Barely four days to the partial closure of the 3rd Mainland Bridge for rehabilitation, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola, on Sunday, said massive rehabilitation of alternative routes are progressing as scheduled.
Popoola disclosed this during an assessment tour of progress of work on the alternative routes, pointing out that the Federal Ministry of Works and Lagos State government were tackling the rehabilitation works together simultaneously on different access paths.
According to him, the collaborative effort was the outcome of a stakeholders meeting which held on July 13th, where all participants, including the roads maintenance interests groups, swung into immediate action to ensure minimal traffic discomfort.
He added that during the meeting, an agreement was reached for urgent interventions across major access routes which were being complied with.
“The efforts we have made so far concerning the partial closure of the Third Mainland Bridge on July 24th, some of the alternative routes that people may take are being repaired.
“The Federal Ministry of Works has repaired Iddo-Oyingbo Road, we asked the contractor, Messrs Borini Porono, to go there and fill the potholes, which they have done.
“We also cleared the drains there after our meeting with stakeholders on July 11th,” the controller said.
Popoola added that CCECC was also deployed to fix failed portions of the Independence Tunnel on Ikorodu Road on Thursday, saying that the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) on its part had fixed bad portions and cleaned drains at Ijora Olopa.
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He explained that the Lagos State government agreed to fix bad portions around the Iganmu Bridge, saying that, its public works agency was also fixing some other roads.
“I was with the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Wednesday and they promised to address the failure around the Iganmu Bridge.
“And I am sure they have started because they are working with the Lagos State Public Works Corporation,” he stated.
Popoola had on July 6 announced the plan to close the bridge on July 24th for another phase of repair works and later revealed a traffic management plan.
The bridge which has gone through a series of rehabilitation works was last shut in August 2018 for a 3- day investigative maintenance check.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Engr Mrs Aramide Adeyoye, in his remark, said it was important that the state government undertake the repairs on alternative routes so as to alleviate the inconvenience necessitated by the partial closure.
Adeyoye, while appealing to commuters to obey traffic rules during the period of the partial closure, assured that the state government would ensure that all the alternative routes were in good condition before the commencement of the partial closure.
Also speaking, the State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, assured that adequate arrangement had been made for effective traffic control throughout the six months partial lockdown, disclosing that about 600 LASTMA personnel would be deployed to direct traffic to ensure free vehicular movement.
The 11.8km 3rd Mainland Bridge is the longest of three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland.
The bridge starts from Oworonshoki which is linked to the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and ends at the Adeniji Adele Interchange on Lagos Island.
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