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Tag: Lagos roads

  • The changing face of Lagos roads

    The changing face of Lagos roads

    In two years, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has changed the face of Lagos roads, easing traffic pains and making them a delight to ride on ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE writes.

    Lagosians seem not to have had it better in terms of infrastructure, especially roads. In the past two years, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has been fixing roads, easing the pains of motorists and other users.

     

    Busy

     

    With an estimated 20 million people, 12 million of which commute daily on the 9,100 roads and expressways (World Bank, 2009 estimate), Lagos is the nation’s busiest state capital. With an increasing number of vehicle/kilometre as seen in many of its new towns development, the state needs more roads to ensure free traffic flow.

    With about three million private and four million commercial vehicles,  Lagos roads record no fewer than seven million vehicular trips daily. This is higher during peak periods, and much more during festive seasons, because of the upsurge of travellers from other parts of the country.

    The state continues to lose $1 billion yearly (about N2360 billion), to traffic congestion. In a ROM Transportation Engineering’s research, the Israeli based company according to Gbenga Olorunpomi in 2010, said the state was losing three billion hours to traffic congestion yearly, adding that if that time was reduced by 20 per cent, it would save the state at least $1billion yearly.

    The attendant cost of the loss; such as diminished productivity, wasted energy, environmental degradation and a diminished standard of living, imperils the people’s quality of life, ebbs away at the state’s industrial competitiveness, making it (the state), one with a high cost of living index, all of which have impacted on business and tourism.

    Over the years, Lagos has witnessed a rising demand in transportation and road traffic  which leading to increasing congestion and delays. occasioned by greater access to cars.

    Indeed, traffic congestion is widely viewed as a growing problem in many urban areas across the world. Mega cities like Lagos, because the overall volume of vehicular traffic in many areas continues to grow faster than the overall capacity of the transportation system.

    The result of traffic slowdowns,  leave a wide range of negative effects on the people and business  such as poor air quality, quality of life and reduced service areas for workforce, supplier, and customer markets.

    Beyond the expansion of road infrastructure, experts have argued that the major bane of slowdowns on the roads is road indiscipline. Driver behaviour, many argue, accounts for over 95 percent of causes of traffic gridlocks on the roads across the state.

    “Congestion is a factor of life  you deal  with in a mega city like Lagos. The issue is not so much about the congestion but how do we manage to ease the impact of congestion. We must learn to use the roads better, respect the highway codes better, educate ourselves better and be more mindful of the people behind us,” a safety expert Patrick Adenusi said.

    Many road users, especially commercial bus drivers, Adenusi, founder of Safety Without Borders (SWB) said, are very impatient and very bad at obeying traffic regulations.

    Adenusi, who is currently championing the Stay on Lane campaign, as part of ways to curb impunity on the roads, said besides strict enforcement by the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), more advocacy campaigns needed to be sustained to ensure compliance with traffic regulations and curb road indiscipline.

    In a working paper titled: “The socio-economic cost of traffic congestion in Lagos,” presented by the Economic and Intelligence Unit of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, in July 2013, another major factor responsible for congestion in Lagos is the increase in vehicular ownership.

    Data from the Lagos Bureau of Statistics (LBS, 2012) showed yearly increases in the total number of vehicles registered in Lagos State from 2009 to 2011. In 2011, about three-quarters of newly registered and those whose registrations were renewed, were private owned. This has grown even more exponentially since then.

    Lagos, it was discovered, has continued to experience traffic congestion because many car owners find it more convenient to travel to work by car rather than being cramped in congested conditions inside public transport.

     

    New commitment

     

    While the various agencies of the government continue to tackle the menace, government has remained committed to opening up the state. More road networks are springing up across the state.

