Motorists, commuters agonise over slow pace of work on Lagos-lbadan expressway

It was another excruciating experience for motorists and commuters plying  Lagos-lbadan Expressway at the weekend, as some spent the night on the highway following a gridlock, which persisted for several hours from the Ogudu axis to Ojodu-Berger area.

Section one of the project, contracted to Julius Berger Plc, begins from Sagamu Interchange, ends at Old Toll gate in Lagos. But road users have continued to lament wasted hours in the perpetual gridlock close to the old toll gate axis, which impacts traffic up to the Secretariat Bus-stop, Otedola Bridge and Berger end of the busiest road in West Africa.
 
Motorists, who spoke in separate interviews with The Guardian, demanded quick action by the Federal Government to bring the road to a close and save commuters from traffic robbers.
   
One of those, who spoke to The Guardian,  Dayo Mayowa, appealed to the Federal Government through the Ministry of Works and Housing and the contractor handling the project, Julius Berger Nigeria, to adopt new measures to reduce gridlock on the narrowed section of the road.

According to him, with the pace of work on the road, the first quarter completion date is no longer feasible. A female bus driver, Mrs.  Uzoma Igwe,  who plies the Ojodu Berger-Ikeja route, also appealed to the Federal Government to hasten completion of the project.
   
A road user, simply identified as Victor Ofah, expressed anger at the gridlock, which he experienced last Thursday.  According to him, he spent over four hours to get home from the Oshodi-Apapa expressway to Berger bus stop on a journey that should not be more than 45 minutes or at most one hour.
 
He said: “I  boarded a vehicle from Toyota Bus-stop along  Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, fortunately the road was free until we got to Ogudu. From there, movement was at a standstill. Our driver had to follow one-way from Ogudu to Berger.  

“Although, it was risky but it was a good decision for us because from what we saw on the way, if the driver didn’t take that decision, we would end up sleeping on the highway like others did.

“I think the Federal Ministry of Works and the contractor need to double up efforts or device another means to ensure that commuters don’t waste so much time passing through the areas where reconstruction works are ongoing.”

According to him, the area had some underground soil issues, which were being tackled. He said that solution to the soil issues required total removal of surface layers to ensure fresh solid foundation works.

Adejala said that Julius Berger was working simultaneously on various sections to speed up completion of the project. He added that Julius Berger was planning to create additional construction areas, to meet the first quarter completion target given by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola. Contacted, a senior official of the contractor firm, directed enquiries to the Ministry of Works and Housing .