Respite is underway for motorists on the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as the federal government has given a stop work order barely four days after the contractor resume work on the expressway.
The stop work order, according to the government, is to ease traffic flow as it is expected that many of the Christmas holidaymakers who travelled to the Eastern and other parts of the country would be coming back this weekend.
Julius Berger, the contractor handling the reconstruction of the expressway, returned to the site on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. after the road was closed in December 2022 to ease traffic for Yuletide travellers.
It was a tale of woes for commuters who were on the expressway within the four days work resumed with Thursday this week as the worst of those days.
“We understand that there are a lot of people who are still coming back from their various journeys.
”For that reason, we have asked the contractor to hold on and remove the barriers to come back next week to complete the other section between Long Bridge and Kara to the final layer,” Umar Bakare, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, explained.
Read also: Ebonyi to get limestone granule factory
He noted that the contractors were able to carry out quick repairs till early hours of Friday, but they had to suspend work and remove the crash barriers in anticipation of huge return journey of holiday makers over the weekend.
“The measure is to give opportunity to those returning from end of year holiday to have better motoring experience,” Bakare explained further.
The suspension of work on the expressway will be short-lived. The controller disclosed that the contractors would return to site on Monday, January 9, to continue work, and complete work between Kara and Long Bridge within 20 days.
He recalled that temporary repairs were done on some sections in December, and the contractors were able to further upgrade work on their short return in January.
The Controller promised that government would make announcements, carry the public along, and always sensitise the public on the progress of work.
He appealed for patience from road users and lane discipline around construction zones, noting that government was always concerned about their welfare and need for them to have good motoring experiences.
Bakare assured that the schedule of government to complete the entire project in March 2023 was still on course. The Section One of the expressway where work is on-going stretches from Ojota in Lagos State to the Sagamu Interchange.
