Urban, Planning and Transport Research

An Open Access Journal

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rupt20

Road safety benefits and challenges associated

with pedestrian footbridge patronage along the
Madina-Adenta highway

James Damsere-Derry & Nicholas Anarfi Bofah

To cite this article: James Damsere-Derry & Nicholas Anarfi Bofah (2023) Road safety
benefits and challenges associated with pedestrian footbridge patronage along the
Madina-Adenta highway, Urban, Planning and Transport Research, 11:1, 2193240, DOI:
10.1080/21650020.2023.2193240

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/21650020.2023.2193240

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa

UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis
Group.

Published online: 24 Mar 2023.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 641

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rupt20
URBAN, PLANNING AND TRANSPORT RESEARCH
2023, VOL. 11, NO. 1, 2193240
https://doi.org/10.1080/21650020.2023.2193240

Road safety benefits and challenges associated with

pedestrian footbridge patronage along the Madina-Adenta
highway
James Damsere-Derry and Nicholas Anarfi Bofah
Transportation Engineering Division, CSIR-Building & Road Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Pedestrian fatalities constitute a fourth of all road deaths in Ghana. Received 24 January 2023
Footbridges are recent countermeasures deployed to improve Accepted 15 March 2023
pedestrians’ safety in Ghana. The main objectives of the research KEYWORDS
were to: (i) identify the lapses on the footbridges and their effects Footbridges; pedestrians’
on pedestrian crossing behavior in the vicinity of the edifices, (ii) safety; vulnerable road users;
explore the reasons why pedestrians do not use the footbridges pedestrians’ behavior;
and, (iii) evaluate the road safety impact of the footbridges on speeding vehicles;
pedestrian safety. Naturalistic observations and peak-hour pedes­ pedestrians’ fatality
trian counts on the footbridges and within the vicinities of the
facilities were carried out. Focus group discussions were also con­
ducted to understand pedestrian crossing and walking behavior at
the footbridges. Lastly, pedestrian casualties were analyzed for 3
years before and after the bridge construction. There were 165
pedestrian casualties along the highway section. Of these, 29%
were fatal while 40% of the victims were hospitalized for at least 24-
hours. Many pedestrians still cross the multilane-highway at grade.
The main reasons for non-use of the bridges include heights,
lengths, security, poor illumination and hawking. Pedestrian injuries
have significantly declined during the after period compared with
the before period. Findings have implications for road safety educa­
tion and siting of future footbridges.

Introduction
Pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users all over the world. The proportion of
pedestrians among road crash casualties is highest in developing countries compared to
the advanced countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), pedes­
trian fatalities constitute about 23% of all road deaths in the world but 40% of road
fatalities in Africa (WHO, 2018, p. 11). In fact, over the past decade, pedestrian fatalities
constitute about 40% of all road user deaths in Ghana (Building & Road Research
Institute, 2021).
Haddon, one of the pioneers of injury epidemiology indicated that environmental
modification is key to traffic crash prevention (Haddon, 1973). He enumerates the

CONTACT James Damsere-Derry jdamserederry@yahoo.com Transportation Engineering Division, CSIR-Building

& Road Research Institute, UPO Box 40, Kumasi, Ghana
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or
with their consent.
2 J. DAMSERE-DERRY AND N. A. BOFAH

preventive strategies in what he calls countermeasures of injury prevention. According to

