No going back on closure of Third Mainland Bridge ― FG

The Federal Government, on Tuesday, insisted that the Lagos Third Mainland Bridge will be closed for six months beginning from the midnight July 24th 2020, saying there was an urgent need to carry out the planned repairs on it to avert its imminent collapse.

The Federal Controller of Works, Federal Ministry of Works, Mr Olukayode Popoola, said this at a press conference in Lagos amid concerns over the proposed closure of the bridge for repairs.

The Federal Controller of Works, Federal Ministry of Works, Mr Olukayode Popoola, on Tuesday insisted that the bridge will be closed for six months beginning from the midnight July 24th 2020.

Popoola, who spoke with newsmen at Alausa, Ikeja, said repair work on the bridge would be done in phases, pointing out that the first three months would be used to carry out work on the part of the bridge coming from the Lagos Island to the Mainland while work on the other portion of the bridge, coming from Oworonsoki to Lagos Island, would begin three months later.

“We don’t want the bridge to collapse. We want to replace all worn out components and joint,” he said, recalling that the last time such exercise was conducted was in 2012.

“The maintenance of the Third Mainland Bridge is going to be carried out between Friday, July 24th 2020 and Sunday, January 24th 2021. Consequently, the bridge will be partially closed and there will be diversion of traffic from midnight to 1.00 pm for movement from Oworonsoki to Lagos Island only on the Lagos Island-bound lane; while from 1.00 pm to midnight, for movement from Lagos Island to Oworonsoki traffic only on the Lagos Island-bound lane. This will be in place for three months for the repairs of the Oworonsoki bound lane,” he said.

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According to Popoola, the second phase of the work will follow the same pattern and will be for another three months, even as he urged motorists to also ply the alternative routes of Carter Bridge through Iddo to Oyingbo to join Adekunle ramp inward Oworonsoki or from Ijora through Western Avenue to Ikorodu Road.

Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner of Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, said that motorists should ensure that travelling on the road with personal vehicle was absolutely necessary before embarking on such mission, disclosing that the government intended to make buses available to ease the situation on the people.

On trucks and other that are not roadworthy, Oladeinde said that such vehicles would be impounded by relevant agencies, pointing out that the State Vehicle Inspection Service Department had started stopping trucks and checking whether they were roadworthy or not.

This was just as he further disclosed that the state government had so far confiscated over 90 vehicles in that respect between June and now, warning that the state government would continue to do that by having we more VIS officers on the roads to ensure that only roadworthy trucks came into Lagos.

“Trucks that are not roadworthy, the Vehicle Inspection Service Department has started stopping trucks and checking whether they are roadworthy or not and if they are not, we confiscate that car.

“So I think we have confiscated over 90 between June and today. So we will continue to do that, we will have more VIS officers on the roads to ensure that only roadworthy trucks come into Lagos. We are doubling our efforts just to make sure that we don’t have any breakdown that would further cause congestion.

“The last time we did a traffic count, we had over 60,000 trips going from the Mainland to the Island, and those going on the other side is just about 20,000. It is a lot of traffic that goes to the Island in the morning and go back to the Mainland in the evening,” the commissioner said.

The Sector Commander, Lagos State of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr Olusegun Ogungbemide, in his own remark described the task ahead as a very big one, saying there was no denying the fact that “the demand is going to take a lot from us – the security agencies, the state and federal.”

He, however, assured that all agencies of government that had to do with maintenance of traffic in Lagos State were well prepared and had mapped out the deployment of their men for the big assignment, adding: “We have been having series of meetings in respect of this assignment.”

“Most of the encounter we are going to have has to do with human errors, human misconducts, irrespective of how bad or the situations of the roads are if they are not being well utilised, we are going to have this problem that we are going to encounter.

“Even when the road is good, the traffic situation in Lagos is enormous and the challenge is enormous. The major task will happen when the downpour is on and we have enough accessories, equipment that are already prepared for our operatives, that even under the downpour, we are going to be visible all over.

“So, I just want to plead with members of the public that the issue of enforcement is going to be fully emphasised on, we are not going to compromise that, because we would deal with anything that would create unnecessary pain for Lagosians.

“We have all agreed that this job has to be done and there is no alternative to it, we have to face it head-on,” Ogungbemide said.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE