Commuters on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway are still having nightmares travelling on the ever-busy road due to gridlock caused by bad portions around Kara market and the ongoing reconstruction within the area.
Quest Times reporter on-the-spot assessment of the situation on Wednesday observed that the bad portion is causing serious outward from Lagos and inward into Lagos traffic bottleneck, especially around the Lagos/Mowe section of the road.
The Director, South-West Federal Ministry of Works, Adedamola Kuti, had said the company suspended work to enable a hassle-free movement of travellers during the Yuletide.
About a week later, the Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogun State Command, in a statement, said the company had started removing the crash barriers on the road.
However, days after both claims, there has been no traffic improvement on the road as commuters continue to spend long hours in traffic.
Many commuters have had to sleep on the road, while many others have had to spend hours before navigating through to continue their journeys, according to media sources.
A resident in the area who spoke to Quest Times via WhatsApp conversation said she spent 5 hours on the Long bridge on Wednesday before turning back home due to the traffic jam.
“I spent 5 hours on the Longbridge yesterday (Wednesday) and had to turn back at New Garage without going to my office in Ikoyi.
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“I knew the road would be congested again today from my experience yesterday. So, I decided to remain at home. We need to write about the suffering and continued congestion on this road.
“I learned that passengers who took the Earth road on Sunday around 2 pm were attacked by armed men. We cannot continue like this,” she lamented.
Quest Times learned Okada riders also used the opportunity to cash out on impatient passengers who had to pay heavily to get to their destination due to the congestion.
“The road is completely blocked right from Mowe to Berger. From Berger to Opic blocked too. Too many okada riders using one way — this is risky. Passengers were charged N1,000 each from Magboro for Okada ride to Berger,” another source disclosed.
Meanwhile, a community leader identified as Segun Sunmonu-Adams said it is not true that Julius Berger would vacate the site on December 5 as claimed by the Federal Government while blaming the gridlock on the recent diversion of the road inward Lagos.
“The first information flying online that they will leave that place by December 5 is not correct. I’ve been in touch with Julius Berger’s project supervisor for the Lagos-Sagamu section, so I can say their plan is to leave around 15th.
“The reason you experienced gridlock today (Wednesday) which wasn’t there yesterday, is because the section inward Lagos was divided into two, the outer part is now being done, while the other has been closed.
“The U-turn for those going back to Lagos has been changed. That has caused confusion because it is no longer at the same point where it was before. So, that’s the new thing implemented last night and the major reason you had terrible traffic this morning.”