The Lagos State Government has blamed the persistent gridlock on the Apapa-Oshodi and Lagos-Abeokuta expressways partly on the failure of the road as well as the poor design.
The state government stressed that the roads were not designed for the pressure they are presently subjected to.
The state government said litigations and the slow pace of work by contractors appointed by the Federal Government were some of the reasons for the delay in execution of pedestrian bridge projects across the state.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Ajibade Bade–Adebowale and the General Manager of the Lagos State Public Works Corporation, LSPWC, Ayo Shodeinde disclosed these while addressing journalists. Shodeinde said: “We have two roads that are of major challenges to us. They are Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. During the era of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the reconstruction was done by Messer Julius Berger, but the road later failed. The state government, knowing this, has continuously embarked on palliative works on the road. We have discovered that the road had failed even from inception. This was also the reason for the persistent gridlock experienced by motorists on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway. This road is substandard compared to the pressure it is subjected to. The volume of vehicles plying the road daily is massive.”
On the persistent traffic in other axis, LSPWC boss disclosed that some residents often cut the road at night, saying: “this act causes traffic gridlock in the state. And that was why we have asked the Nigerian Police to arrest anyone found cutting road at night.”
He said the litigation by a resident at Cement Bus Stop, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway was responsible for the delay in the completion of the pedestrian bridge across the road.
By Pita Ochai
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