TO enable travellers plying the Lagos-Ibadan expressway enjoy hassle-free movements to their various destinations in the country during the yuletide period, the contractor handling the rehabilitation of the gateway route has suspended works on the highway.
The Director, Southwest Federal Ministry of Works, Adedamola Kuti, confirmed the development, today, in a telephone conversation with NaijaTimes.
Commuters travelling along the route have continued to lament man-hours wasted on the road due to the heavy traffic from Magboro axis to OPIC/Kara Bridge inward Lagos on the expressway.
The traffic lock jams which is as a result of the construction work have been quite benumbing, and as the situation remained unsolved with no alternative measures to lessen the suffering, the traumatised commuters described the inability of the federal government and Julius Berger, the construction company to create an alternative route as not only insensitive but callous.
According to Kuti, the barricades causing gridlock on the road would be removed, adding that the construction works would continue in January 2023.
“The issue is that this is the December period and our people are going to travel. So, we want to relax and work on the road so that people can go for their Christmas holiday.
“Normally, during the yuletide season, this is what we have been doing every year. We remove all barriers on the road so that people can have a seamless movement on the express.
“So, by December 15, 2022, or thereabouts, we are going to remove all barriers from the road, stop activities just to allow easy movement on the road during the Christmas period,” he said.
Kuti explained that the rehabilitation project would be delivered before the 2023 elections, adding that the contractor would take advantage of the dry season to work at a fast pace.
“Early in January, we will resume work. We are in dry season, so the work will be faster than what we used to have. All you should know is that all hands are on deck, work is still ongoing and we shall complete it in this dry season and I am sure specifically, all things being equal, before the end of February or early March, before the election or there about, we should be able to tidy things up.”
When our correspondent visited the road on Tuesday, it was observed that the inward Lagos section of the project is almost complete, as barricades at the Lagos State Secretariat end of the road have been removed.
However, from Magboro to OPIC/Kara Bridge also inward Lagos, there was still traffic, as works were seen done in portions on the lane. The outward Lagos section of the road is yet to commence.