Haddon, the fifth preventive strategy for road injuries is to separate road users in time
and space. Separating in space for pedestrians’ safety includes sidewalks, footbridges and
bypasses (removal of vehicles and their pathways from communities). Haddon’s con­
ceptual model has shaped the sphere of injury prevention especially road safety. In
particular, extant literature have recommended the integration of requisite infrastructure
such as sidewalks and footbridges into road construction to improve pedestrian safety in
Ghana (Damsere Derry et al., 2010, 2017). This is because the main causes of pedestrian
injuries in Ghana and many developing economies include excessive speeding (Damsere
Derry et al., 2008, 2010), exposure (depending on walking as a mode of transport and
increasing motorization) and general lack of pedestrians’ infrastructure (Damsere Derry
et al., 2017).
Although pedestrian infrastructure are generally lacking in Ghana, the Madina-
Adenta stretch of the National Route 4 (N4) is an exception. This road stretch which
was recently retrofitted is an epitome of a best practice of highway engineering through
built-up areas. The highway is a 10 to 12 multilane road which beautifully integrates
pedestrian footbridges and sidewalks into its construction. Completion and opening of
the road to traffic was done stepwise. Therefore, when the road was opened to traffic
while the footbridges were not completed, there was a public outcry demanding for the
immediate completion of these facilities due to the rampant pedestrian collisions on the
multilane road. Violent demonstrations erupted in this community to demand for the
completion of the footbridges (Citi Newsroom, 2019; Obeng Bediako, 2021).
Nonetheless, upon completion, only a few pedestrians have been patronizing the foot­
bridges (Annang, 2019; Asabea Akonnor, 2019; Ntim Adomaa, 2021). This situation
stimulated the deployment of police and wire-meshed fencing of the highways to force
pedestrians to use the footbridges (Donkor, 2022; Ntim Adomaa, 2021; Obeng Bediako,
2021). To the best of our knowledge, limited research has been carried out to evaluate the
impact of these countermeasures on pedestrian behavior and safety on this road section.
Three main objectives were investigated in this research. Firstly, we sought to identify
the lapses on the footbridges and their effects on pedestrian crossing behavior within the
vicinity of the facilities. Secondly, the research sought to understand and explore the
reasons why pedestrians do not use the footbridges. The third objective of this research
was to evaluate the road safety impact of the footbridges on pedestrian injury frequencies
and severity.

Methodology
The research was conducted at the Madina-Adenta portion of the National Route 4 (N4).
This road stretches for 4.7 km and traverses the community on a north-south axis.
Characteristically, the road is a multi-laned dual carriageway with each half consisting
of three to four lane carriageways and two service lanes. Therefore, crossing this highway
from east to west, requires crossing 10 to 12 lanes depending on location. There is
a predominantly concrete median with intermittent openings and metallic crash barriers.
Currently, wire-meshed fencing of the highway to prevent pedestrians from crossing
anyhow at grade on the roadway is in progress. But during the data collection period
(June 2022), the fencing was only half-way completed.
 URBAN, PLANNING AND TRANSPORT RESEARCH 3

Naturalistic observations were conducted on the road section between January and
June 2022. A-one-day morning and afternoon peak-hours (6:00 am to 9:00 am and 3:00
pm to 6:00 pm) pedestrian counting was conducted at the footbridges and 50 m upstream
and downstream of the bridges to find out about the proportion of pedestrians patronizing
and jaywalking around the road sections. Also, two short videos of 10 min long were recorded
at the access points of each side of the Zongo Junction footbridge. The videos were analyzed
to find out which access types are preferred when both the ramps and stairs are provided.
Six-year crash statistics for the road section: 3 years before (2015 to 2017) and 3 years
after (2018 to 2020) the construction of the footbridges were analyzed to find out about
the differences in fatality and injury rates during the two-time spans. The two-time spans
of 3 years each were chosen because at the time of analysis, crash data were available for
only 3-years ‘after period’. Therefore, to get an equal timeframe for comparison, a three-
year before crash data were used. The crash database is based on police reports on road
crash injuries. Each year, the BRRI collect and collate road crash injuries for the National
Road Safety Authority (NRSA) of Ghana. These data are stored in the Microcomputer
Accident Analysis Package (MAAP) software developed by the Transport Research
Laboratory (TRL). A standard form also developed by TRL is used to extract accident
circumstances data from the police files and transferred onto the MAAP software for
analyses. Data stored in the software can be queried and analyzed in various formats
including; cross-tabulations, kilometer analyses and stick diagram analyses. A fatal
casualty is one in which death occurred within a thirty-day period after the crash.
Hospitalized casualty injuries on the other hand are those in which the road crash victims
are hospitalized for at least a 24-h period while minor injuries are those in which the
crash victims were treated and discharged for slight injuries without spending a night in
the hospital after a road crash. Just like many crash databases, there are some inherent
underreporting associated with the Ghana’s crash database. According to research,
underreporting levels are 0% for fatal crashes, 8% for hospitalized injuries and 57% for
property damaged crashes (Salifu & Ackaah, 2012).
Lastly, two focus group discussions were conducted to ascertain pedestrians’ behavior
such as hawking and jaywalking around the footbridges. The focus groups took place at
the La-Nkwantanan-Madina Municipal Assembly. Each meeting session lasted for 60
min and consisted of 10 participants from different backgrounds. Some of the partici­
pants were police, fire service, market women, teachers, drivers and assembly men.

