AS the authorities promise the end of July 2023 for the completion of the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, road users say the gridlock brought about by the years-long project has become intolerable.

During a chat with Saturday Tribune, Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Mrs Olukorede Keisha, pleaded for patience from users of the road, which is Nigeria’s busiest inter-state road, promising that the contractor handling the project would deliver by the end of July this year.

However, for most residents, motorists and commuters, journeying through the road is like the proverbial camel going through the eye of a needle as they spend hours in gridlock on a daily basis.

Those who spoke with our reporter narrated their hellish experiences on the popular route connecting Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, to many parts of the country. They lamented loss of loved ones to accidents, loss of man-hours and suffering health challenges due to the traffic caused by the ongoing reconstruction of the expressway.

They also accused the traffic management team on the road comprising men of the police, Federal Road Safety Corps and state agencies of focusing on collecting bribes from motorists driving one-way instead of enforcing driving codes for good traffic flow.

For Mr Charles Ayodele, a banker, journeying through the popular Lagos-Ibadan Expressway the to workplace on Lagos Island has become a cross he must carry daily. The movement, for him, has become torturous as he spends about three hours instead of 20 minutes between Mowe and Otedola Bridge in Lagos due to the prolonged traffic situation on the expressway.

Ayodele said on Monday, he spent long hours on the road and couldn’t get to Berger Bus Stop inward Lagos until 10.00 a.m., having left home at about 6.00 a.m. According to him, the congestion between Long Bridge and Berger Bus Stop was so much that many motorists resorted to driving one-way, facing oncoming vehicles.

Asked about the major cause of the incessant gridlock, Ayodele listed indiscipline on the part of motorists who form a six-lane movement instead of two that are allowed within the construction zone. He said the same scenario always plays out on the other side of the road, outward Lagos, where motorists are usually stuck in gridlock for long hours from 7-Up Bus Stop at Ojota to New Garage Bus Stop in Ogun State.

Apart from getting late to work every day, Ayodele said the stress he goes through weekly is begining to impair his health.

“Many motorists no longer go to their offices and businesses in their cars. They leave them at home and take commercial buses or motorcycles (okada) to Berger Bus Stop in Lagos from where they continue the journey, depending on the nature of traffic jam,” he said

He called on the Federal Government to mount pressure on the contractor handling the road construction, Messrs. Julius Berger Plc, to expedite action on the project, noting that many people living along the Mowe-Ibafo axis have relocated to Lagos due to the daily gridlock.

Another road user, Ella Prosper, narrated her harrowing experience on the expressway. She said the seemingly unending road construction has resulted in loss of human lives, time and money. She recalled a particular Monday morning she left home around 5.15 a.m. but couldn’t get to office at Ojota until 11.00 a.m., after spending about six hours in the gridlock.

Prosper said: “I boarded a vehicle at 5.30 a.m. to 7-Up in Ojota because I resume work by 8.00 a.m. My closing time is 6.00 p.m. and by 7.00 p.m., I ought to be at home, but due to the unending road construction and traffic jam, I got home by 10.30 p.m.

“When I got home, I had to cook for my children and assist them with their homework. I went to bed at 12 midnight. The experience goes on for six days every week! It is terrible. I don’t have quality sleep, I don’t have enough rest. And when the body is not rested, it is difficult for it to rejuvenate and be active for the next day. Most times, I wake up tired and this is affecting my performance at work. I sleep for a maximum of three hours every night. I wake up most times with headache. This is not good for my health.”

Sallah worries around Kara

Residents and commuters within Kara/Berger inward Lagos are groaning over the hardship caused by the traffic congestion in the axis.

Findings revealed that productive hours are daily lost to the gridlock as traders and commercial bus drivers are usually trapped in it for hours.

According to a commercial bus driver, Emmanuel, commuters always have a hard time navigating the long bridge due to the traffic situation.

He said journeying to and fro the 127.6-kilometer-long expressway connecting Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, and Lagos has become a nightmare due to the “insensitivity” of the government and the contractors handling the project.

He said the traffic situation has been compounded by preparations for the Eid al-Adha Festival while expressing the hope that the ordeal will be over soon.

He said: “This situation has really affected me and other bus drivers. We buy fuel at an exorbitant price and end up wasting it in the traffic. It has been double jeopardy for many commercial drivers since the beginning of the road reconstruction.

“That is not all. The situation has also resulted in some level of inflation as transportation fares have gone up. Normally, Ibafo to Ojudu Berger is around N300 but it has gone as high as N600.

“There is so much pressure but we have to bear the pain for the period the project will last. I really hope the government will look into this so that people like me who are facing the harsh economic reality can be helped.”

A banker, Mr Adetola Taju, said going to his office in Ikeja, Lagos, has been a nightmare.

“I am a banker in Ikeja and usually I make use of my vehicle. There has been an exception of recent due to this traffic congestion. Nowadays, I leave the vehicle at home use public transportation.

