was not as heavy as it is today but they were all eventually dismantled, apparently for any justifiable reason. It is hard to understand, with much heavier traffic today, why the NRA has not seen the need to provide footbridges in strategic areas like markets and other busy intersections.
