Lagos-Ibadan Expressway: We’ll complete Ogun bridge reconstruction by November – Julius Berger

THE giant construction company, Julius Berger Plc, has said that the ongoing reconstruction work on the Ogun Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway will be completed by November.

This was disclosed by the Division Manager (West), Mr Wolfgang Loesser, on Tuesday, during a joint press conference addressed by the Ogun State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr Olamilekan Adegbite, held at the Governor’s Office Press Centre, Abeokuta.

Loesser explained that the concrete deck on the section of the highway is complicated and required that the company worked in several stages, saying the development necessitated the gridlock being experienced by motorists plying the road.

He said, “The work on this concrete deck is complicated because we have to work in several stages. First, the side which is blocked now, that we have to ‎change the traffic management and then for the other side coming from Lagos again. So that would take at least until the end of November this year.

“I also want to point out that there are more bottlenecks on this road; for example, the Ogun River Bridge. So, we will encounter the same problem there; well we would have several stages of traffic management.

“I can only appeal to the public as the honourable commissioner said, we can only do it if everybody is disciplined and takes care to drive safely to the construction area.”

He appealed to members of the public to maintain high level of discipline while driving on the highway.

Adegbite in his remarks said that the state government worried by the development had decided to create an alternative route to ease up the harrowing experience of motorists and commuters went through on a daily basis since the reconstruction work started.

He added that the state government and the construction company had met severally to deliberate on how to find lasting solution to the heavy gridlock on the section of the highway.

The Commissioner equally appealed to the road users to always exercise patience and avoid driving against the traffic, submitting that hoodlums had taken advantage of the gridlock to dispossess members of the public of their belongings.

“Generally, there is going to be improved presence on that road and, of course, traffic should ease on that road. We can only appeal to people that are undisciplined and causing problem for others, to please behave themselves on that road,” Adegbite added.