By Grace Alegba
Lagos – To ensure a free flow of traffic and save man-hours to gridlock, road users, including commuters and motorists have appealed to the Federal Government to repair the failed sections of the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Expressway.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday that the urgent rehabilitation of the bad portions of the road would save users the trauma of wading through traffic jams daily lasting several hours.
A NAN correspondent, who took a trip on the highway observed that no fewer than 18 pot holes are causing gridlock on both sides of the dual carriageway between Iyana-Ipaja and Ile Zik Bus Stops in Ikeja, apart from the damage to vehicles.
However, a crater at Dopemu Bus Stop on the Oshodi-bound carriageway which had been causing gridlock had been filled with crushed stones.
NAN also reports that that the road shoulders, that is, the edges at Ile Zik toward Oshodi has also failed and have developed to gullies.
The craters are usually flooded after rainfalls to compound gridlock on the axis, while craters on the road shoulders between Dopemu and Iyana-Ipaja have also caused a slow down.
At peak periods in the mornings, motorists spend hours between Iyana-Ipaja and Ikeja Along Bus Stops because of the deplorable condition of the road, a journey of about 10 minutes.
Also, four drainage slabs on the Oshodi bound carriageway has collapsed causing unsuspecting motorists diverting to Egbeda from the junction to get stuck.
A truck driver, Mr Aliyu Bolarinwa told NAN that the entire highway needed urgent rehabilitation.
“Between Sango and Oshodi it is hard not to find some bad portions on this road. If it is not pot holes, it is drainage problems. Government should repair the entire highway,’’ he said.
Bolarinwa also appealed to the government to urgently replace the damaged drainage slabs on the Egbeda link road which had caused several accidents.
An engineer, Mr Michael Aghedo, also told NAN that government should repair the bad portions and construct lay-by at various bus stops on the highway to reduce pressure on the main carriageway.
“The traffic on this axis is high because it is an inter-city road, but there is no single lay-by on the road, so vehicles use the road shoulders as vehicles stops to either pick or drop passengers.
“As long as there are no lay-bys, the failures on the road shoulders will continue. The design problem should be corrected and capture the drainage system to expand them,’’ he said.
A retired civil servant, Mrs Hassana Shuaibu, called for the resuscitation of the Public Works Department of the Federal Ministry of Works to tackle the problem of road maintenance.
She said that the nation lacked the culture of routine maintenance which the agency was noted for in the 70s up till 90s.
A transporter, Mr Shehu Kelechi, urged the government to fill the potholes on the highway to avert accidents.
“Last week I witnessed an accident at Cement bus stop and what caused it was that the driver ran into a ditch and skidded off the road; the vehicle was damaged and that is the problem transporters face daily.’’
Edited & controlled by Dele Akinsola