The Lagos State Government has announced that barring any exigency, the long-awaited Agege Pen-Cinema Bridge will fully open to vehicular movement in about 8 weeks.
The project is said to be at 90% completion level and also has all civil works already completed on the bridge.
This disclosure was made by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, during an unplanned inspection of the project site in the company of his Deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, and other cabinet members on Wednesday, to assess the level of work done so far.
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The Governor was also joined in a walk-through on the 1.7-kilometre-long bridge by a multitude of ecstatic residents, who expressed their appreciation for the pace of work on the bridge.
Sanwo-Olu, while addressing pressmen during the tour of the project site, expressed satisfaction with the quality of work done, disclosing that the bridge would be fully opened for public use next February.
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What Sanwo-Olu said
He said the only work left on the bridge was turning intersection improvements at the descending part of the bridge and signalization for ease of traffic movement.
“We have just finished an inspection and a walk through of the Agege Pen-Cinema Bridge. The level of completion of the project is around 90 per cent. All the major brick work has been done and we are left with two major deliverables, which include cleaning up the intersection and signalization.
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“There are four synchronized signalization we are expecting to have and each must work together with the other. We are expecting that all these will be done early next year. This is in fulfilment of the promise we made that we will complete all projects abandoned. We are giving the contractor handling this project a maximum of eight weeks to attend to little snags in the project.
“By second week in January, vehicles can move on the bridge but we may need additional four weeks to complete the signalization, road painting and demarcation. We are looking forward to fully hand over this project sometimes in February next year,” he said.
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Sanwo-Olu said the State Government had started to consider other complementary road construction to be done on the axis to further improve traffic for commuters in the area.
The Governor disclosed that Lagos State was in talks with the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to take on adjoining arterial roads, with the objective to ease the flow of traffic from the bridge down to other areas.
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What you should know
- The Agege Pen-Cinema flyover bridge which was started by the administration of Akinwumi Ambode was designed to reduce travel time for residents of Ifako-Ijaye, Agege and Alimosho Local Governments, and bring an end to the discomfort currently being experienced by motorists plying Agege-Abule Egba.
- The completion date for the project which had earlier been slated for June 2020, had to be moved forward to November 2020, apparently due to lockdown and restrictions caused by the coronavirus outbreak earlier in the year.
- The overpass ascends from Oba Ogunji Road and drops at Oke Koto axis of Agege. The bridge also opens to the old Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway through Abule Egba.
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LAGOS OPENS AGEGE PEN-CINEMA BRIDGE NEXT FEBRUARY, AS PROJECT REACHES 90 PERCENT COMPLETION
•Sanwo-Olu Inspects Project Site Amid Jubilation By Residents@jidesanwoolu @drobafemihamzat @LASGWorks @gboyegaakosile1 @gbenga_omo @Mr_JAGss#LASG
More.. https://t.co/SVFWvZYBON pic.twitter.com/jHLXCtTh2D— The Lagos State Govt (@followlasg) December 9, 2020