    With the Abule-Egba overhead bridge, about 85 percent completed and the Abule-Egba-Oshodi BRT extension taking off almost simultaneously, which would complement the Oshodi modern terminal development plan; the redesigning of the Lekki-Epe Expressway, redevelopment of the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) terminal upgrading and the skywalk plan for the redevelopment of the Marina landscape, the Agege Pen Cinema overhead bridge, the Fourth Mainland Bridge, the second Ojota pedestrian bridge, and the take-off of more inner city roads constructions, Governor Ambode no doubt have a robust template to take intra and intercity travel to a new high.

    Last Wednesday, the governor again, handed several such road projects to the people, with commitment to get cracking on seven Lagos-Ogun boundary roads to make commuting more pleasurable for those living along the borderlines.

    Ambode, who promised work to begin next week on the roads expressed optimism that the roads which have been identified for immediate construction and rehabilitation would complete the new face of Alimosho.

    He listed the roads to include Ikola Road with Odo Obasanjo Bridge – 6.4km (from Ipaja/Command to Ilo River); Ogunseye Road – 1.75km (from Ajasa/Command to Ikola Road);Oko Filling Road – 1.5km (from AIT to Ilo River); Osenatu Ilo road – 620m (from Ibari Road to Ilo River); Amikanle road – 3.1km (from AIT to Ogunseye Road); Aina Aladi road – 1.9km (from AIT to Ilo River) and Aiyetoro Road with a bridge- 1.4km (from New Market/Ishefun Road intersection to Ilo River).

    Commissioning the 480 metres bridge linking Aboru to Abesan which was named after the former Governor and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the governor said work on the project began a year ago.

    “Exactly one year, we were here and the condition is clearly unacceptable and we clearly made promises to do something about it. Now, we are here to keep our promise to the good people of Aboru, Abesan and other communities and re-affirm our commitment that no community or area will be left behind. Every Lagosian counts. We are a government of inclusion,” the governor said.

    He said the 480 metres bridge linking Aboru to Abesan, (both in the Agbado-Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) under old Alimosho Local Government Area, would significantly ease the burden of travel between the two communities by reducing travel time and eliminating the risks associated with its non-existence.

    Ambode said aside from the bridge, which was named after Tinubu, government decided to deliver on the adjoining inner roads to create an efficient road network that will aid connectivity.

    The roads listed as already delivered are: Church Street, Giwa Street, Victor Fagbemi Road, Ogunfayo Road, Ogundare Street, and Salami Kazeem road, all totalling 5.5km.

    These roads, which would ease the pressure on the Abeokuta Expressway and also link residents with Iyana-Ipaja, LASU-Iba Expressway according to him, are completed with drainage, walkways and street lights.

    Ambode, who also flagged off the boundary roads construction, said the redevelopment ofAlimosho was in honour of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom he described as the brain behind the 21st century Lagos.

    He said the Ajasa-Command Road in Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) area of the state, would be completed in the next five weeks, just as he assured that the Abesan Estate link road connecting Aboru from Agbelekale would equally be completed before the end of the year.

    He, however, appealed to the residents of the communities to cooperate with the contractors so as to enable them deliver the network of roads not later than the scheduled completion date.

     

    Conclusion

     

    Tinubu, who thanked Governor Ambode for naming the projects after him as part of his 65th birthday, equally showered praises on him for his prudence and managerial skills which saw him move the state quickly away from the quicksand of indebtedness for which the state was thrown.

    “Ambode’s achievements was a reflection of a governor who is not only a thinker but a doer, and I am satisfied that he is delivering on all his promises to the people,” Tinubu added.

    For now, only pockets of Lagosians could fault this assertion, especially as regarding roads.

  • Tackling perennial gridlock on Lagos roads

    Tackling perennial gridlock on Lagos roads

    For Lagos motorists, only a few unpleasant things can surpass traffic gridlock. In the past few days, the state seems to have been locked in an unending traffic snarl that seems to have defied solution, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

    ON getting to Ibadan on Sallah day, the joke by his elder brother and his cousin was not lost on Andrew (not real name), a busy Lagos-based business executive.  He had on that day visited his brother in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. Though he left Lagos at 7am, Andrew didn’t get to Ibadan until 7pm. On a normal day, he would have made the 98-kilometre trip in one-and-a-half hours.

