Due to traffic congestion caused by the road’s reconstruction, motorists, commuters, and residents of communities in Lagos and Ogun states were stranded on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway for many hours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Since the road reconstruction began in 2021, road users have been facing a lot of hardship getting to their destinations.
The four road lanes have been reduced to two on the approach to Isheri, between Berger and Arepo.
A motorist, Lamidi Adebisi, lamented that the construction of the road had made the travel time unusually long.
“Some drivers still drive ‘one-way’ (against the traffic) and end up blocking the road. I had to hike my fare. From 7-Up to the Berger bus stop used to be N100, but I charged N200 because of the quantum of fuel I burn,” he said.
In response, the state’s acting Federal Controller of Works, Forosola Oloyede, expressed regret to motorists and said that the government was “not ignorant of the current gridlock being experienced by motorists around the Berger-OPIC axis along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as a result of the ongoing construction on the road.”
Oloyede said in a statement she signed on Saturday that the government understood the people’s suffering and was making unceasing efforts to allay it. The statement was captioned “On the traffic jam experienced along the Berger-Opic axis.”
She stated, “The government feels the pain of the people, especially residents of Lagos and Ogun states, who are at the receiving end of the inconveniences due to the gridlock and sincerely apologise for the inconveniences caused, while at the same time promising to make necessary improvements in the traffic management system on the road in order to alleviate the suffering of the road users.
“To this end, the Federal Ministry of Works has concluded plans with the contractor to suspend works for today, Saturday, August 27, 2022, to plan and make provisions for required road traffic management improvements.
“The government, however, wishes to remind the public that the same road that is being reconstructed is also being used to accommodate traffic through dedicated diversions and therefore wishes to appeal for the cooperation of all road users with the contractor and traffic management officers to allow for free flow of traffic at all times, even while the reconstruction works are ongoing.
“To this end, we appeal to road users to desist from driving against the traffic and obey all dedicated road diversions along the road in order to prevent unnecessary delays on the road.
“There is also provision for tow trucks along the road in case of any breakdown; road users should be patient by not driving against the traffic and obey stationed road traffic officers in order to allow for free flow of traffic.”
