The Federal Government says the rehabilitation work on Phase A of the Third Mainland Bridge, which started on July 24, 2020, has been completed and will be opened to motorists by midnight of Sunday, November 22. Phase A of the rehabilitation work is on the mainland-bound lane of the bridge.
The government says work will start on Phase B, which is the Island-bound lane of the bridge, on Monday, November 23, meaning that the pains experienced in the last four months of work on Phase A still await motorists on that axis. Though this time, the repair work will last for three months and it is expected to end on February 22, 2021.
Olukayode Popoola, Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, explained on Thursday during a tour of the project site that repair work on Phase A took four instead of three months slated for it because of the ENDSARS protest and the curfew that followed.
“The repair of the six broken joints on the Mainland bound lane of the bridge has been completed. The contractor will use Friday and Saturday to transfer his equipment to start work on Phase B and by midnight of Sunday, this completed Phase A will be open to the motoring public,” Popoola assured.
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As work was to commence on the Island-bound lane of the bridge, there would be a partial closure of Adekunle to Adeniji-Adele end of the bridge, he said, stressing that repair work was to last between November 22, 2020, and February 22, 2021, a duration of three months.
“Consequently, Adekunle to Adeniji-adele part of the bridge on the Island-bound lane measuring 3.5 kilometres will be partially closed throughout the period of repair works and there will be a diversion of traffic,” he said.
He explained that in the morning hours, between 11: 55pm and 11: 55am, Oworonshoki to Lagos Island traffic on the Adeniji-adele bound lane are to be diverted at Adekunle to the Oworonshoki bound lane and rediverted to the Island-bound lane at Adeniji-adele.
In the afternoon, 11:55 am and 11:55 pm, he added, Lagos Island to Oworonshoki traffic on the Oworonshoki bound lane will experience no diversion as repair work on the lane has been completed.
The controller advised motorists to also ply alternative routes and cooperate with traffic management agencies, as traffic control officers would be in place to direct and help traffic movement.
Paulo Prono, Executive Director at Borini Prono, assured that work on Phase B of the repair project would be completed within the three-month schedule, disclosing that materials for three of the six joints to be fixed on that lane were already on the ground.
Borini Prono, an Italian construction firm, is the contractor handling the repair of the 11.8-kilometre bridge, which is the longest of three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland. The others are the Eko and Carter bridges.