Results
Pedestrian crossing behavior and lapses in the construction of the footbridges were
observed and reported herein.

Observation of pedestrian behavior around the foot bridges

The observations made at the footbridges revealed that many pedestrians are still cross­
ing the highway at unapproved portions thereby endangering their lives.
It was observed that fencing the highway with wire-meshed devices has com­
menced at various locations. The idea of the barricade is to fence the highway and
prevent pedestrians from crossing anyhow around the pedestrian overpasses. Figure 1
4 J. DAMSERE-DERRY AND N. A. BOFAH

Figure 1. Sequence of pedestrians jaywalking at the Madina-Adenta Highway.

shows how pedestrians use the end of the wire-meshed fence to cross the road at
unapproved locations near the footbridges. Note that the red arrow in Figure 1a
marks the end of the wire-meshed fence. The jaywalkers cross the roads stepwise by
first sitting on the concrete median of the near side, observe if approaching vehicles
are speeding or further away and run or walk quickly to cross to the far side of the
carriageways. Figure 1a-d illustrates the various phases of pedestrians’ actions at this
unproved crossing point.
Unlike earlier reports which indicated that the number of persons waiting to cross the
road at signalized intersections has an effect on pedestrian crossing behavior particularly
their speeds (Bendak et al., 2021), our observations revealed that pedestrians utilized the
safety gaps in the oncoming traffic to make their crossing decisions. Typically, in a group
attempting to cross the road, some may run, walk fast or slowly depending on their own
hazard perceptions. Individuals crossing decisions are therefore independent of the other
pedestrians who are also trying to cross.
Additionally, though the highway fencing is ongoing, there was evidence of
unscrupulous people vandalizing portions of this barricade. When nearby shop
owners were asked why people are destroying the fence, they cited two reasons;
first to create unapproved paths and second to steal the metals for scraps and other
purposes.
 URBAN, PLANNING AND TRANSPORT RESEARCH 5

Lapses in construction of the footbridges and their impact on pedestrian

movements
The main lapses observed at the precincts of the footbridges include incompleteness of
the devices, discontinuity of sidewalks linking the footbridges, and the existing of
redundant crosswalk markings and signs.
Apart from the Zongo Junction footbridge which has three entry points
namely: only ramp, only stairways; and stairways and ramp, all the other foot­
bridges had only ramps. Though provisions for stairs at each footbridge were
earmarked, they were not completed at the time of our observations. Figure 2
illustrates the uncompleted stairs part of one of the footbridges. Figure 2(a,b) are
the top and ground views respectively of an uncompleted arm of one of the
footbridges. Similarly, sidewalks at the feet of the overpasses were generally not
sealed. Due to this discontinuity, pedestrians landing from the footbridges
encounter discomfort in linking to the sidewalks.
Another major lapse observed at the vicinities of the footbridges were redundant zebra
crossing signs and markings. As shown in Figure 3, these markings predated the con­
struction of the footbridges (Note that the red arrows show marked crosswalks which
need to be erased). Apparently, these markings and signs are creating wrong impressions
on pedestrian crossing behavior. These places were the locations hitherto designated for
pedestrians’ crossing prior to the bridge construction. As it were, road users have been
preconditioned to cross the highway at grade using these locations. Consequently, some
pedestrians still think that these crosswalks are alternatives to the overpasses thereby
predisposing them to cross at grade and consequently, get knocked down.

