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What are Your Experiences as Repair Works begin on Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos?

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As repair works on the eight expansion joints of the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos commenced over the weekend, Lagos residents and frequent users of the bridge have been have been experiencing some difficulty commuting from the Mainland to the Island and vice versa.

According to the Minister of State for Works, Bashir Yuguda, the first phase of the replacement of the expansion joints, would start on the Lagos Island-bound carriageway between the Ebute-Meta interchange and Adeniji Adele end of the bridge. The second phase, he said, would involve the Oworonshoki-bound carriageway between Adeniji Adele and Ebute-Meta interchange.

As a result, movement on the bridge from Oworonshoki to Lagos Island will only be permitted from 11pm to 12pm every day, while movement out of Lagos Island to Oworonshoki and Yaba will be from 12pm to 11pm.

The alternative routes for road users are: Ikorodu Road-Yaba-Oyingbo-Iddo-Lagos Island; Ikorodu Road-Western Avenue-Lagos Island; Agege Motor Road-Oshodi-Apapa-Lagos Island-Victoria Island; and Apapa-Oshodi Expressway-Mile 2-Orile-Lagos Island-Victoria Island.

Yesterday, motorists going to Lagos Island were diverted to Oworoshoki-Ikorodu road, en-route Adekunle area, to the Island.

Repairs on the bridge was initially scheduled to commence on Sunday, July 1st, 2012 but was postponed over some logistic reasons.

The first phase of the repair was carried out between August and September 2008, and lasted for four months, which led to the planning and execution of the second phase, which commenced on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, on Sunday urged Lagos residents to embrace ferry services as alternative means of transportation during the ongoing repairs of the Third Mainland Bridge.

Mr. Opeifa said that water transportation became imperative following anticipated gridlock during the bridge’s repairs. He said the ferry services were safe and quicker means of transportation and was now better and managed by the Lagos State Waterways Authority.

He explained that the Ogudu jetty was opened for ferry services, in spite of the fact that it had not been inaugurated.

Opeifa advised motorists to park their cars at home and ride in either the ferries or the Bus Rapid Transit and LAGBUS buses to reduce traffic on the roads.

He said 700 officials of the state Traffic Management Authority would be deployed in the area and strategic routes to control traffic.

The repair works is expected to last four months and will be completed on November 6, 2012.

What do you think about the arrangement made by the state government to ease traffic on the roads during this period? How has the ongoing repairs on the bridge affected your movement?

Please share your thoughts.

News Source: NAN | Punch

Adeola Adeyemo is a graduate of Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from University of Lagos. However, her passion is writing and she worked as a reporter with NEXT Newspaper. She believes that anything can be written about; anything can be a story depending on the angle it is seen from and the writer's imagination. When she is not writing news or feature articles, she slips into her fantasies and creates interesting fiction pieces. She blogs at www.deolascope.blogspot.com

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