    After welcoming him, his young cousin said: “I will continue to pray for you.” His elder brother’s verdict was harsher. He said: “You must be ‘mad’ to continue to live in Lagos, the Centre of Excellence.”

    His brother and cousin could not fathom why Andrew or anybody would “live” on the road for between five to 12 hours everyday.

    For Andrew and other Lagos motorists, the past two weeks have been hell with gridlock across the state, which has become a major headache for Lagos. Many musicians have waxed songs on the stress commuters and motorists pass through in the city.  But the gridlock of the past few months has been different; it has simply defied solution.

    When Afrobeat icon Fela Anikulapo-Kuti sang the song: “When go slow catch you for town… o le make e ni” (When you are caught up in ‘go slow’, you simply cannot make it, or meet your appointment), he put on vinyl the traffic situation of the 70s. But with Lagos population hitting 25 million, of which 80 per cent commute daily, traffic has simply become a monster; unnerving, irritating, annoying and heart-breaking.

     

    Everywhere else has it

     

    Before now, the government’s position tends to support the fact that traffic congestion is an index of  economic prosperity. The former Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola, while in office, said this much at various fora. For him, the hectic traffic situation is not restricted Lagos; it is the hallmark of modern cities.

    From New York to Washington, in the United States, Milan in Italy, Johannesburg in South Africa, Arusha in Tanzania, Accra in Ghana, Yamoussoukro in Cote d’Ivoire and Cotonou in Benin Republic, traffic congestion has taken on worrisome dimensions, exacting a heavy toll not only on the health of the public, but on the economy.

    With an auto density of about six million, Lagos, two years ago, claimed it was losing about 23 billion man hours yearly to traffic congestion. This is despite the government’s attempt to revive public transportation with the introduction of Bus Rapid Transit in 2008, which it (government claims carries about seven million passengers yearly), opening more roads to accommodate more vehicles and the tweaking of the designs of some others to reduce traffic and travel time.

    Barely two weeks after he was sworn in, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode showed a capacity to tackle the traffic situation, when he visited some of the major flashpoints in the metropolis. He assured that his administration will provide solutions to the traffic snarl in the state.

    He noted that the government was concerned about the gridlocks, saying: “You are going to start seeing solutions to the traffic challenges soon.”

    The situation in the last few weeks has, however, has made Lagosians to ask how soon the reprieve promised by the governor would come.

     

    Same old problem

     

    Though many would have loved to leave Lagos, the state’s economy is simply irresistible. Lagos is the economy. So, rather than thinning, more people keep trooping in, compounding the economy and making more cumbersome the government’s transportation plan.

    Successive governments have resolved the traffic situation with massive road construction and opening up of inner roads.

    There was also the adoption of the odd and even numbers system some years back. Under the scheme, vehicles were given specific days to enter Lagos Island. The scheme was discarded with the coming on stream of the Third Mainland Bridge, which made connection with the Island easier.

    But the staggering population growth and improved income of many Lagosians soon put paid to the reliefs. To resolve the traffic situation, the government began the remodelling of major roads and streets.

    The stress is caused by commercial drivers who refuse to obey traffic rules and regulations. They do not only break the traffic light rule, they also drive against traffic, in what has come to be known in local parlance as “one way driving,” and it is worrisome that the drivers, especially Yellow Bus drivers, have been joined by private vehicle owners, who equally drive against traffic, a development which has made traffic control more cumbersome.

    Though Lagos is the smallest land mass area in Nigeria, it is home to 117 federal roads, of 509, 97 kilometres, 3,028 state roads totalling 5, 816.71 kilometres, and 6, 451 local government roads totalling 3, 573.7kilometres. The Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) said the state, which is just 3, 577 square km is home to about 25 percent of the total number of vehicles and drivers in Nigeria. While the national Vehicle per kilometre is about 16, Lagos caters for about 200 vehicles per kilometre.

