At the Apapa Trailer Park construction and the Ijora Bridge rehabilitation sites, hope is rising significantly as work is progressing in both cases towards completion latest by the end of the first half of this year.
What this means is that respite is coming the way of residents, motorists, sundry commuters, port users, and business owners who, in the past four to five years, have been contending with congestion and gridlock in Apapa and its environs with heavy impact on their health, business and bottom-line.
At the Trailer Park Tuesday, BusinessDay discovered that the main parking facility with the supporting amenities, including a police post, toilet facilities and an office building (to be used by the Nigeria Ports Authority) are ready. But whereas a fence that will protect the park from the expressway is about 80 percent completed, work has not started at all on the shoreline protection.
“This fence remains just small to finish. We are waiting for cement to finish the work. Once we are through with the fence, we will start the shoreline protection,” a middle-aged man, who did not want to be named, explained to BusinessDay during the visit to the construction site.
The man projected that the entire work, including the shoreline protection, would be done within the next three months, meaning that by March or April, the park would be ready. But this, he reasoned, would depend on availability of materials (mainly cement) for work.
“Again, the contractor does not bring many workers here; sometimes he brings only five workers,” the man said.
At the Ijora Bridge rehabilitation site which stretches about 200-300 metres from the foot of the bridge at the Leventis end, BusinessDay observed that work was about 70 percent done. A site worker explained that they were almost through with the super-structure of the affected part of the bridge.
“Once we are done with the third beam, we will do the reinforcement and the work is done. The casting has to be left to dry well, otherwise the bridge would be opened for use early next month. But latest by March, the bridge will be ready for use,” the sub-contractor assured.
The Ijora Bridge, which was burnt by fire sometime ago, is one of the oldest bridges in Lagos and, according to Babatune Fashola, minister for power, works and housing, the bridge has not received any major maintenance in 40 years. This was why, until lately, the bridge posed a major threat to life with its broken beams, gaping joints and potholes.
The Ijora Bridge is one of the only two major routes to Apapa, Nigeria’s premier port city. The second is the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway which has become a major ‘highway to hell’. Commuting on the expressway is the riskiest venture known to man as the only means of movement on the expressway is commercial motorcycle, popularly called ‘okada’.
At any given time, there are over 1,000 ‘okadas’ weaving in and out of traffic and snaking through uncountable trailers and tankers mindlessly parked on the expressway, denying access to other road users.
In spite of the recent palliative work on the expressway preparatory to its total reconstruction by the Dangote Group, the indiscriminate parking of trucks has made that effort a huge waste of time and resources. The expressway has completely collapsed right from the Tin Can gates to Sunrise-Beachland Estate junction.
Concerned about the impact of this rot on road users, Apapa residents, business and the economy at large, Dangote Group has undertaken the reconstruction of the expressway and this is to cost the group an estimated N73 billion. The reconstruction of the 32-kilometre expressway will last for 24 months and will be done with concrete pavement.
Though Aliko Dangote, president/CEO, Dangote Group, assured that the reconstruction work would be finished on schedule and on budget and would be the longest concrete road in West Africa, two months after construction flag-off, Apapa and its residents are still waiting to see Dangote mobilise to site.
“We know how important and strategic this road is and so, we are not going to disappoint Nigerians. This is going to be the first road project that will be finished ahead of scheduled date,” Dangote had assured. “The revenue that will be generated from the ports when the reconstruction work is done will more than quadruple.”
CHUKA UROKO
