Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) says it will be collaborating with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to ease traffic movement during the closure of Third Mainland Bridge.
Repair works on the bridge will start from July 24. It is expected to last for six months, according to the federal ministry of works and housing. It entails the fixing of worn-out expansion joints.
The general manager of LASTMA, Olajide Oduyoye, said on Monday that the traffic management agency would work together with the union for a smooth flow of traffic on the bridge.
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According to Oduyoye, the collaboration would also extend to all alternative routes from the Mainland to the Island and vice versa for the period that the work will last.
These alternative routes include Yaba-Oyingbo-Iddo-Carter Bridge-Idumota and the Funso Williams-Bode Thomas-Eric Moore-Iganmu Bridge-Costain-Eko Bridge-Apongbon or Costain-Oyingbo-Iddo-Carter Bridge-Idumota Routes.
“It is the resolve of LASTMA to enforce the law on any recalcitrant motorist who refuses to abide by the Lagos State traffic law,” said the LASTMA boss.
Oduyoye said that the THEMES agenda of the present administration in Lagos with the ‘T’ standing for ‘Traffic Management and Transportation’ showed the importance attached to making Lagos a 21st century economy in terms of traffic management.
He noted that the successes of previous collaboration in controlling yellow buses menace on Ikorodu road and the easing of traffic congestion around the Ajegunle-Mile 12 -Ketu stretch, necessitated the partnership.
According to him, there is the need for further cooperation on the alternative routes following the proposed partial closure of the bridge to forestall unnecessary gridlock in the state.
Oduyoye, who acknowledged the support of the transport union in the easing of traffic on Ikorodu road, requested the extension of the same to the alternative routes while the repair works last on the bridge.
The general manager appealed to private car owners and drivers to abide by traffic rules and regulations in order to make movement easier for all road users during the period.
Vice chairman, NURTW Lagos Council, Shittu Ganiyu, who led the team, assured of the union’s readiness to partner with the traffic management agency in ensuring that bus drivers obey all traffic rules and regulations.
