At last Mafoluku-MMInt’l Airport link bridge!

• Residents Applaud Toll Gate Bypass As Road Comes Alive After Nine-year Wait

The bridge linking Murtala Mohammed International Airport with Mafoluku is at last open to vehicular traffic, nine years after the project was started.

Following its completion, almost a year ago, the strategic route had been under ‘lock and key,’ prompting cries by residents of the area that the state government should go the whole hog and make the project serve the people.

The new Head of Communications, Lagos State Ministry of Works, Mr. Shina Thorpe, attributed the yearlong closure of the road after completion to possible cases of litigations, ruling out any financial hiccups between the contractor and the state government.

“We spend money on toll at Airport Road everyday. The money keeps increasing without us seeing the use it is been put to. Before, it was N100. Now, it is N300 for cars and buses, and N500 for trucks. The roads have been very bad but they keep collecting money without rehabilitating them. So, we want the Lagos State government to open the bridge to avoid wasting money on toll,” a transporter at NACHO Motor Park, Mr. David Kola, had complained to The Guardian in an earlier report.

Asked what the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) makes of the link road and possible loss of revenue, as motorists could now bypass the tollgate, FAAN spokesman, Mr. Yakubu Datti, had only a terse SMS reply: “Our priority is the comfort, security and safety of users of our facility.”

When The Guardian visited the area, motorists and motorcyclists were seen plying the road. Some residents who voiced their joy over the development said the road has improved commuting in the area.

“The road was opened first week of June 2016. Most people who use it live here. It has reduced toll for residents, as it serves as an alternative to the ever-busy Airport Road,” said the chairman, Community Development Association (CDA) in Mafoluku, Pastor Magnus Olagundoye.

No sooner, however, was the stretch opened than two separate cases of road accidents were recorded.

“After the accidents, we came together as a community and urged the contractor to put speed bumps on the road. The contractor followed our advice. And since then, there have been no more accidents,” said Olagundoye.

Applauding the opening of the road, the chairman, Airport Cargo Transport Owners, Mr. Idowu Emmanuel, said: “We thank the Lagos State government for constructing this road. Though the road has not been officially commissioned, we pray it will not be closed again, so that it will serve its purpose by relieving us of traffic gridlock.”