Motorists plying the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and other road users on Tuesday called for measures to reduce the hardship from gridlock caused by the ongoing Oshodi-Abule Egba Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane construction.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that road users experience traffic congestion on various portions during peak periods from Sango, Iyana Ipaja, Egbeda and other areas as they merge onto the highway.
The commuters expressed worries over the reduction of the expressway from five to two lanes which compounded gridlock on the axis and the consequent man-hour loss.
They also lamented the increase in transport fares due to relocation of some transporters to other axis with less traffic congestion.
They said that the situation had made life unbearable for road users on a daily basis and that the congestion was mostly experienced during peak hours, especially where access roads merged.
Between Abule-Egba and Iyana Ipaja, the gridlock gets chaotic as vehicles from Sango, Ijaye and others heading toward Oshodi struggle to enter the narrowed lanes.
The congestion becomes compounded around the Alimosho Road as traffic from Egbeda, Dopemu, Ikotun, Ijegun and other areas struggle to enter the highway. The gridlock returns to the Sango Ota bound carriageway when workers close from work.
A civil servant who lives in Egbeda, Mr Enejo Sunday, appealed to the Lagos State Government to speed up the construction and repair the bad portions of the highway to reduce gridlock.
“In the past, the trip from Egbeda to Alausa does not take more than 10 minutes but these days it takes hours. I am even afraid to take my car out now because of the bad road and gridlock.
“The government should please repair the narrow road they have left for us because the stress on this road is killing us gradually,’’ he said.
A commercial bus driver, Mr Abdulrafiu Mohammed, who plies the Iyana Ipaja-Oshodi route, appealed to the government to speed up the project affecting transport business on the axis.
Prince Adeyinka Ademuyiwa, an estate agent in Ikeja, said that the road was going to bring joy to the axis soon as according to him, it is good and everyone will be accommodated.
Mrs Aduke Stephen, a business woman in Idumota Market, Lagos Island, called for continuous road maintenance to ease the hardship.
“Transporters charge outrageous sums now because of this BRT construction but I don’t care because once the project is completed, their season of exploitation will be over forever.
“The transporters change price like chameleon, for example, yesterday a bus charged my children N200 from Iyana Ipaja to Oshodi and because I missed that one, the next one collected N300.”
Mr Abiodun Dabiri, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), the project’s supervising agency, said on the telephone that measures were in place to reduce hardship.
Dabiri said that the project was born out of the desire of the state government to tackle transportation deficit on the axis which cuts across four local governments.
He, however, said that the high traffic on the axis was keeping the contractor on the project busy as they strive to speed up work on site.
“It is a herculean task because the area is highly urbanised.
“We have told the contractor to always fill potholes and repair the road shoulders to ensure the existing road is motorable to reduce gridlock,’’ he said.
He explained that the contractor worked extensively daily on site on various portions between Abule Egba and Oshodi and debunked allegations that they sometimes abandoned work.
He appealed to residents of Lagos and the road users to be patient as the construction progressed, noting that it was the price to pay for development.
NAN