By: Lydia Chigozie-Ngwakwe
CONSTRUCTION of the Phase One of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway in will be completed in January 2026, the Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, has said.
Umahi made the disclosure during an inspection tour of the highway.
“We came to review the project with the financial promoters – Dutch Bank and Development Bank of Southern Africa,” he said.
He said it was projected that 20km of the road (from Ahmadu Bello Way in Lagos) would have been completed by May.
Umahi said that the first phase of the highway project had been more than 70 percent completed although the contractor had not got funds up to the 70 percent.
“That is why I call them people that have set their minds towards nation-building rather than making money,” he said.
According to him, along the corridor, there are some lands that have been acquired for tourism, industries, factories and housing estates.
“These are the road architecture that you are going to receive on this highway. I assure you that by January next year, God willing, we’ll have this road completed,” the minister said.
He praised the contractor handling the project, Hitech Construction Company, for efforts, saying “the road is exceptionally technically well-designed.”
“I commend also the department in charge of this project – the Department of Bridge and Roads, and, of course, the Controller of Works in Lagos,” he said.
Umahi said that the greatest worry he could have would be motorists joining the highway “from their houses.”
“It is going to be a very serious issue; so, we have to design a barrier. I know that you are putting a retaining wall but you have not incorporated a retaining wall all through.”
He said that, as a superhighway, it would be expected that motorists would join it at flyovers and interchanges to avoid gridlock.
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