Charity Pedestrian Bridge, Oshodi. Photo: Business Hilights
Currently in Nigeria, looking for the most Pedestrian unfriendly highway, it is the busiest Expressway in the country, undoubtedly, the Oshodi-Apapa, in Lagos State.
The road is the major route to and fro the nation’s leading seaports-Apapa and TinCan Island Ports.
Whereas the Highway is currently undergoing renewal with cement concrete, a trip from Mile 2 to Oshodi revealed that out of six pedestrian crossings on the Highway, four located on busiest points are currently barred for use, meaning that pedestrians are left unprotected in crossing the Expressway.
These currently closed Pedestrian Bridges are as follows:
*Ijesha Bus Stop Pedestrian Bridge (Damaged since May, 2022)
*Cele Bus Stop Pedestrian Bridge (Damaged since June 2022)
*Five Star Bus Stop Pedestrian Bridge (Hand-Rails Removed Since December last year)
*Charity Bus Stop Pedestrian Bridge (Damaged since August 2022)
Though efforts to reach key public functionaries from the affected axis failed during this survey, a chat with HiTech engineers, the company working on the highway confided in Business Hilights that repairing or reconstruction of the Pedestrian bridges did form part of their briefs.
Further details gathered revealed a shocking death rate on the Highway weekly due to the bad shapes of the crossing facilities.
At Ijesha, a shop owner at the Bus Stop revealed that an average three persons attempting to cross the road especially during the nights are crushed, saying “We usually meet mingled bodies in the morning when we come for business almost on a daily basis.
The same scenario is painted by business operators at Cele Bus Stop, Five Star and Charity Bus Stop in Oshodi.
During the cause of this investigation, no official of the Lagos State Government agreed to comment on the scary scenario on the nation’s busiest Highway just as the Federal Controller of Works was unreachable for comments after all efforts.
