Hundreds of commuters faced hours of agonising delay and frustration on Saturday morning after the Cape Coast–Winneba stretch of the N1 highway was completely paralysed by a traffic accident.
A commercial vehicle carrying a large consignment of soft drinks overturned, effectively blocking a major section of the critical national corridor.
The incident, which occurred early in the day, created a massive gridlock that left hundreds of vehicles—including intercity buses, commercial haulers, and private cars—stranded along both the Accra-bound and Cape Coast-bound lanes for over three hours.
The severity of the congestion was amplified by the near-total absence of formal traffic management or emergency services at the scene for an extended period. The critical failure in response forced ordinary citizens to intervene and manually manage the escalating chaos.
“There were virtually no security or emergency personnel at the scene to direct traffic, forcing some travellers to step out of their vehicles to help manage the situation.”
This lack of prompt coordination on the N1—a key artery of Ghana’s national road network that handles an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles daily—drew immediate and angry condemnation from frustrated commuters.
Travellers expressed deep frustration over the avoidable delays and called for a systemic review of emergency protocols:
“Commuters expressed frustration over the delays and called for a quicker response from traffic management and emergency services to avoid similar occurrences, especially on such a busy N1 highway corridor.”
The incident highlights the logistical challenge of securing fast response times on major inter-regional routes, particularly those far from metropolitan centres.
Despite the initial collapse in official response, the situation was eventually brought under control through citizen action.
“Some security personnel using the road joined to ease the congestion.”
These off-duty officers, alongside frustrated civilian drivers, worked to establish temporary diversion points and coordinate the removal of the wreckage. The vehicle, which had spilled its highly visible soft drink cargo, was later cleared, allowing traffic to slowly resume.