A video observation of pedestrians’ preference for footbridge stairways and ramps

accesses
A snapshot video analysis obtained from a Phantom-4 Advanced Drone showing the
Zongo Junction footbridge where both stairs and ramps are present indicates that

Figure 2. Uncompleted Stairs of a footbridge in Madina-Adenta Highway.

6 J. DAMSERE-DERRY AND N. A. BOFAH

Figure 3. Redundant pedestrian crosswalks under a footbridge at the Madina- Adenta Highway.

pedestrians prefer using the stairways to the ramps because the latter are comparably
shorter. A 95:5 percent ratio was obtained for stairway usage versus ramp usage indicat­
ing a high preference for the stairs. It is therefore unfair to leave the stair portion
uncompleted since many pedestrians will generally prefer using these accesses.

Challenges and reasons why pedestrians do not patronize footbridges

The focus group component of the research was used to complement and validate
findings from the naturalistic observation carried out at the footbridges. This component
sought to understand why some pedestrians do not patronize the facilities and how
patronage of the facilities could be improved. Generally, participants were of the view
that crossing the roadway is a daily routine for residents of Madina-Adenta. Discussants
were of the view that an average adult will typically cross the highway about six times in
a day. However, market women will do more crossings than the average resident. They
indicated that pedestrians prefer crossing the multilane road at grade unless restricted by
the police or wire-meshed fences. It is only when police or fence is present that
pedestrians may patronize the footbridges. The major reasons why pedestrians do not
use these footbridges are discussed below.
Firstly, inconvenience is a major determinant of pedestrians’ non-use of the foot­
bridges. Pedestrians expressed worry about the presence of street hawkers and beggars
who have covered much space of the footbridges. Apart from obstructing free move­
ments, traders and beggars through their routine activities leave their messes on the
overpasses thus rendering the facilities unattractive. It was further indicated that the
footbridges are too long and windy. To pedestrians, it takes too long a time to access and
cross from one side of the bridge to the other. Residents of the Madina-Adenta commu­
nity have nicknamed the footbridges temple runs. A temple run is an android game which
 URBAN, PLANNING AND TRANSPORT RESEARCH 7

has a beginning and seems not to have any end. This makes them to prefer darting into
the highway in a bit to access the other side of the community, thereby endangering their
lives.
Again, the participants claim that some pedestrians fear heights and are not conver­
sant and comfortable with walking on such new edifices. Therefore, they prefer to cross
the multilane highway at grade. The people also claim that locations of bus stops are
further away from the footbridges. Therefore, when they disembark from buses, it takes
them too long a walk to access the footbridges.
Also, it came up in the focus group discussion that insecurity is another reason why
pedestrians do not use the footbridges in the Madina-Adenta community. Pedestrians
mentioned that there are frequent robberies particularly at nighttime during which
thieves snatch bags and cellphones on top of the footbridges. The pedestrians said that
the robbers who usually operate in multiples; at least 2 behave as if they are also
patronizing the bridges and trap their unsuspecting victims in the middle of the bridges
and violently take the valuable belongings of pedestrians. The fact that there are no lights
on the facilities is another hindrance to pedestrians’ nonuse of the footbridges especially
at nighttime. Coupled with no lights, participants also indicated that the display of
billboards and advertisement banners on the footbridges obscures them and increases
the insecurity of pedestrians, especially at nighttime during which only a few people are
typically around.

Ways to improve footbridge usage

It was gathered from the focus group discussions that improvement on the patronage of
the footbridges could be attained through road safety education for pedestrians, enforce­
ment of jaywalking laws and enforcement of street hawking laws. It was indicated that the
police and traffic wardens have been deployed to places such as the Zongo Junction and
strategic locations where jaywalking is predominant. This has significantly improved on
patronage of the footbridge. Apparently, pedestrians patronize the footbridges when the
traffic law enforcers are present but revert to jaywalking when they are not present.

Characteristics of the footbridges

As shown in Table 1, the mean height of the bridges is 5 meters (m) while the mean
distance between the footbridges is 620 m (distances) (NB: measurement started from the
West African Senior High School (WASS) footbridge).

Table 1. Characteristics of footbridges along Madina-Adenta highway.

