Hundreds of passengers heading to destinations across Ghana from Cape Coast, have since Friday, December 19, through Sunday, December 21, found themselves stranded at major transport hubs in that city.
The Ghana News Agency observed long, winding queues snaking through transport stations including the Ford, Tantri, Pedu and Shell as frustrated travellers waited hours for vehicles amid severe traffic congestion.
The crisis stems from a perfect storm of factors including the University of Cape Coast’s (UCC) graduation ceremonies which started on Monday, December 16, flooding the city with people and vehicles, overwhelming the roads.
The situation had been compounded by the vacation of Senior High Schools, with students joining long queues to go back home.
The traffic jam had built up from UCC’s East Gate, stretching through Pedu Junction to Aggrey Memorial Senior High and terminated at the outskirts of Yamoransa near the Biriwa barrier.
Many passengers, desperate to reach Accra and other cities, stood motionless by the roadside, anxiously waving down scarce vehicles.
Station Managers grappled with overflow, particularly at the Total lorry station, where the manager, Mr Kwame Asare described the scene as unprecedented.
“It’s like a river bursting its banks. The passengers are pouring in faster than we can transport them.
“We’ve never seen queues this long; it’s a full-blown emergency on wheels,” Mr Asare said.
At Tantri, Mr Samuel Okyere, the station manager, said the vehicular and human traffic began Thursday, December 18, turning the area into a sea of weary faces by dawn.
He outlined plans to alleviate the pressure: “We’re coordinating with extra drivers from nearby stations and urged passengers to book ahead via apps.
“By evening, we hope to clear at least half these lines and get everyone moving safely,” he said.
Among the crowd were Mr Kofi Armah, a trader from Kumasi, who vented his frustration over the lack of vehicles.
“I’ve been here for 0600 hours, but this traffic is a thief stealing my day. My goods are getting spoilt in the heat while I stand here,” Armah lamented.
Ms Adwoa Boateng, a nurse travelling to Takoradi, echoed the sentiment with her ordeal, saying: “No cars, no mercy from this jam, my shift starts tomorrow, but I’m trapped in this vehicular prison with no end in sight.”
One particularly harrowing case involved a passenger by name young Yaw Mensah, who attended a UCC graduation on Thursday but failed to secure transport and had to return to campus to spend the night there.
“Graduation joy turned to nightmare; I walked back to UCC campus hoping to get a bus along the way, ” Mensah recounted.
Some drivers pointed accusing fingers at the ongoing construction on the Kasoa-Winneba stretch of the Accra-Takoradi highway for prolonging travel times amid the heavy traffic surge.
A driver, Nana Osei, stuck in the snarl, fumed, “this Kasoa mess has turned a two-hour trip into a full-day torture with dust everywhere and passengers piling up like forgotten luggage.