    For experts, the quaking of the roads, which was noticeable in the state in the last few weeks, is a result of the delays at the Nigeria Port at Apapa, quays and the order restricting movement of articulated vehicles. These are part of the externalities the World Bank said constitute about 54.5 percent of causes of traffic congestion in a city like Lagos.

    In a seminal paper titled: Evaluating traffic congestion in developing nations, a case study of Nigeria, delivered at the African Forum of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transportation (CILT) at Arusha, Tanzania, the Assistant Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Kayode Olagunju, said the major causes of congestion include lane indiscipline, high traffic density, low road network carrying capacity and poor traffic management.

    Other causative factors of congestion, according to him, are poor road support infrastructure, such as lay-bye, low response to removal of broken down and crashed vehicles and poor integration of urban transport planning, among others.

    On the congestion in the state in recent times, the National Vice Chairman, Lagos Zone of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG), Mr Solomon Kilanko, said his men were not to be blamed for the traffic crisis.

     

    Unfortunate restriction

     

    Describing the traffic in the last two weeks as regrettable, Kilanko said, perhaps, the crisis would have been averted if the state government had taken stakeholders into confidence before announcing its restriction of articulated vehicles.

    “The governor’s order presupposes that all our loadings would be done at night and we must also move out of the state same night. If containerised trailers and petroleum tankers load at night, can we all move out before 6am? The government ought to have fine-tuned the gray areas before issuing the directive,” he said.

    Listing another challenge before the implementation of the order, Kilanko said the PTD had directed its men to stop moving at night, and monitoring agencies, such as the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the FRSC all monitor our members to ensure they do not flout the directive. All these are because in the past, FRSC usually recorded 90 percent of truck hijacks, between 7pm and 6am.

    ‘’If we are to go on the roads at night, is the government prepared to give all our members security back up or would they line all the routes with Police or the Army?” he asked.

    But the state government last weekend denied culpability in the traffic stress encountered on the road by Lagosians. A source at the Ministry of Transportation (MoT) said the traffic snarl was caused by the strengthening of security precaution at the ports, following fears of bombing and terrorist attacks than from the backlash of its restriction order.

    “Our checks revealed that the delay at the ports were as a result of the precautions by security operatives. It would reduce once the overt precaution is relaxed,” the official said.

     

    Hard nut

     

    Though the National President of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Chief Remi Ogungbemi, admitted that the traffic was caused in part by his men who were protesting the unworkable restriction and the slow activity at the ports at Apapa, he couldn’t say whether it was as a result of new security measures introduced at the ports.

    Ogungbemi, however, said traffic jam has eased up considerably since Thursday, following the government rescinding the order, adding that it would be attenuated by yesterday.

    He added that his members were caught in the middle of a law restricting them from moving at the day time and failure of all of them to get loaded before dawn to enable them set out of Apapa before the restriction. “So, the vehicles you see lined up on the roads are those that were caught either loading at the ports or trying to enter the port having been called to proceed to the loading point. but were caught by the order and had to stay where they are to prevent arrest.”

    Ogungbemi listed some immediate panacea to the Apapa/Tin can gridlock, to include a more orderly movement of trucks into Apapa, which must force all the trucks on all access roads to relocate to their parks/garages, while all independent operators without any garages could in the interim move to the Trade Fair Complex where a park is available.

    This, according to him, is pending when work would be completed on the 51 acres park facility provided by the state government at Mile 2.

    He added: “This would be in addition to the introduction of the electronic call-up system to permit trucks into the loading points as may be required.”

    He tasked the Nigeria Shippers Council, (NDC), the state and the NPA to achieve this in the shortest possible time for the benefit of the motoring public.

