By Fatima Anafu-Astanga
Bolgatanga, Oct. 21, GNA- Mr Philip Samini, the Upper East Regional Highways Director says poor building plans and private developments are fast interfering with the road network, making it difficult to plan road interconnectivity.
He said that was affecting the link between development and planning as development was moving faster than planning, thus hindering the proper Planning of the towns and cities.
He said the speed of development of land by people for housing purposes also hindered the needed drawings expected of Town and Country planning and for well laid out maps that determine where roads and other social amenities could be directed.
The Highways Director who made this known in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga also outlined some challenges of roads on contracts in the Upper East Region that were at various stages of completion notably the Bolga -Bawku- Pulmakum roads.
He said there were still communities that were not properly connected to the highways and hoped that engineers that would take over from him, when he retired, would work to ensure cut off roads in communities were properly linked.
He said efforts were being made to ensure that Bolgatanga was properly connected to the East on Bawku –Pulmakum, to the West, North and south and noted that cut off communities such as Bazua, Tampeisi and Gozeisi needed to be linked to the highways so that communities that had nothing to do with the highways would have alternative roads to use.
According to him, it was designed that Bolgatanga would receive a bypass for communities that had nothing to do with the highways, to have alternative roads from Winkongo through Tongo, to Dakote, or Sekote to the Nangodi junction, linking to Bawku without passing through the Bolgatanga Township.
He said from Pwalugu it was possible to reduce travelling time to Navrongo in the Kassena Nankana Municipality by linking through the logistics quarry without going through the Bolgatanga town but stressed that it required a construction of a bridge since the old road also needed improvement.
He called for a roundabout to be built in Bolgatanga, saying it was important for the Township to have one.
GNA