Gridlock: Lagos beckons on FG to complete federal road projects (photos)

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has asked the Federal Government to provide sufficient funds for the 18 kilometre-Lagos-Badagry expressway reconstruction, Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road and Apapa ports access roads to decongest traffic within the city.

He stated this during a visit by members of the House of Representatives Committee on Works, led by its Chairman, Mr Abubakar Abubakar, at the Lagos House, Ikeja.

The governor said, “We are happy with the level of work that has been done on the Apapa-Oshodi expressway but we need to do a lot of clean-up. There is still a side of the road that has not been completed. We know this is a special dispensation given the Order 8 that has been used but we can still go back and clean up the areas, especially around the Tin-Can Port and Apapa Port, so that we can free the traffic in all those areas and take it up to Ijora.

“The Lagos-Badagry Expressway is one that I am aware of that doesn’t have sufficient funding.
“The Lagos-Badagry Expressway is an international gateway. We heard that Ghana, the Republic of Benin and Togo have completed their portion; it is a trans-West African corridor that five countries pass through. But it is only the Nigerian part of it that has not been fully fixed, which is from Seme border into Lagos and go straight to the port.

“But Lagos, on its own, has leaped to start something. So, we are doing a 10-lanes highway and we have done almost 18 kilometres of that and we are taking it to a place called Okokomaiko.

“We have been expecting the Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Works to push it and take it to Badagry. Our desire is for them to make it a 10-lane highway. We are building for the future and we can put a rail in the middle of the corridor.

“When we are building for a future, we should not be scared. It is an international road and it can take a high level of traffic. That is one place we believe you will look into.”

Even as the governor praised the Federal Ministry of Works’ intervention on some of the federal roads in Lagos, he urged the FG to speedily consider the major failed portions of the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road and other Class A federal roads that could decongest traffic out of Lagos.

He said, “We are not leaving everything to the Federal Government. We are also taking up the responsibility of trying to build the Fourth Mainland Bridge. We will work and collaborate with the Federal Government at some point. It is a 37-kilometre ring road that is going to exit finally on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. It is audacious but we are looking to use the PPP model to be able to build it.

“We believe that you should be able to see Phase One of it coming out before the end of this administration. We are not leaving anything to chance. We are doing 18-kilometre six-lane, rigid pavement in Lekki-Epe Expressway. We are doing 10 kilometer six-lane regional road and several others. We are doing bridges and other constructions on our own. That is what can open up and free a city.

“We are not just only doing that; we are pushing movement on our waterways. We are doing our rails so that we can have integrated mass transportation using rail, waterways and road connectivity in Lagos. We want everybody to come here to see that it is comparable to any city in the world.”

Earlier, Abubakar said his committee had reached out to the contractor in charge of the Marine and Eko Bridge and that they promised that the project would be completed in four weeks, adding that the committee was also working on a new project in Lagos, which is Isolo-Mushin Road.