    Ogungbemi, who praised the government for relaxing the order, said if these could be complemented with a good road network, the fears in the corridors of power that “articulated vehicles are moving caskets” on the roads would be allayed and the state would have a safer road profile.

    This would consolidate Olagunju’s recommendations at the Tanzania talkfest where he had, among others, recommended the integration of an enduring urban traffic planning and management strategies, such as effective mass transit, strict land use, effective traffic control and enforcement and the integration of traffic management institutions as well as mechanisms aimed at discouraging excessive car use on the roads.

    Olagunju contended that since mobility is crucial to the functionality of the state and its socio-economic well-being, it must be adequately managed and be result-oriented, achieving in the long run less stress and travel time for road users, especially motorists.

    Solving Lagos traffic is a hard nut Lagosians want Ambode to crack; he has less than 48 months to do so.

     

  • Firm urges Ambode to fix more roads

    Firm urges Ambode to fix more roads

    Nigeria’s civic technology organization, BudgIT Nigeria, has called on Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode, to repair the bad roads in the state.

    BudgIT, in a statement endorsed by its Team Lead/ Co-Founder, Oluseun Onigbinde, appealed to the government to look into the deplorable states of roads in other to ease the lives of Lagos citizens.

    While commending the state government on the work done on the Omobola Road, Itire, Onigbinde urged the governor to do more work on other roads in the state.

    The statement reads: “Now while we understand that traffic congestion is a common feature in major cities around the world, it is definitely obvious that a majority of the traffic jam faced within the Lagos Metropolis can be completely avoidable if certain measures are put in place.

    “An example of such measures will be the fixing of bad roads as well as the consistent maintenance of these roads.

    “As the Center of Excellence, the Commercial Capital of Nigeria, it is quite embarrassing to say the least, to have major roads in such deplorable state.

    “Major roads like the popular Ikorodu Road (Fadeyi) and the Herbert Macaulay Way (Along Yaba Tech. Bus-stop) are two major roads we want to bring to your attention today as we believe that the fixing of these roads will go a long way to ease the tension we face daily.

    “We must however, not cease to appreciate the present administration on the job that has done so far since assuming office. The job that has been done on the Omobola Road, Itire is commendable, but we need more work done.

    “We currently have a project tagged ‘My Lagos Road’ that tracks the status of road within the state and invariably reports to the government. The next phase of the project will focus on the extension of road tracking to other areas within the state.

    “The reports gathered will be documented in the database and few major roads tracked will be printed and presented to the State Government.

    “This therefore serves as a Notification for urgent action on the above mentioned roads. We hope something will be done as soon as possible.”

     

  • FG’s war on Lagos roads

    FG’s war on Lagos roads

    SIR: We wish to alert Lagosians and indeed all Nigerians to the sinister plan by the PDP-led federal government to engineer massive breakdown of law and order in Lagos through the deployment of hoodlums and thugs under the guise of SURE-P Federal Task Force. On Monday, we witnessed the complete breakdown of law and order and breakdown of traffic in Lagos when these individuals went on rampage, fighting Lagos Stae Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officials with cudgels and inflicting harms on them, all in their bid to take over control of federal roads in Lagos.

    We note that these political thugs who are dressed in black uniform and addressed as SURE-P Federal Task Force have recently come up with what they term their duties viz; Protection of federal properties in Lagos; Right of Way; Setback; Traffic Control, and Enforcement.

    Even as Lagosians wonder what legal right these individuals are operating with, we ask what properties are they protecting in Lagos and against whom? What regulations are they enforcing? Is the federal government now vested with the control of city and street traffic when there are so many areas needing the attention of the federal government?

    What are the duties of the police, Federal Road Safety Commission and LASTMA that we must create an emergency agency of political thugs and hoodlums armed with dangerous weapons to launch brigandage on Lagos roads?

