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Five footbridges and two pelican traffic lights have been proposed for the George Walker Bush Highway in Accra, which is also referred to as the N1. The bridges will be at the Kwashieman, Awoshie, Dzorwulu, Abeka Lapaz and Apenkwa sections of the highway, while the traffic lights will be positioned at the Dzorwulu and Lapaz sections. These are intended to minimise the spate of accidents and loss of lives on the highway constructed under the first phase of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) compact. This was stated on the floor of Parliament by the Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Isaac Adjei Mensah, in response to a question posed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Okaikwei Central, Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah, on what the ministry was doing to ensure pedestrian safety on the highway, especially on the Abeka Lapaz section. Minister on leave There was, however, an animated debate on whether the substantive Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Amin Amidu Sulemani, who was in Parliament but declined to answer the questions on his ministry because he was on leave, was right in stating so. It was after the minister had said he was only in Parliament in his capacity as the MP for Sisala West and the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, had proposed that the minister's deputy could step in for him if he had been delegated to do so, that the House agreed that Mr Mensah should stand in. In his submission to Parliament, the deputy minister who is also the MP for Wassa East, said in addition to the provision of fencing and installation of traffic signals, five additional footbridges had been proposed at different locations including Abeka Lapaz. "In view of the urgency of the Abeka Lapaz situation, a procurement process for the additional footbridge is currently in progress," he said. He stated further that a contractor had been engaged to undertake the installation of a traffic light with a pelican phase to link the two trotro stations at Abeka, which were expected to be completed by September this year. "A pelican crossing is being placed at Dzorwulu. It will be powered by the end of July. Similar interventions are being carried out at the Kwashieman and the Awoshie junctions of the road. We have programmed to provide directional signs at the approaches of the entries and exits of the interchange," he said. Asked for more details on the footbridges and traffic lights, Mr Mensah said bids had so far been received and the next phase was to select a contractor for the footbridges. He promised the House that he would need a month to submit concrete details, and gave the name of the contractor working on the traffic lights as Facol Roads Limited. Work on other roads Earlier, other MPs posed questions on other roads in the country. The MP for Kumawu, Mr Philip Basoah, sought to find out the plans the Roads and Highways Ministry had put in place to improve the road network in Sekyere, with particular reference to the one from Sekyere to Oyoko. The MP for Afigya Sekyere East, Mr Hennric David Yeboah, also asked when the Agona-Boaman and Boanim-Amenase roads would be tarred. It was nonetheless the MP for Asunafo North, Mr Robert Sarfo-Mensah�s question on the status of work on the Mim Town roads project that attracted most attention from the House. According to the deputy minister for Roads and Highways, although the second phase of the project was started on December 19, 2012 and was scheduled to end on December 18, 2015, only 35 per cent of the work had been completed. He said in view of that, the contractor had been cautioned to speed up work to complete the �laying of base course work and bitumen surfacing and upgrade of another 2.3km of the town roads up to subbase level including drainage works.� In answer to queries from the House, Mr Mensah said the bitumen surfacing �will be subject to financial availability. He also said the contractor had not been asked to sign a performance bond because the project had not been terminated.