FG urges speed, safety amid reconstruction work on Lagos-ibadan Expressway
…all sections of expressway to open to motorists on Dec.22
The federal government has directed Julius Berger, the contractor handling the reconstruction of Section 1 of Lagos-ibadan Expressway, to apply speed and ensure safety of motorists as the reconstruction work progressed towards the Yuletide.
The contractor was directed further to liaise with the Federal Controllers of Works in Lagos and Ogun states to fix important sections of the expressway to make it motorable, safe and free of traffic congestion.
Babatunde Fashola, minister of Works and Housing, who gave these directives during his inspection of the expressway recently, also urged the firm to improve the quality and spread of signages and diversion signs around the construction zone.
The minister told the contractors whose section of the work spanned from Ojota in
Lagos to Sagamu Interchange to give the construction work a “human face” that addressed hardship of road users. “Understand that you do it for people and we want a sense of compassion. Plan with the controllers of Lagos and Ogun,” he directed.
Adedamola Kuti, Director, Federal Highways, South West, disclosed, however, that Julius Berger and RCC which is working on section two of the highway had been directed to carry out palliatives ahead of Yuletide to make the highway smooth.
Meanwhile, the federal and Ogun state governments are to collaborate to stop unlawful encroachment on the right of way along sections 1 and 2 of the Lagos-ibadan Expressway. The aim is to reduce travel time for motorists as the Yuletide season approaches.
For this reason, trailer drivers parking indiscriminately at the
Ogere end of the Lagos-ibadan expressway have been directed to vacate the area immediately to give way for ongoing construction works.
At a town hall meeting held with stakeholders and contractors handling the project, Fashola directed that the interagency task force set up by the Ogun State government should commence work immediately, saying there was no need for formal inauguration.
“My appeal to you is to leave the road immediately,” the minister said to truck drivers in Oghere, noting that parking on the highway was a violation of the nation’s traffic laws.
According to him, trucking and trailer operations were businesses and operators were supposed to provide parking spaces for their fleet. “Government’s construction of truck parks was only to assist,” he stated.
Dapo Abiodun, the Ogun State governor, said the townhall meeting was a demonstration of a government that wanted feedback from the people it served.
The governor urged contractors handling the projects to deploy best traffic management practice and pay attention to alternative roads along the corridor.
On their part, the contractors assured Nigerians that all sections of the expressway would be open to motorists by December 22, 2020 to help reduce travel time ahead of the Christmas and New Year.
A layer of Asphalt shall be laid by the contractors on portions of the road not yet completed. At the moment, total Asphalt length on both directions is 95km while 51.8 percent of section two has been completed by the contractor.