Name of Footbridge Travel distance Height Distances Walking time
Atomic Junction Footbridge Ramp 325 m 5m 700 m 5:11
Zongo Junction Footbridge Ramp 349 m 5m 580 m 4:38
Stairs 108 m 2:17
Ramp & Stairs 175 m 3:27
REDCO Footbridge Ramp 297 m 5m 900 m 4:36
Assemblies Footbridge Ramp 352 m 5m 710 m 4:30
SDA Footbridge Ramp 343 m 5m 834 m 5:10
WASS Footbridge Ramp 353 m 5m 4:47
8 J. DAMSERE-DERRY AND N. A. BOFAH

Table 2. Pedestrians crossing behavior at the footbridges.

Location Pedestrians Actions Male Female Total % Jaywalking
Atomic Junction On footbridge 247 154 401 66.4
Walking along 2641 1962 4603
Jaywalking 429 364 793
Zongo Junction On footbridge 5431 5271 10702 11.9
Walking along 5901 3224 9125
Jaywalking 927 346 1273
REDCO On footbridge 1908 4051 5959 8.4
Walking along 5082 4742 9824
Jaywalking 355 189 544
Assemblies On footbridge 200 207 407 17
Walking along 1354 576 1930
Jaywalking 48 34 82
WASS On footbridge 1649 1647 3296 13.7
Walking along 2499 1855 4354
Jaywalking 394 129 523
SDA On footbridge 654 544 1198 12.4
Walking along 1725 1215 2940
Jaywalking 121 48 169
Total On footbridge 10089 11874 21963 14.3
Walking along 19219 13574 32793
Jaywalking 2412 1251 3663

This implies that in the vicinity of the bridges, a radius of 310 m travelling distance is
required to access a footbridge. It is however important to stress that pedestrians do not
necessarily move as the crow flies. The footbridges have serpentine switchbacks on both
sides of the highway which tend to more than quadruple the crossing distances (walking
time) relative to grade crossing. Depending on where a pedestrian will pass to cross, the
travel distance from one side of the footbridge to the other side range between 108 m and
350 m long.
On the average, it takes about 5 min walking time to cross the footbridges from one
side to the other. Generally, it takes relatively shorter time (a little over 2 min (2:17)) to
cross the footbridge using the stairways compared to about 5 min when using the ramps.
Unfortunately, only the footbridge at Zongo Junction has the stairs component to
complement the ramps thereby depriving pedestrians of any alternative.
As shown in Table 2, 58419 pedestrians were observed in the vicinity of the Madina-
Adenta footbridges. Among these, 56% were walking along the road, 38% were crossing
using the bridges and 14% were jaywalking. Among all the pedestrians who crossed the
road, 90% used the footbridges while 10% jaywalked. This high level of compliance can be
explained by the fact that there were heavy police enforcement at strategic locations and
endings of uncompleted wire-meshed fencing of the highway where pedestrians would
have jaywalked. Generally, females were more likely to cross using the footbridges
compared with their male counterparts: 54% versus 46%, respectively (n = 21,963). On
the contrary, among all pedestrians who were jaywalking (n = 3,663), 66% were males
compared to 34% being females. See Table 2 for details.

Impact of the footbridges on pedestrians’ safety

In order to illustrate the magnitude of road crash fatalities and serious injuries on this
section of the road and how to critically assess the safety performance of the footbridges,
 URBAN, PLANNING AND TRANSPORT RESEARCH 9

Table 3. Distribution of traffic crash fatalities by pedestrians’ action at Madina-

Adenta.
Casualty Injury
Pedestrian action Fatal Hospitalised Injury Total
Crossing Road 62 63 44 169
Walking Along Road 3 24 15 42
Walking along Edge 0 1 4 5
Other 2 7 10 19
Total 67 95 73 235

Table 4. Distribution of casualty injury severity by pedestrians’ action at Madina-Adenta.

