Motorists plying the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, to say the least, are going through hell navigating Kara Bridge to Berger since September 1 closure of the entrance section of the road, which is undergoing expansion. TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO, who visited the scene felt their pulse.
Olajide Adebayo, a regular user of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, has sad tales to tell about one of nation’s busiest highways. “I heard of a pregnant doctor who died during labour in traffic recently. She was living in Magboro area while her office was in Lagos,” he said.
Another expectant mother, he said, was lucky as fellow women rallied round her to help a safe delivery of her baby in the traffic gridlock between Berger and Kara Bridge.
Another commuter, Steve Ojenusi, said a lawyer also lost his life on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway a few weeks ago.
There are other claims by commuters that many have lost their lives while in the gridlock between Kara Bridge and Berger, a distance of less than a kilometre, due to emergency cases and their inability to get to hospitals on time.
A fortnight ago, three vehicles that broke down caused a long queue with no officials of the construction firm to tow them off the road.
Two officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were seen at the Kara Bridge bus stop attending to issues at both sides of the lanes.
An accident involving a car marked LSR 913 EC and a trailer led to an argument between the drivers over who was at fault.
A few meters away, a commercial bus heading towards Magboro developed a fault. This led to a brawl between the driver, his motor boy (conductor) and the passengers, who demanded a refund.
These and many more unpleasant occurrences are what motorists experience daily on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway since the partial closure of the Lagos inbound lane at Kara Bridge on September 1.
For many, the fear of Kara Bridge is the beginning of wisdom for commuters, hence the nickname Karaphobia.
A journey that was supposed to be a pleasurable for motorists is now an exact opposite, with deaths, anger, fights, rancour, delays, and other detestable occurrences at its trail.
The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, a major gateway from Lagos to other states, has arguably been a thorn in the flesh of motorists for decades, with no genuine efforts by successive governments at the centre to put it in good shape.
Contracts for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the road have been signed – some publicly announced and over celebrated, while others were quietly signed – with nothing to show for it.
Many commercial motorists and private vehicle owners are of the view that the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s efforts on the road seem to be yielding positive result compared to what obtained in the past.
The administration, they said, appear to be genuinely interested in ending the horrible experience people have on the road.
Julius Berger Nigeria is contracted to construct the Sagamu interchange to Lagos, while Reynolds Construction Company Limited (RCC) handles the Sagamu-Ibadan end of the road.
Although, Nigerians welcomed the new development to get the road fixed as the pains motorists go through are better imagined than experienced.
From diversion to partial closure and summarily closing of some sections of the road at will by the construction firms handling the 200-Kilometre road, motorists are regularly regaled with sad tales from the contractors.
However, experiences on the road have gotten worse following announcements by Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement (TRACE) Corps of the imminent closure of inbound Lagos traffic on the highway for reconstruction and rehabilitation.
Earlier in August, Julius Berger, the construction firm handling the road, announced plans to partially close the road, but the closure was postponed because it clashed with The Redeemed Christian Church of God’s annual convention and the Muslims’ Sallah celebration, which necessitated heavy traffic on the road.
The area to be closed for the work, which started on September 2 and will last till October 31, covers 1.4 kilometres of the 127.6-kilometre-long expressway.
LASTMA and TRACE urged motorists to make use of the following alternative roads: Iyana-Ipaja/Ota/Ifo/Abeokuta/Sagamu-Benin Ore expressway; Victoria Island/ Lekki/ Epe/ Ijebu-Ode-Benin/Ore expressway; Ikorodu/Itoikin/Ijebu-Ode-Benin/ Ore expressway; Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway from/to Abeokuta connecting from/to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Sagamu-Ikorodu Road from/to Sagamu connecting via Sagamu Interchange from/to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
A statement by TRACE Corps Public Relations Officer, Commander Babatunde Akinbiyi, said: “From Monday, September 2, inbound traffic from Kara Bridge to Berger would be sealed off and diverted into the same carriageway along the Expressway conveying traffic outbound Lagos, thereby making both inbound and outbound traffic to be accommodated on the same section of the expressway.
