The Federal Government has announced plans to organize another tripartite stakeholders’ meeting, as they have reiterated their commitment towards resolving the incessant gridlock and truck menace on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
This disclosure was made by the Coordinating Director, Highway Construction and Rehabilitation in Nigeria, Mr Funsho Adebiyi on Saturday during an inspection tour of the ongoing Lagos-Ibadan Expressway rehabilitation and reconstruction project.
According to a report from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Adebiyi said that those invited to the meeting include the Lagos, Ogun and Oyo state governments, as well as truck drivers and owners, traffic regulatory agencies, amongst others.
What Mr Adebiyi is saying
While expressing regret that the constant presence of articulated trucks parking indiscriminately on the Oghere section of the ongoing Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project is damaging new construction work on the highway, he said that drastic steps must be taken to tackle the problem in each of these states in conjunction with their governments.
He said,
- “You see trailers in their hundreds park on the road shoulders we are just repairing. Some of them are not parked empty, they are carrying as much as 900 bags of cement and they are abandoned there on the road shoulder.’’
He pointed out the need for another meeting, as the 4 previous stakeholders’ meetings held with truck drivers and owners, as well as other stakeholders did not achieve the desired results.
Adebiyi said,
- “I had invited my Minister to a town hall meeting before and he has met them and we are organizing another town hall meeting with them next week Friday and Saturday, to come and sit down with them to discuss with the truck drivers, truck owners, the truck park operators. We are making efforts also to construct parks where they can park – about 4,000 capacity truck park. It will be constructed still along this Oghere end, but we are begging them to stop parking on the road.’’
Adebiyi, during an earlier inspection of section one of the highway which stretches from Ojota in Lagos to Sagamu interchange, said the federal government was constructing two major additional interchanges.
He also added that two flyovers were being constructed on section one, in addition to 14 existing ones on other stretches in Ogun and Oyo, to curb gridlock and improve the safety of new communities along the axis.
What you should know
- The reconstruction/rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, which faced several setbacks was flagged off in 2013 with the award of the contract to 2 firms.
- Section one of the project that spans from Ojota in Lagos to Sagamu interchange in Ogun state was awarded to Julius Berger, while the other section which spans from Sagamu interchange to Ibadan was awarded to RCC.
Welcome
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