Stranded motorists lament as gridlock grounds Lagos-Ibadan Expressway for days
Motorists, commuters and residents of communities in Lagos and Ogun states, on Saturday, were stranded for many hours on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway due to gridlock occasioned by the reconstruction of the road.
Since the reconstruction of the road began in 2021, road users have been facing a lot of hardship, with the recent shift to the Otedola Bridge, Berger and Isheri areas compounding the problem.
One of our correspondents, who monitored the situation between Berger and Arepo on Saturday, observed that the four lanes of the road had been collapsed into two on the approach to Isheri.
Some drivers also drove against the traffic and ended up worsening the gridlock on the road.
A motorist, Lamidi Adebisi, lamented that the construction of the road had made the travel time unusually long.
“Some drivers still drive ‘one-way’ (against the traffic) and end up blocking the road. I had to hike my fare. From 7-Up to the Berger bus stop used to be N100, but I charged N200 because of the quantum of fuel I burn,” he said.
A passenger at the Berger bus stop, who did not want to be identified, said the police and officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps were not doing enough to control the traffic.
“There is a way around the OPIC area where these drivers pass. Those officers blocked it. We are suffering. People are driving ‘one-way’. Some of the bus drivers have hiked the fareS. How do they expect us to cope?” he said.
Reacting, the state acting Federal Controller of Works, Forosola Oloyede, apologised to road users, adding that the government was not “oblivious of the current gridlock being experienced by road users around the Berger-OPIC axis along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as a result of the ongoing reconstruction work on the road.”
In a statement titled, ‘On the traffic gridlock experienced around the Berger-Opic axis’, on Saturday which she signed, Oloyede said the government felt the pain of the people and was working tirelessly to alleviate their sufferings.
She stated, “The government feels the pain of the people, especially residents of Lagos and Ogun states, who are at the receiving end of the inconveniences due to the gridlock and sincerely apologise for the inconveniences caused, while at the same time promising to make necessary improvements in the traffic management system on the road in order to alleviate the suffering of the road users.
“To this end, the Federal Ministry of Works has concluded plans with the contractor to suspend works for today, Saturday, August 27, 2022, in order to plan and make provisions for required improvements in traffic management on the road.
“The government, however, wishes to remind the public that the same road that is being reconstructed is also being used to accommodate traffic through dedicated diversions and therefore wishes to appeal for the cooperation of all road users with the contractor and traffic management officers to allow for free flow of traffic at all times, even while the reconstruction works are ongoing.
“To this end, we appeal to road users to desist from driving against the traffic and obey all dedicated road diversions along the road in order to prevent unnecessary delays on the road. Punch
