By Thompson ABISOLA
Motorists in Lagos State on Monday lamented the gridlock across the state as schools resumed after long vacation worsening chaotic traffic situations along the routes.
Motorists in the early hour of the day lamented the gridlock along tollgate, Mosalasi, Kollington axis towards Abule-Egba, Agege routes.
Mr Adeniyi Popoola, a commercial driver plying tollgate-Iyana-Ipaja-Oshodi corridor, said that the early hours traffic was so bad to start with on Monday.
Popoola said drivers had been facing a lot traffic challenge along the route since the beginning of the year.
“Today’s traffic is unbearable; at times we face traffic jam as a result of heavy rain, road construction or accidents on the road.
“But this morning, we found out that all these factors contributed to the total gridlock today, the schools resumption, road constructions and the effect of downpour at the weekend contributed to the heavy traffic,” the driver said.
He, however, appealed to the Lagos State Government to expedite the ongoing road constructions along various routes in the state to allow free-flow of vehicles as schools resume.
A trader, Mrs Taiwo Adedeji, said she was surprised that early on Monday morning to see people trekking as a result of stand-still vehicles on the road.
Adedeji said school resumptions and the heavy rainfall these days contributed to the bad situation of the roads.
“The situation is bad in Agege this morning concerning the traffic, the roads are bad, with schools now resuming from long vacation and the ongoing bridge construction in Agege have lots of effect on traffic in this corridor.
“Many drivers have diverted their movement to Agege since the beginning of the construction of Abule-Egba-Oshodi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor which now tightened the situation in Agege.
“We urge the state government to fast-track the pace of the bridge and road constructions across the state to allow free vehicular movements because from my bus stop, Salolo in Alagbado to Ikeja along, I paid N400 as against N200 normal fare.
The Staff Officer, Public Education, FRSC, Lagos State Command, Mrs Olabisi Sonusi, said that the Agege traffic jam was as a result of potholes along Abule Egba-Abattoir area.
Sonusi said schools resumption also contributed to the heavy traffic along the area, adding that other routes were not as bad as Agege corridor.
She urged the drivers to drive safely and consider other road users to avoid crashes. Sonusi also advised motorists to obey instructions from the traffic officers on the road to ensure free-flow of traffic.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Ladi Lawanson, had sought for the understanding of Lagos residents, saying there was no project delay plan by the government.
Lawanson said it was not the plan of the government to delay ongoing road construction projects in the Abule-Egba-Oshodi axis for political motives.
According to him, Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has been putting pressure on the contractors handling the projects for quick delivery.
“It is not in the government’s interest to prolong the life span of any project because the government is passionate about delivering them on time.
“Most of the projects that are ongoing have December 2018 expected completion date, so, it is amusing that people are saying it is being delayed for political motives,’’ he said.
