The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said that the construction of the 18.7 kilometre 6-lane Ibeju-Lekki-Epe expressway will be completed and commissioned by the first quarter of 2022.
The project which is a 6-lane rigid pavement carriageway is from Eleko junction in Ibeju Lekki to Epe T-junction in Lagos state.
The assurance was given by the governor while he performed an on-the-spot assessment of the project on Monday, in the company of members of the State Executive Council.
Sanwo-Olu was excited by the pace of work on the road, persuading the contractor handling the project to increase its momentum in order to push the progress to an encouraging level before the end of the year.
At the time of the Governor’s inspection, the contractor had completed a stretch of 3km on the lane from Eleko Junction inward Epe, while the right-of-way for the entire project has been fully cleared.
After communicating the work progress to the Governor, representatives of the contractor led Sanwo-Olu and his cabinet members on legwork for assessment of features on the completed stretch, including drainage channels, kerb and segregated lane for heavy-duty vehicles.
The Governor who was optimistic the project would be delivered in record time urged the contractor to increase the pace of work.
What the Lagos State governor is saying about the project
Sanwo-Olu said, “This exercise is an on-the-spot assessment to view the status of the 18.7Km six-lane rigid pavement road construction we are doing from Eleko Junction to Epe. The contractor has been active on-site in the last six months, and they have touched every part of the entire stretch. We are currently assessing the project from the 3km lane already completed. On either side are three lanes. Two lanes are for cars, while the last lane is for heavy-duty vehicles. There will be a 1.5km pedestrian walkway on both sides.
We are happy with the progress of the project because the contractor works day and night. I believe the work is on track. Residents on this corridor are also happy with the level of work done. They are waiting on us to hand over this important infrastructure to them in earnest.
The beauty of the work is that it has reduced the journey time, even as the road is still being constructed. There is no hindrance on the road; motorists have the right-of-way for free movement. Not until when we finish the entire construction, we would have the full benefit of this investment. We are happy with what we have seen and we believe that the contractor should be rounding off the work by the end of this year or first quarter next year.”
What you should know
Governor Sanwo-Olu flagged off the first phase of the expansion on the Lekki-Epe Expressway in November 2020, kick-starting the rehabilitation of the 40-year-old infrastructure. The second phase of the project, which is expected to start later this year, stretches 26.7Km from Eleko Junction to Abraham Adesanya Junction in the Eti-Osa axis.