Before (2015–2017) After (2018–2020)

Casualty Injury Casualty Injury

Pedestrian Action Fatal Hospitalised Injury Total Fatal Hospitalised Injury Total
Crossing Road 46 26 30 102 16 37 14 67
Walking Along Road 1 8 8 17 2 16 7 25
Walking along edge 0 1 3 4 0 0 1 1
Other 2 2 3 7 0 5 7 12
Total 49 37 44 130 18 58 29 105

the crash statistics for the Madina-Adenta highway were analyzed. Casualty injury
severities were stratified into three levels namely; fatal, hospitalized (serious) injuries
and minor injuries as shown in Table 3.
In total, between 2015 and 2020, there were 235 pedestrian injury casualties at Madina-
Adenta stretch of the N4, a distance of 4.7 km. Among these, 29% (n = 67) were fatal, 40%
(n = 95) resulted in at least 24-h hospitalization and 31% (n = 73) resulted in minor injuries.
Ninety-three percent (93%) of all death occurred while the pedestrians were trying to cross
the highway indicating that crossing the road is inimical to pedestrian safety.
As shown in Table 4, the proportion of pedestrians who died between 2015 and 2017
(before) 39% (n = 49) was significantly higher than the proportion of pedestrians who
died 17% (n = 18) between 2018 and 2020 (after the footbridge construction) p = 0.0003.
Nonetheless, the magnitude of casualties and proportion of pedestrians who died while
crossing the road after the bridge construction leaves much to be desired. For, between
2018 and 2020 era during which the footbridges were available, 64% (n = 67) of all
pedestrian injuries occurred among victims crossing the road. Similarly, 64% (n = 37)
and 89% (n = 18) of hospitalized and fatal injuries respectively occurred when pedes­
trians were crossing the highway.

Discussions
It is important to indicate that footbridges are a fairly new infrastructure in Ghana and that
their appropriate use should be properly guided. From the naturalistic observations, it was
noted that some of the pedestrian crossing signs and crosswalk markings within 50 m radius
of the footbridges are still in place. Therefore, pedestrians who have been conditioned to
crossing at these locations still think that the act of crossing at the hitherto crosswalks are still
allowed and that using the footbridges is merely an alternative. The redundant crosswalks
have become scenes of pedestrian crashes (Asabea Akonnor, 2019). It is therefore
10 J. DAMSERE-DERRY AND N. A. BOFAH

recommended that the redundant crosswalk markings should be defaced and the pedestrian
crossings signs removed as soon as possible to correct this wrong impression.
This research has demonstrated that provision of the crossing facilities alone does not
automatically guarantee ease of crossing and patronage of footbridges. It is an established
fact that some crossing facilities are disliked by pedestrians. This behavior engenders a high
level of illegal crossing of busy highways (Anciaes & Jones, 2018; Demiroz et al., 2015;
Obeng-Atuah et al., 2017; Sinclair & Zuidgeest, 2016). The current study established that
14% of pedestrians crossing the highway were jaywalking. This finding compares better to
the findings by Ojo et al. who established a thirty-one percent non-use of the footbridges
(Ojo et al., 2022). It is important to stress however that the relatively high level of footbridge
patronage in the current studies was attained against the backdrop of highway fencing and
presence of the police at strategic locations. Nonetheless, destruction of road fencing is
a commonplace in Ghana (Donkor, 2022), meaning that the fencing intervention being put
in place is an ephemeral solution. The current study however corroborates earlier findings
that male pedestrians were more likely to jaywalk than their female counterparts (Ojo et al.,
2022). In order to improve patronage, it is important to improve pedestrians’ behavior
through road safety education.
It was also established in the studies that the presence of hawkers and beggars on the
footbridges is a reason for nonuse of the footbridges. This concern is similar to findings by
Pasha et al. (2015) and Banerjee et al. (2020) who indicated in their research that trading
and begging activities narrow stair widths and for that matter the effective walkway widths
and increase mobility friction on footbridges (Banerjee et al., 2020; Pasha et al., 2015).
Some major lapses observed at the footbridges include incomplete portions, especially,
the stairways portions and lack of lights on the facilities. These lapses negatively affect
pedestrians’ security, comfort and behavior. For instance, providing both stairs and
ramps will provide pedestrians with clear choices of crossing options. This arrangement
is particularly essential given the fact that the vast majority of pedestrians typically prefer
using the stairways relative to the ramps wherever the two are present. Also, the sidewalks
adjoining the bridges ought to be completed to form a complete network to ease walking.
Poor lighting situation also increases the level of insecurity on the footbridges because
pedestrians indicated that robbery incidents are high on the facilities at nighttime.
Security over footbridges has also been a major factor for footbridge nonuse in many
jurisdictions (Arellana et al., 2022; Hasan et al., 2020). Therefore, improving the lumi­
nous intensity on the facilities is imperative to improve pedestrians’ security at nighttime
and for that matter increase their patronage of the devices. It will also be beneficial if
police personnel are deployed to beef-up the security on these structures. Closed-circuit
television (CCTV) monitoring particularly at nighttime will facilitate prompt and real-
time responses to security incidence on the overpasses.
While it is legitimate for pedestrians to express concerns about the activities of hawkers
on the bridge, poor lighting, fear of heights, lengths of the overpasses and security issues as
the reasons for nonuse, safety should be the overriding factor to influence pedestrians’
decision to patronize the footbridges. The number of minutes it takes an individual to
access and cross the footbridges safely should be preferred to jaywalking across this multi­
lane-busy highway. Crossing this highway at grade often leads to needless crashes, the
consequence of which may be serious injuries or deaths. It is important to indicate that
pedestrian safety has improved significantly since the completion of the footbridges. The
 URBAN, PLANNING AND TRANSPORT RESEARCH 11

