Works Minister David Umahi has said the first 30 kilometres of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway will be ready and inaugurated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in May.
The minister announced this while addressing stakeholders yesterday in Lagos on the state of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway.
He said despite initial setbacks, the project has recorded significant progress.
Umahi said the challenges the project faced included the rerouting of Section One to avoid mass demolitions along the original gazetted corridor.
The minister noted that although many structures were built illegally on the designated path, the government opted for a more humane approach by navigating around them.
According to him, unforeseen complications arose during construction, particularly along a 10-kilometre stretch where years of refuse dumping had compromised the soil integrity.
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“We had the responsibility of excavating up to 10 meters and they were sand-filled back to existing ground level, and, of course, take it up to the design level. That needed settlement. Wwe came together with the contractor and agreed that there should be no immediate work there,” Umahi said.
“But today I’m happy we went through again. We conducted tests. Settlement is being achieved 100 per cent and we are on the move.
“What we could do by May is that we have agreed with the contractor and is going to affirm it magically, to have the first 20 kilometres seamlessly from Chennai Zero down to Chennai 20 ready for Mr. President to inaugurate in May, and another 10 kilometres from Eleko junction coming towards Chennai 37 ready for inauguration. That is 30 kilometres in Section One. Then, we will be left with about 17 kilometres.
“But the good news is that all sand-filling is being done up to Eleko junction.”
Addressing concerns over property demolitions, the minister said only one building remained on the path of construction and that negotiations with the owner had been concluded.
“What I directed is to let work continue and stop at his fence. Then, work will also continue at the other side of his fence. So, his house is standing at the middle of the road. We have discussed, and I believe strongly that we understood each other,” he said.
Commenting on what the government was doing about Section Two, Umahi highlighted the integration of the Lekki Free Zone into the project.
The minister explained that the highway would pass in front of the Dangote Refinery, necessitating the construction of an 80-metre span bridge to facilitate seamless truck movement.
He also announced that construction contracts for Section Three, totalling 65 kilometres, had been awarded and would be flagged off in the coming weeks.