Motorists face 12 more months of gridlock on Apapa-Ojota highway

Motorists will have to endure additional 12 months of nerve-breaking traffic on the Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonsoki-Ojota highway for the rehabilitation of the road to be completed, according to the Federal Government.

Driving on the highway has been a huge nightmare for motorists since the reconstruction commenced on Nov. 17, 2018.

Similarly, there has been traffic lockdown in the Iganmu area of Lagos over the years. Joint efforts by the Lagos State Government and other agencies to tackle the problem has not yielded lasting solution.

Inspecting the rehabilitation of the highway on Sunday, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, announced that the project would be completed by the end of 2020.

Fashola, who inspected the project alongside the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said the Federal Government was committed to “speedy completion of the highway to provide a lasting solution to the problems of bad roads and gridlock’’.

He said the road reconstruction was creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs and at the same time, advancing commerce because of the local content going into the work.

Fashola explained that the project was creating wealth with thousands of trucks conveying iron rods, cement and other locally-sourced raw materials to sites where some 650 people were directly employed on various projects.

“Businesses have started coming back on Liverpool Road because the road closed earlier is now back. You will see more of that.

“All of the businesses that are shut on Creek Road will come back. We expect to see property redevelopment and property renewal once the road is completed.

“Once the economy of Apapa returns, all the clearing and forwarding, shipping, newspaper companies and all others doing business will resume fully and the economy will bounce back.’’