Lagos-Ibadan Expressway ready April 30, drainage delays Oyo section – FG
According to Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing, the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kano Expressways will be finished by April 30.
At the pre-inspection of the finished Loko-oweto Bridge in Nasarawa State on Wednesday, the minister provided the assurance.
Fashola said, “I want to appeal to commuters on that road for continuous patience and understanding: it is a difficult project to execute because it is perhaps one of the busiest roads in the country.
“So, I want to implore that forbearance continues because the deadline we have for completion now is April 30 this month.
“In about four weeks, 26 days, plus or minus, that road should also be fully completed, open to traffic from Lagos to Ibadan, and beyond the toll gate up to kilometer 116.”
According to him, only nine kilometers from KM 17 to 27 of the road will be left out.
He said that because the Oyo State Government was building a drainage across the road, the 9 km stretch would not be finished.
He claims that the drainage is essential since it will aid in addressing the state’s issues with excessive flooding and climate change.
“We believe that it is better to wait for them to finish that project, and then complete the remaining nine kilometers, instead of building it now and then having them cut it up again.”
The Abuja-Kano Expressway, which must also be finished by April 30, was mentioned by Fashola as being the largest in terms of scale and cost of all the road projects.
“Abuja-Kano is the biggest of the three projects in terms of scope, in terms of size, in terms of budget; it is 375 kilometres. It encompasses 41 bridges of different sizes. It was the last to start, so it cannot finish at the same time. That is the honest truth. But we have made progress from Zaria to Kano, that is, 137 kilometres, and the contractors tell us that by May 15 that site should be fully completed.
“Then, we have Kaduna to Zaria, which is about seventy-something kilometres. That side of course, they say will be completed on the 30th of this month, fully open to traffic,” he said.
Fashola stated that the Abuja-Kaduna route, another road project started by the Buhari administration, will not be completed during the tenure of the administration.
He added, “The eye of the storm, the most difficult part and that is the busiest part, is the Kaduna to Abuja side. That has suffered all kinds of delays and it would not be finished in the life of this administration.
“It is the most trafficked side. It has almost 40,000 vehicles in the traffic every day. But those are not just the problems; the problems are that the right of way has been severely encroached on between FCT, Niger and Kaduna states. We are working with the governors to help relocate all the obstructions, otherwise, we cannot fully build it. Apart from that, the project is also delayed by the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project. We need that gas pipeline project as a major boost for our energy security.”