    Is Lagos the only state where there are federal roads in Nigeria? We wonder how control of traffic on Lagos roads should be the function and responsibility of the federal government even when it is obvious that this same government has done nothing either to repair the worsening state of federal roads or adding even one kilometre to the existing roads. Nothing adds up here except the burning desire ravaging the rank and file of the members of the PDP to set fire to Lagos for its unprecedented progress and peace in the face of the gross failure of the federal government in nearly every sector of governance.

    Lagos APC is calling on all Lagosians, traditional rulers, stakeholders and leaders of thought to stand up to this act of political desperation. Lagos should not be turned to a theatre of blood by desperate political wayfarers in their bid to realize their selfish ambitions.

     

    • Joe Igbokwe.

    Publicity Secretary,

    Lagos APC

     

  • Lagos roads get September date

    The reconstruction of Sari Iganmu and Gaskiya College Roads in Apapa-Iganmu Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State will commence next month.

    Contract for the reconstruction of the two roads was awarded earlier in the year. The  roads measuring about 3.13km are planned as 13.4 metres width dual carriageway with service ducts, asphalt pavement, pedestrian walkways and two new bridges.

    The Special Adviser to the State Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Ganiyu Abiodun Johnson, made this known at a stakeholders’ meeting.

    Johnson said barring any disturbances from the community, the project, awarded to Messrs Julius Berger Nigeria, would be delivered in 20 months. He, therefore, urged the community to embrace the project, which he reckons would impact on their lives, warning that anything to the contrary will stall the project.

    He implored the contractors to ensure that residents are given opportunity for employment and supplies to bring democratic dividends to the community. Besides, such gesture would ensure cooperation from the community, whose residents would  serve as security for the equipment and workmen on site.

    For owners of buildings that may be affected by the project, there is no cause to worry. According to Johnson, the government will pay compensation where there is an evidence of building approval title, while those without title documents will also be assisted based on the merit of their case as presented to the Ministry.

    The Council boss, Dr. Adesola Adedayo, expressed gratitude to the state government for its determination to impact on the Council Area. He noted that the construction and the features of the road would free the council’s commitment on the road for other areas.

    He assured of the Council’s support for the  government in its quest for development of the state’s infrastructure.

    As a palliative, the alternative road on Fadaini Street is to be rehabilitated. The project, when completed, would address flooding and create another bypass that allows linkage with Lagos-Badagry Expressway and other parts of Apapa.

  • Lagos set to repair Dopemu, Iyana-Ipaja bridges

    Lagos set to repair Dopemu, Iyana-Ipaja bridges

    The Lagos State Government has rolled out plans to effect repairs of both the Dopemu and Iyana-Ipaja bridges. It said the bridges will be closed to public use for two weeks.

    The contractor handling the two projects – the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), said the maintenance would start on March 15, and be completed on April 5.

    The Commissioner for Transport Comrade Kayode Opeifa who disclosed this Wednesday, said the first 10 days would see the contractor work on the Dopemu Bridge and would thereafter move to the Iyana-Ipaja Bridge.

    “The contractor would be working on the Dopemu Bridge from March 15, to March 24, and thereafter move to the Iyana Ipaja Bridge from March 25, to April 5,” Opeifa said.

    A statement by the Ministry’s spokesman Mr Shina Thorpe, urged vehicles approaching Dopemu Bridge from Ile- Zik inward Iyan- Ipaja to make a u-turn back to Dopemu Bridge via the opened median along the Lagos – Abeokuta Expressway, or take a left turn into Alimoso road and use: Irepodun Street, Alaguntan, Vincent Street, Akiwowo road and Cash Street, all off Alimoso road, to Akowonjo or Iyana Ipaja road.

    Similarly, vehicles coming from Orile-Agege and environs approaching Dopemu Bridge will take a right turn through Surulere road to link Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and make use of the opened median barrier into the earlier mentioned link roads.