current infrastructure provided for pedestrians in the study area should be able to minimize
pedestrian crashes to the barest minimum if not completely eradicated. Pedestrian crossing
behavior at the precincts of the footbridges leaves much to be desired. In spite of the
deployment of police at strategic crossing and the fact that highway fencing is ongoing,
some pedestrians still cross the multilane-busy highway at grade.

Conclusion
Over the period of observation, patronage of the footbridges has somewhat improved.
Nonetheless, this level of patronage was achieved through coercion and enforcement.
For, police and highway fencing have been deployed at strategic locations to achieve this
level of compliance. Consequently, pedestrians’ safety has significantly improved in the
after period during which these interventions were deployed. The massive capital-
intensive project built on this section of the highway should be able to ameliorate
pedestrians’ injuries to a much more appreciable minimum than the current level.
Road safety education and enforcement should be embarked upon to improve pedes­
trian’ patronage and ensure their safety on the footbridges. In spite of all the reservations
enumerated, pedestrians should be made to appreciate that the overpasses are important
road safety infrastructure whose use cannot be compromised. This study has established
that the provision of engineering countermeasures (footbridges) alone will not necessa­
rily achieve the desired level of footbridge patronage and pedestrians’ injury prevention.
Pedestrians’ education and enforcement should be deployed to bolster patronage and
improve pedestrians’ safety. To achieve this target, pedestrians’ concerns including their
demand for: the provision of lights, improving security, taking away street hawkers from
the bridges and providing stairways should be taken into consideration in promoting
future footbridge use and construction.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

References
Anciaes, P. R., & Jones, P. (2018). Estimating preferences for different types of pedestrian crossing
facilities. Transportation Research: Part F, Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 52, 222–237.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2017.11.025
Annang, E. (Producer). (2019). 40 arraigned before court for failing to use Madina-Adenta
footbridges. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/local/40-
arraigned-before-court-for-failing-to-use-madina-adenta-footbridges/n2gmxlt
Arellana, J., Fernández, S., Figueroa, M., & Cantillo, V. (2022). Analyzing pedestrian behavior
when crossing urban roads by combining RP and SP data. Transportation Research: Part F,
Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 85, 259–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2022.01.012
Asabea Akonnor (Producer). (2019). Pedestrians refuse to use footbridge at Madina. https://www.
ghanabusinessnews.com/2019/09/01/pedestrians-refuse-to-use-new-footbridge-at-madina/
Banerjee, A., Raoniar, R., & Maurya, A. K. (2020). Pedestrian overpass utilization modeling based
on mobility friction, safety and security, and connectivity using machine learning techniques.
Soft Computing, 24(22), 17467–17493. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-020-05277-w
12 J. DAMSERE-DERRY AND N. A. BOFAH

