If you have been driving on 3rd Mainland over the past few weeks especially in the evenings on your way towards Oworonshoki, then you must have been used to spending at-least 45 minutes on the bridge anytime between 5pm and 10pm.
Third Mainland is typically known for it’s traffic especially during week days as people commute back to the mainland from work. However, this was between 6 and 9 in the evening. Traffic at the time wasn’t all week long and certainly wasn’t 45 minute long. Actually, there were days when it was just a breeze.
Lately however, it’s become such a nightmare for commuters like me. Once you get on the bridge you encounter traffic for much of the 9.8km trip starting from the Adekunle end of the bridge. Since this is a relatively new experience what must be the cause? Usual suspects for 3rd Mainland traffic were the “toll gate”, breakdowns, accidents or the Redeemed Camp. But this time around none of these is the cause as you would drive all the way to the end and not see by of the usual suspects.
The reasons may however not be unconnected with the bus stop located just at the end of the bridge. This is because, once you descend, traffic eases up considerably and the road is as free as air.
Why then is the bus stop the cause? After all there has always been a bus-stop at Owonronshoki end of the bridge. If you look closely, you will realize that the bus stop has moved further away from the foot bridge right at the end of 3rd mainland and closer to the 9.8km bridge. This then causes a deluge of cars right at the end of the bridge thus slowing down the acceleration if vehicles descending the bridge. The resultant effect being a back log of vehicles having to slow down and take turns at driving past the bus stop.
The bus stop bears all the hallmarks of LASTMA. You could see their officers in a perpetual cycle of organized confusion. Rather than go through the drive by passage created for bus drivers or passengers of private cars willing to alight, drivers would just stop at the tail end of the bridge thus affecting traffic all the way to Adekunle.
LASTMA can surely do better, and may perhaps be the ones to blame for this. We appreciate their hard-work in alleviating the traffic hardship faced by common Lagosians on a daily basis. But this one is way too counter productive and should be nipped in the bud as soon as possible.
