Lagosians decry congestions at Ojota pedestrian bridge

It is no longer news that Lagos State is overpopulated, with an unofficial population of about 21 million residents, with more pouring in daily, from different parts of the country, in search of better economic opportunities.

This increasing number of residents, equally exerts immense pressure on just anything, ranging from municipal services, to available infrastructure.

Clearly, over 50 per cent of people coming into the state by road, from the South South, South East, and some parts of South West, do so through the Ojota axis. The number of commuter buses that drop their passengers at this destination, lends credence to this.

Expectedly, facilities in areas like this, where human and vehicular traffic is dense, are subjected to heavy usage. That is exactly the case with the Ojota overhead pedestrian bridge, along the ever-busy Ikorodu Road.

During rush hours, the flow of human traffic on that bridge is literally reduced to snail’s speed, and capable of causing those who are pressed for time a high level of discomfort, especially after the state government erected a barrier to discourage and prevent people from darting across the expressway.

Workers, traders and students, and other road users, who usually scurry across the dual carriageway, but are now constrained to use the pedestrian bridge, are facing a difficult time moving at the pace they would love to, in view of the delay they encounter on top of the bridge.

It is for this reason that they want the government to expedite action on the second bridge, which construction work has since grinded to a halt.

A civil servant Mr. David Kolade, told The Guardian that queuing up to use the bridge daily, on his way to work is no fun.

Kolade said: “I hurried out this morning for an important appointment in my office after budgeting time for traffic jams, and the usual delays in the hands of policemen and sundry traffic officers. Now, I must join a queue that could take as much as 30 to 40 minutes to cross from one end of the bridge, to the other.

He said having blocked pedestrians from running across the expressway, adequate provision should be made by the government to ensure that doing the right thing does not become punitive.

Kolade, also expressed fears that the barbed barricade may soon be vandalised, or destroyed by criminal elements in the society, or people who feel strongly about government’s decision to restrict their movement, but without making alternative arrangements for them.

“Now that the bridge is always jam-packed, government should provide alternative routes for those willing to ply such, instead of delaying people unnecessarily.”

Another pedestrian, Ifeanyi Kennedy, describes as unreasonable, the time it takes to cross the bridge at certain times of the day.

Kennedy said: “Though the idea of using the footbridge is good, but the implementation is badly envisioned. When one is in a hurry, or has an emergency situation to attend to, how is he expected to cope? Let Governor Ambode and his men create more pedestrian bridges to ease this stress,” he concluded.

Mrs. Margaret Udoh, a trader, expressed bitterness after spending 45 minutes to cross the bridge earlier in the day.

Udoh said: “Before barricading the road, the government should have provided at least two footbridges around here, where people could cross over with relative ease.

“Now that the government has gone ahead to do what it did, they should come and see the problems created. Is it good for people to suffer like this? Even if government decides to build another footbridge around here, it would take another one year to complete the project,” she lamented.

Mrs. Olufunke Owolabi, who was equally livid after descending from the bridge, described the accompanying stress as “horrible.”

“Whilst on the bridge, I was full of sympathy for elderly people on the queue, who could just faint in that crowd owing to stress.

She appealed to the state government to look into the situation urgently before it gets worse.

The state government has, however, started constructing a new footbridge not very far from the existing one.

Though when The Guardian visited the site of the new bridge, it was found out that after the contractor erected columns on both sides of the road as well as in the middle, it abandoned the project. No worker was on site at the time of the visit.

The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, said the decision to construct an additional footbridge was borne out of the need to reduce the time spent by pedestrians on the existing bridge.

He said the construction of the additional bridge became necessary after the newly erected “New Jersey Wall” on the median of the expressway effectively curtailed indiscriminate dropping and picking of passengers along the highway, as well as, dangerous crossing of the road on foot, by commuters.

He reiterated the need for the construction of the wall, which is the same measure taken between Ketu and Mile 12 axis of the road, saying that it was meant to reduce fatalities on the part of commuters crossing the highway, and the traffic gridlock caused by commercial buses and motorcycles engaging in indiscriminate dropping, and picking up of passengers.

While commending the orderly conduct of pedestrians on the bridge, he urged them to be patient with government until the new one is constructed, adding that the project would be completed before long.

Ayorinde also informed that the new bridge when completed, would accommodate physically challenged people.