Again, motorists, commuters lament hellish Lagos-Ibadan gridlock

Hundreds of motorists and commuters were on Monday trapped for many hours in the gridlock induced by the ongoing construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

This came after weeks of relief from the perennial traffic situation occasioned by ongoing construction at the OPIC end of the road.

The gridlock, which started building up in the evening, brought vehicular movement inward the Berger area of Lagos State to a standstill following a downpour.

Our correspondents who spent close to three hours in the traffic discovered that the first section of the gridlock started from OPIC Junction stretching towards Magboro.

The other phase, however, started from Kara Bridge inward to the Otedola Bridge in Lagos State.

Some motorists were seen lamenting over the development as they hopped out of their vehicles.

Motorists travelling inward Ogun State were also trapped in the gridlock that started from OPIC and extended inward Otedola Bridge and Isheri Road.

They lamented that the road had become narrow due to the ongoing construction, and had slowed down vehicular movements along the other axis.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, a motorist, Nonye Imala, while lamenting over the incident, said what made the traffic situation to become worse was that motorists resorted to driving against traffic.

Imala said, “Because the other side of the road is blocked, people now resorted to driving through one-way, blocking those going to Berger and Lagos.

“I was returning from work. I left the office with my other colleagues on our company bus around 10pm; we got stuck at the long bridge till 1am. We had no choice but to go back to the office in Magboro because we couldn’t risk our lives at that time.

 “It was so painful that I couldn’t cry. I don’t know if the government of this country and Julius Berger have resorted to inflicting pain on us this way. How long will it take them to finish this work?

“I am pleading that they please finish this work on time and relieve us of this misery. While going back home this morning, I was already worried looking at the traffic I would be coming back to face again.”

Another motorist who gave his name simply as Anthony, said he regretted to have been caught up in the traffic. Punch