Lagos seeks end to Apapa-Oshodi gridlocks, others before closure of 3rd Mainland Bridge
To avoid total collapse of traffic in Lagos, the Lagos State Government has called on the Federal Government to postpone the closure of the Third Mainland Bridge pending when Apapa-Oshodi expressway and other key port service highways are free.
Already, the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan has given a clear indication that Lagos will approach the Minister of Works, Power and Housing to consider shifting the proposed closure dates for the Third Mainland Bridge to a later date to avoid compounding the situation.
According to him, “The Ikorodu Road and adjoining roads would not be adequate to cope if Third Mainland Bridge was shut for repairs at a time that Apapa-Oshodi express road and others leading in and out of the ports were experiencing an unusual, albeit, temporary traffic snarl.
“It is indeed pathetic that private firms seeking to make profit from legitimate commerce would continue to subject the citizens of Lagos State to horrendous pains inspite of the provision of holding bays for their trucks and tankers until it is their turn to pick goods at the ports,” it stated.
Weekend, the state government expressed deep sympathies with commuters and residents of Apapa and other parts of Lagos affected by the lingering logjam occasioned by the congestion created by trucks and articulated vehicles along the Apapa vehicular corridor.
Though the state blamed the intractable traffic logjam on the recalcitrant owners and drivers of tankers and trucks who he said have failed to fully comply with the subsisting directive that restricts their movement within the State.
The Commissioner further revealed that the recent rehabilitation of the truck park at Orile Iganmu, with capacity to take 3,000 trucks shows the commitment of the Akinwunmi Ambode administration to find a lasting solution to the enormous challenge posed by the indiscriminate use of the highways by articulated vehicles.