Moreover, traffic will then be diverted to the Lagos-bound roads at Berger intersection linking River Valley Estate, where normal journey resumes inward Lagos.”
Akinbiyi said the outbound Lagos traffic would be divided into two lanes, both ways from the intersection linking Isheri/Olowora Kara Bridge, where the road diversion ends and normalcy resumes inward Sagamu.
He said: “In the light of the foregoing, the motoring public is hereby admonished to be patient, maintain lane discipline, avoid driving in a direction prohibited by traffic law (One Way), co-operate and show understanding with traffic managers -TRACE, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the police, as they ply the diversion route which has been graded (Ogun River Bridge Underpass), to facilitate, guarantee and ensure free flow of traffic.”
Motorists, however, have bemoaned what they called insensitivity of the government and the contractor handling the project. They said alternative routes provided are not in good condition.
Yinka Adelakun, a civil servant, believed that the Federal Government ought to have put the alternative routes in proper way before announcing the closure of the bridge.
“It is unfair for the government to be insensitive to the plights of motorists. The Abeokuta-Lagos Expressway is not an alternative,” Adelakun said.
A publisher, Rasheed Abubakar described the Ijebu-Ode route as ‘hell’.
Abubakar, who was returning from a function at Odonsengolu near Ijebu-Ode said: “That road traffic from Odonsengolu, Ijebu-Ode to Lagos was a hell. Only the commuters who plied the zigzag roads around the period would understand the stress we went through…Worse still, it was my most boring journey in recent times. It was really hectic.”
An artisan, Seun Ojoola, described his experience on the Epe-Lekki-Victoria Island route as “harrowing”.
Ojoola said: “All my efforts to get to Iddo were futile. I couldn’t wait to complete what I went for in Akure just to meet up with other appointments. I thought it was a child’s play shortly after we left Epe and arrived at Ibeju-Lekki. At some points, the traffic was moving like a snail until we got to a place where it stood still.
“When the traffic was eased, we couldn’t identify the cause of the traffic. The driver told us it was due to bad portions of the road. On getting to the front, we discovered that drivers from our own lanes had faced those coming from Lagos, grounding the free flow of the traffic.”
Back to the Kara Bridge, The Nation observed that some of the things promised by the construction company to ease the road users’ pains were not on sight. There were no flagmen at the spot.
At least, three vehicles that broke down led to a long queue with no officials of the construction company to tow them off the road.
Two officials of the FRSC were seen at the bridge bus stop attending to issues at both sides of the lanes.
A motorist, Ajayi Odunayo, suggested that the construction firm should work more at night and free the road for traffic during day time.
Odunayo lamented that Mowe, Ibafo, Warewa to Arepo and Berger section to Isheri River are yet to be completed.
Julius Berger, he said, should work at night. “If they feel like completing the job on time with necessary assistance by the security agencies,” he said.
Some drivers are of the view that Julius Berger should open up the entrance at the end of the bridge near Sweet Sensation in Magboro, adding that it will serves as an exit for traffic going to Ibadan from Magboro and Oke-Afa residents as well as an entrance if Magboro Bus Stop is congested.
Some civil servants said they always nightmare plying the road up to Kara Bridge.
She said sometimes, she wakes up at 3:00 a.m. to meet up with house chores and beat the traffic.
A civil servant, Tayelolu, said: “Since the beginning of the construction, the stress has been unbearable. If one doesn’t get there by 4:00 a.m, one is not sure one will cross the briddge before 6:00 a.m..”
Transport fare has increased by more than 100 per cent. Magboro to Berger journey, which should have lasted 10 minutes, now takes up to three hours at peak period to make.
Motorcyclists are having a boom, charging between N500 and N1000.
A Whatsapp group – Lagos Ibadan Road Update – has been created by concerned commuters to give minute-by-minute traffic situation of the road. Although it has not ended road users’ sufferings, but it gives a clue of what to meet on the road.
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