Bendak, S., Alnaqbi, A. M., Alzarooni, M. Y., Aljanaahi, S. M., & Alsuwaidi, S. J. (2021). Factors
affecting pedestrian behaviors at signalized crosswalks: An empirical study. Journal of Safety
Research, 76, 269–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2020.12.019
Building & Road Research Institute. (2021). Road Traffic Crashes in Ghana, Statistics 2020.
Citi Newsroom (Producer). (2019). Madina: Pedestrians still refusing to use footbridges despite
police arrests. Retrieved July 11, 2022, from https://citinewsroom.com/2019/11/madina-
pedestrians-still-refusing-to-use-footbridges-despite-police-arrests/
Damsere Derry, J., Afukaar, F. K., Donkor, P., & Mock, C. (2008). Assessment of vehicle speeds on
different categories of roadways in Ghana. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety
Promotion, 15(2), 83–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457300802048096
Damsere Derry, J., Ebel, B., Mock, C., Afukaar, F., & Donkor, P. (2010). Pedestrians’ injury
patterns in Ghana. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 42(4), 1080–1088. https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.aap.2009.12.016
Damsere Derry, J., Palk, G., & King, M. (2017). Road accident fatality risks for “vulnerable” versus
“protected” road users in northern Ghana. Traffic Injury Prevention, 18(7), 736–743. https://doi.
org/10.1080/15389588.2017.1302083
Demiroz, Y., Onelcin, P., & Alver, Y. (2015). Illegal road crossing behavior of pedestrians at
overpass locations: Factors affecting gap acceptance, crossing times and overpass use. Accident
Analysis & Prevention, 80, 220–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2015.04.018
Donkor, J. (Producer). (2022). Wire mesh fence in median of George Walker Bush Highway
stolen. Retrieved July 18, 2022, from https://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/wire-mesh-fence-in-
median-of-george-walker-bush-highway-stolen/
Haddon, W., Jr. (1973). Energy damage and the ten countermeasure strategies. Human Factors, 15
(4), 355–366. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872087301500407
Hasan, R., Oviedo-Trespalacios, O., & Napiah, M. (2020). An intercept study of footbridge users
and non-users in Malaysia. Transportation Research: Part F, Traffic Psychology and Behaviour,
73, 66–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2020.05.011
Ntim Adomaa, P. (Producer). (2021). Pedestrians forced to use footbridge at Madina-Adenta
foootbridge. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://www.gbcghanaonline.com/travel-and-
tour/pedestrians-forced-to-use-madina-adenta-footbridge/2021/
Obeng-Atuah, D., Poku-Boansi, M., & Cobbinah, P. B. (2017). Pedestrian crossing in urban
Ghana: Safety implications. Journal of Transport & Health, 5, 55–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
jth.2016.06.007
Obeng Bediako, R. (Producer). (2021). Madina footbridge: Police drill stubborn pedestrians for
jaywalking. https://www.modernghana.com/news/1072009/madina-footbridge-police-drill-
stubborn-pedestria.html
Ojo, T. K., Baffour Appiah, A., Obiri-Yeboah, A., Adebanji, A. O., Donkor, P., & Mock, C. (2022).
Structural equation modeling of pedestrian behavior at footbridges in Ghana. International
Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 29(4), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457300.
2022.2081984
Pasha, M. M., Rifaat, S. M., Hasnat, A., & Rahman, I. (2015). Pedestrians’ behaviour on road
crossing facilities. Jurnal Teknologi, 73(4). https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v73.4292
Salifu, M., & Ackaah, W. (2012). Under-reporting of road traffic crash data in Ghana. International
Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 19(4), 331–339. https://doi.org/10.1080/
17457300.2011.628752
Sinclair, M., & Zuidgeest, M. (2016). Investigations into pedestrian crossing choices on Cape Town
freeways. Transportation Research: Part F, Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 42, 479–494.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2015.07.006
WHO. (2018). Global status report on road safety-2018.