Exploring Inexpensive Measures to Alleviate Lagos Traffic Situation
One of the greatest challenges faced by residents of Lagos is the difficulty of commuting. The state government, in appreciation of this fact, is expending large sums of money on improving the road infrastructure and the deployment of traffic officers. While commending these moves, I will like to suggest a few measures that can help complement the ongoing efforts.
The suggested measures, in addition to being inexpensive, can be implemented immediately. The society at large can begin to benefit from them right away, unlike the large construction projects that span several months.
A significant proportion of the traffic congestion on our roads can be traced to the rough patches and pot holes on the roads. Several of these start out as little holes/depression on the road, which when unattended to, expand into gaping holes that cause major traffic congestion.
To help solve this problem, I will like to suggest that the state government designate a number of approved civil engineering firms for each Local Government Area in the state. Residents or business organization in a particular locality can take competitive bids form and engage such firms to fix pot holes / rough patches in their neighborhood while the holes are still small and inexpensive to repair.
This will be an improvement over the present practice where everyone watches while small holes / patches enlarge until they render the entire road unmotorable and the repair cost become so enormous, that only the government can handle it.
The above could be expanded to a scheme wherein the state and local government will stand ready to provide matching funds to neighborhoods that can raise 50% of the cost of tarring its local road.
The state should launch a Staff Boat Initiative, to be personally driven by the governor.
For the cost of a regular staff bus, organizations that embrace the initiative can help bring about the following benefits:
• Reduced travel time and better quality of life for staff - it takes approximately 45 minutes from Victoria island to Ikorodu by boat, while it takes upwards of 2 hours to complete the same trip by road. That translates to a daily saving of over 2 hours on travel time; valuable time that can be spent with family, studying, etc. The same time saving can be achieved on several other routes also.
• Reduced traffic congestion as some traffic is diverted to the water ways. Instead of an organization running a fleet of ten staff buses, it could have 6 buses and 4 boats.
• More effective use of the government and private jetties all over the state. There is for instance a modern jetty in Oworonshoki which has an arrival hall, fenced, flood lit and cemented car park, but is barely being put to use.
The initiative will also give a greater number of people the pleasure of boat travel and can help boost tourism as more people overcome their fear of water transportation. The idea of a Saturday boat cruise to any one of the numerous tourist destinations around the state will no longer be a “no, no”. Finally, it could help give a beneficial boost to the Nigerian boat building industry – John Holts, Nigerdock, etc.
The menace of one way driving is another contributor to the traffic congestion in the city, and notwithstanding the various efforts of the government to stop it, the phenomenon has refused to go away because there are not enough law enforcement agents to enforce it.
To help solve this problem, I will like to suggest that the government should encourage motorist to use their camera phones to take photographs of offenders and send them to the motor licensing office, where the offenders will be made to pay the appropriate fine whenever they are renewing their vehicle particulars or their cars are impounded for other traffic offences.
Such an initiative will in effect place the watchful eye of the government on all streets in the state, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, as the offending drivers will never know who might be taking and sending in their photographs, whether from the front or the rear. This is summed up by the Yoruba proverb – “oju oba ni ile, oju oba ni oko”
The state government should expand the remit of LASTMA to include being the think-tank that comes up with inexpensive solutions to the traffic situation in the state. This can be accomplished by challenging every LASTMA official to begin to see himself not only as traffic enforcers, but as solution providers; one that should be on a continual lookout for opportunities where inexpensive tinkering with the existing arrangements can help ease up congestion.
Making this an important aspect of their annual job appraisal, will help drive home the point. And will result in a situation where, while on duty officers will be continually asking themselves what tinkering can be done to ease traffic in the section they cover. Officers will, for instance, be asking themselves, why the traffic that was free yesterday and day before, is congested today, and what can be done to prevent the congestion tomorrow. The officers in-charge of the Kingsway Road - Falomo bridge sector will, for instance, be pondering why there is always a congestion along the stretch, while the opening into Akin Adesola and the turn into Ozumba Mbadiwe is always free? While the officers on the Third Mainland bridge are continually pondering why there is always this congestion emanating from the Oworo bus stop when the two roads that the bridge branches off into are free!
The flow of rush hour traffic into and out of Ikoyi can be drastically improved if the officer at the First Avenue junction can request for and be granted the authority to disable the traffic light and allow for a continuous flow of traffic coming into / going out of the Island instead of the intermittent stoppage by the traffic light for non-existent traffic on First Avenue.
In addition to the “brainstorming” by LSTMA, the government could consider awarding consul- tancy contracts to the engineering department of Yaba Poly, LASU or Unilag with a mandate for the students to monitor the traffic situation at particular troublesome traffic bottlenecks points in the metropolis and come up with low cost solutions that will ensure smooth flow.
In certain areas, traffic starts building up as early as 5am in the morning but the regular traffic wardens are not at their post that early. And traffic at certain intersects is still heavy until past 11pm; long after the traffic wardens have closed for the day. Both of these situations would be easily taken care of by the engagement of Neighbourhood Traffic Wardens – recruiting unemployed youths that live in the neighbourhood and placing them on a token allowance to be paid by government or the neighbourhood/community association.
There are several spots around the state where minor re-constructions or re-organisations can help reduce the traffic grid lock presently being experienced at those particular locations. The following are a few examples: There is usually a gridlock at the Onikan roundabout of traffic coming down from the 3rd Mainland bridge and those from Awolowo Road.
A reduction in the size of the inner radius of the roundabout at Onikan would allow for two/three vehicles to negotiate the roundabout simultaneously and go a long way in easing the flow of traffic at that major intersection.
The Mobil filling station at Maryland is another spot where there is always a traffic gridlock. This is caused by the shift of the bus stop from its designated place in front of the Heliport where there is provision for buses to properly park without obstructing traffic, to the front of Mobil filling station where there are no such provisions. A return of the bus stop to its proper place will ease the constriction of the lanes and similarly help ease traffic at that junction.
Recently I was held up in snail pace traffic for over 1 hour from just after Oworonshoki bus stop, it continued past the toll gate and the situation did not ease off until after Berger bus stop. On close observation it dawned on me that the situation emanated from the indiscriminate parking by commercial bus drivers at the bus stop and the absence of a pedestrian bridge there. These two issues can easily be fixed by the state government at a fairly reasonable cost.