    In addition, vehicles from Akowonjo, Shasha, going into Agege will go through Lagos Abeokuta Expressway and turn at Ile Zik back to Agege.

    “Upon the completion of the maintenance work at Dopemu Bridge, the contractor would commence work at the Iyana-Ipaja Bridge, which is also expected to be completed within 10 days, within these period, the bridge will also be closed to public use,” Opeifa said.

    He disclosed that vehicles coming from Dopemu along Lagos- Abeokuta Expressway inward Iyana Ipaja Bus stop and proposing to use the Iyana- Ipaja Bridge, will either make a u-turn back to Iyana-Ipaja Bridge or a left turn into Abule Oki Street, at the proposed median barrier
    opening along Lagos – Abeokuta Expressway, go through Chief Adebayo Street back to Iyana Ipaja roundabout.

    Also vehicles coming from Iyana Ipaja road will also use the Abule Oki Street and navigate through Chief Adebayo Street back to Iyana Ipaja Roundabout, while vehicles coming from Iyana Ipaja road going into Iyana-Ipaja road going into Ipaja road will have to go through Dopemu Bridge.

    He assured that regular traffic re-routing would be carried out around the two corridors to facilitate seamless flow of traffic.

    He said government would continue to drum awareness on the bridge closure, even as he urged motorists and other road users to use alternative routes provided, to avoid delays.

    He appealed for the caution and cooperation of all road users by obeying all traffic regulations and ensure traffic flow during the period of closure.

    Opeifa directed all relevant agencies to ensure free flow of traffic and prevent any inconveniences to all road users.

  • ‘Don’t panic on Lagos roads’

    ‘Don’t panic on Lagos roads’

    The Lagos State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, has said that the administration of Babatunde Fashola is committed to the development of infrastructural facilities in the state.

    Hamzet, who was fielding questions from reporters on why the state is seemingly struggling to get the infrastructural development of the metropolis right, said: “We are not struggling. We have the master-plan that we are implementing, which, of course, can’t be exhausted magically in a calendar year, given the enormous challenges inherited by this administration. The state believes that improved infrastructure is a major pivot on which poverty eradication can rest,” he said.

    Citing the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Isheri-Oshun-Jakande Road, now fully awarded to Hitech Construction Company to complement the bridge works that started some time ago, and the Blue Rail Line project as examples, Hamzat said “the ultimate target of the administration is to develop sufficient infrastructure portfolio across the state for a competitive business environment.”

    On residents’ fears about the deplorable state of most inner roads, especially in the suburbs, the commissioner stated: “Across the state, some roads are federal while some belong to the state. It is important that the major roads are made fully motorable before we fix a good number of the inner roads. But the state government has fixed a lot of the federal roads, thus reducing its financial ability to fix most state roads.”

    He, however, hinted that the state had constructed a lot of major roads, adding, “others are currently under construction across the state. Last year, we started the construction of 156 roads, mostly, inner ones. And importantly, we are being careful with the number of roads being constructed at a time to prevent gridlock.” Continuing, he said: “We use the same approach in the rural areas-to rehabilitate as much as we can, bearing in mind that we can do all in a short while. However, many are resurfaced to bring relief to users. Such include the Isuti and Powerline roads in Ifako Ijaiye, Oke Agbo Street in Ojo Council Area and many others.

    “It is to allow for motorable roads because it will be a traffic nightmare if we shut down all the roads at a time for rehabilitation or construction.”

    On the crippling effects of vehicles that ply the roads daily, especially, oil tankers, heavy-duty and articulated ones, he said: “The load on our roads is very heavy; thus causing faster deterioration. Ninety-three per cent of containers coming into Apapa Port travel through Lagos roads. They are important to the economy of the state, since as a nation, we don’t have a standard rail infrastructure. The state traffic law regulates the movement of these vehicles to certain time of the day for the safety of road users.