“It hasn’t been easy but since I cannot help getting to work late for now. I just have to save my very expensive petrol so as not to lose on both fronts. I must solicit for the benevolence of the authorities to address the matter,l,” Taju said.

Incidentally, Kara, where the traffic is currently very profound, is home to the popular cattle market, with the traffic shutting many prospective Sallah ram buyers out. This has resulted in unusually low patronage for the sellers, with the poor state of the economy also being identified as a major factor for residents and travellers alike shunning the market.

Okadamania

Findings by Saturday Tribune showed that the expressway has become a hub of okada operation since the riders were restricted in Lagos State. They are taking the advantage of the gridlock to do brisk business, with desperate residents or passengers in a hurry to beat the traffic.

The okada operators, mostly northerners and foreigners from the Republic of Benin and Togo, in their hundreds, drive against traffic in a bid to outdo one another. As witnessed by Saturday Tribune, many of them ride in a manner that creates hair-raising moments. Riders who are not lucky with such maneuvering skill usually get involved in accidents.

Business is, however, booming for them. Most drop-off rides are N1,000 for two passengers, depending on locations, though the riders show they have no regard for traffic rules while meandering through the traffic between Kara Bridge and New Garage, which is their final bus stop, due to the Lagos restriction.

Speaking with Saturday Tribune, one of the riders, Kamoru Mohammed from Kebbi State, said he made more money plying the expressway than working the inner streets, disclosing that he took home daily as much as N20,000, after buying fuel.

A resident, who works in Oshodi, Mr Bethram, said the pain of the gridlock was killing, unlike Mohammed who is reaping a daily windfall. He identified the problem of the road as engineering. “Engineering, as we are told, is supposed to bring solutions to human challenges,” he said.

Talking about those handling the road project, he stated: “If you are applying a solution and it is not working, you need to restrategise or re-engineer it in such a way that it could work.”

He also identified multiple diversions as a major cause of the gridlock between Kara Bridge and BRT Park at Berger, Lagos.

“The major issue is multiple diversions without completing a side before moving to the other side. If you see the recent diversions the contractor did at New Garage after the Kara Bridge, you will see at the front, from under bridge down to the BRT part that the lane has not been completed before creating another diversion to the other side,” Bertram said.

These multiple diversions, he said, are slowing down traffic flow.

“I know the tempo of work has increased but we should not die young because of road construction. The number of deaths on the road is enormous,” he said.

Berthram said he had stopped using his vehicle on the expressway due to the long of hours it would take to navigate the traffic jam.

On the use of okada operators, Bertram said he had also stopped taking bike rides due to daily accidents involving okada and commercial bus drivers, who have formed the habit of driving against traffic.

“I have stopped taking okada because of daily accidents. But I have begun to love those that take one way because you can stay in the traffic throughout the day,” he said.

He implored the contractors to minimise diversion on the expressway by completing one portion before creating a new diversion.

Another person, Akande Okeowo, a banker, said he had secured alternative accommodation in the Gbagada area of Lagos due to the Lagos-Ibadan expressway gridlock.

“I only come to Mowe where I have my residence is on Saturday and go back to Gbagada on Sunday night,” he told our reporter.

Recently, stakeholders comprising officials of the Federal Ministry of Work and Housing, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), the Nigeria Police and Julius Berger Plc, considered new measures to reduce gridlock on the expressway.

One of the outcomes of the meeting was the setting up of a special task force, alongside other measures, to tackle the gridlock.

The immediate past Controller of Works, Mr Umar Bakare, assured motorists that the extraordinary measures put in place would help ease gridlock on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway before he left office last month.

He told newsmen then that the stakeholders meeting had in attendance law enforcement and traffic regulatory agencies, and the agenda were issues surrounding the timely completion of the road reconstruction and rehabilitation. He was also forthright about not ruling out vehicular traffic at construction points.

According to him, the contractor is under obligation to work till the night hours to achieve speedy completion of the work, noting that the practical implementation of strategies discussed at the stakeholders meeting was responsible for the improvement in the traffic.

He disclosed that section one of the project, which spans Ojota in Lagos to Sagamu Interchange, was over 93 per cent completed. He appealed for understanding from road users, explaining that the pace of the work was being affected by traffic because the construction sections were in densely-populated areas.

Movement advisory

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) last Monday announced new traffic diversion on the road in a statement.

“Inward Lagos has been diverted to pass through Babcock College, opposite Enyo filling station, to link the expressway and drive into Lagos. Alternatively, they could pass through Ojodu and make a U-turn in front of FRSC Ojodu to link the expressways at BRT Bus-stop,” said the Corps.

The statement added that the Corps Marshal, Dauda Biu, directed the commands along the corridor to ensure that gridlock arising from diversion was minimised. However, the current reality does not suggest that the directive has achieved much success. (Saturday Tribune)

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