The Federal Government has said that it is speeding up rehabilitation works on the Outer Marina road network in Lagos State to improve accessibility toward the closure of Falomo Bridge for repairs.
This is coming after the government had suspended its planned closure of Falomo Bridge for 8 weeks.
This disclosure was made by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, during inspection of Rehabilitation of Outer Marina Road and Eko Bridge through Apongbon Bridge with Access Ramps Project on Saturday, April 3, 2021.
The Minister said that the rehabilitation work on Falomo Bridge which had already commenced is yet to be completed because the government had to postpone to a later date, the phase that required the closure of the bridge to prevent gridlock as other projects were going on.
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According to a report from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Fashola pointed out that the ongoing Rehabilitation of Outer Marina Road and Eko Bridge through Apongbon Bridge with Access Ramps Project was recording speed due to Sukuk funding.
He said that having access roads was important to prevent gridlock during the planned 8-week closure of the Falomo Bridge for repairs.
What the Minister of Works and Housing is saying
“We have to close the Falomo Bridge sometime this year for at least eight weeks to finish the bridge maintenance work we are undertaking. We have slowed down that decision because of this road (Outer Marina) project.
We think that it is sensitive to Lagos commuters and Lagos residents to keep one lane between Victoria Island and Ikoyi open while we are working. Once we progress beyond Onikan toward Ebute Ero, sometime this year, we would have to close Falomo Bridge to finish our work there,’’ Fashola said.
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He said that the Federal Government earlier delayed work on Falomo Bridge to complete the Third Mainland Bridge to reduce congestion and hardship to road users.
“Once there is a route through from Awolowo Road through Onikan to come this way (Ahmadu Bello Way), then, that is a good time to quickly deal with Falomo Bridge so that once and for all, our operations here including the bridges, are complete.
The heavy and the difficult part will be from Apongbon, Ebute-Ero through CMS – how we manage traffic there working with Lagos State Government and Federal Roads Safety Corps while construction is going on.’
This is one of 44 roads currently being financed by Sukuk across Nigeria; again, this speaks to the fact that no zone is left behind. Sukuk is not in all states but it is in all zones.’’
In case you missed it
- It can be recalled that the Federal Government about 3 weeks ago, announced the closure of the Falomo bridge for 8 weeks for repair works.
- This was later postponed indefinitely by the Federal Government after it met with relevant stakeholders.