    The commissioner further said that it was good to develop satellite towns and it comes with standard and auxiliary roads. But, it is important that we take care of the existing roads. Now, the state is renewing the blighted areas such as Badia, Ajegunle and Sari Iganmu. A typical example is the housing construction at Badia with the accompanying auxiliary infrastructure.”

    When reminded that most of the roads deteriorate easily, he said: “Some of the biggest threats to the roads are willful damage, conversion of roads to mechanic shops and car wash. Hence, the advocacy that we must as a community, take ownership of our roads. Also, we see concrete is an option; hence, we constructed the road leading to Gbagada hospital in Kosefe Local Government Area with concrete.”

    Hamzat revealed that the state’s plan was to build infrastructure that can cater for 40 million people. He further said: “The state has also expanded its capacity for water transportation. Also, the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) is on top of our waste disposal. Lagos State is making good progress on all fronts. As a mega city, there are unique challenges such as transportation, refuse disposal and others. Our approach is to tackle these challenges one after the other.”

    Calling on the Federal Government to carry out its responsibilities in Lagos, he said: “Our prayer is for the Federal Government to take care of its responsibilities by fixing the Airport Road, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Apapa-Oshodi Road and other such infrastructure. Importantly, the Federal Government should allow the states to control these roads, but that must come with the resources that will allow them to carry out this responsibility. In essence, the Federal Government must shed weight and focus on security, immigration , and general aviation policies.

    Drawing a comparison between Lagos and some states in the United States, the commissioner said: “The infrastructural availability in New York is far higher and the federating states in the US are truly independent and can control their destinies. That is not the case in Nigeria. We must practise true federalism. Lagos will continue to build infrastructure that will give us a competitive advantage to be a knowledge-based economy. We are already on the rise; we just need to keep the momentum going. We continue to focus on our developmental strategy of Power, Agriculture, Transportation and Housing.

    “It is important that the two components in the budget, the revenue and expenditure, perform optimally. As a state government, we have focused on the capital expenditure which is why we have been able to achieve the type of infrastructural upliftment we have seen in the state. The revenue and the expenditure components must perform for the state to deliver people’s infrastructural needs. The revenue must be fully enhanced and reliable for us as a state to continue to uplift our society. So, we as people, must pay our taxes to build roads, sustain our hospitals, schools and so many other social amenities for people to enjoy better life.

  • Fashola: we’ll keep Lagos roads motorable

    Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has promised to make roads motorable in the metropolis.

    He spoke yesterday while inaugurating the Paving Stone Production Line of the State Public Works Corporation at Ojodu.

    Fashola said the interlocking stones would be useful in water logged areas.

    He said: “Having bought this machine, the next step is how we are going to make this machine. I have challenged the engineers that the next set of these machines must be made in Lagos. They have the research funds and the materials. We are not just going to be consuming. For everything we buy now, we must know what works inside it and how it works.”

    The governor praised the management of the corporation for being innovative.

    He said: “There is no other city that has and subjects its roads to the kind of tonnage that Lagos experiences without rail for evacuating goods from the port and still keeps traffic moving like this.

    “Keeping Lagos traffic moving with the cargo that comes through our ports everyday is perhaps the eighth miracle of the world. The Public Works Corporation is our parastatal for road maintenance while the ministry uses contractors to build new roads.”

    Also yesterday, the governor urged residents to support policies and programmes aimed at combating climate change.

    He addressed members of the Climate Change Club in primary and secondary schools at the Police College, Ikeja, in commemoration of the club’s fifth anniversary.

    The theme of the event was: “Eat, Think and Conserve for the Future”.

    Fashola said the responsibility of saving the earth rests on everyone, irrespective of whether they are black or white.

    “The war against Climate Change is a cause to which every member of the society must be committed because we are all involved. We must all support government initiatives aimed at curbing it because in truth and in fact, we will be assisting ourselves.

    “We must all be responsible and responsive to the call to save the earth. It is a challenge that transcends boundaries and affects every sector of our lives.”