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MANY Lagos residents and commuters are happy plying the right
hand side of the Sunrise-Mile-Two-Sanya section of the Apapa-Oshodi
expressway; the same cannot, however, be said of
other sections on that route.
Before the completion of the Sunrise-Sanya section some months back, the entire stretch of the road was a nightmare to road users. The trouble with the road is a combination of government’s negligence and citizens’ lawlessness. This is because there still abound several sections of the route littered with potholes, a snag to free flow of traffic.
Also, citizens’ lawlessness, aggravated by truck drivers parking their articulated vehicles on the road, contributes hugely to the trauma motorists go through plying the road.
Lagosians got a temporary relief recently when the Federal Government announced it had awarded contract for the construction of the road; but the contract was not for the entire stretch of the road but just a section of it. Now, the construction of the Sunrise-Sanya axis on the right hand side of the highway has been completed.
But if commuters had thought work on the left hand side of the road would start immediately, they have been proved wrong. A proof of this is that months after the right hand side from Sunrise to Sanya was completed, no sign of work has been noticed on its left side Apapa-bound lane.
Before the completion of the right hand side, the journey could take an hour or more, especially during rainy season. Now, it’s less than a 10 minutes drive. That section of the road was most problematic with big potholes compared to gullies, especially between Second Rainbow and Coker Bus-stops.
It is now a tale of two worlds on the same expressway, as there are several spots with potholes, which obstruct traffic, making many people lose man-hours hours in traffic, apart from the damage indented on the vehicles.
The service lane at First Rainbow is almost impassable, a section of the fast lane in Mile Two is terribly bad while the service lane is almost a gully. It is the same story on the service lane at Berger under-bridge bus stop.
However, while there is no budgetary allocation yet for the reconstruction of the bad portions – left hand side of Sunrise to Sanya, and Sanya to Cele and Oshodi – the contract for both sides of Sunrise to Wharf has been awarded to Boroni Prono. The contractor is on site but the pace of work is very slow.
It was, however, gathered from an engineer that the company is slow in executing the project because the fund needed to fully execute the project is not in this year’s budget, meaning that the firm cannot recoup its money back this year if the project is completed.
According to him, the contract was reviewed upward because of new demands to ensure that the road is durable and cater for the new challenge created by the tank-farms around Trinity and Coconut Bus-stops, while the upward review fund for it was not provided for. This, to him, is why the contractor is slow because no contractor would want to execute a project when there is no budgetary allocation.
One of the Project Supervisors, Mr. Godwin Eke, disclosed that there are plans by the ministry to take the reconstruction to as far as Oshodi but budgetary provision is not yet available for it.
other sections on that route.
Before the completion of the Sunrise-Sanya section some months back, the entire stretch of the road was a nightmare to road users. The trouble with the road is a combination of government’s negligence and citizens’ lawlessness. This is because there still abound several sections of the route littered with potholes, a snag to free flow of traffic.
Also, citizens’ lawlessness, aggravated by truck drivers parking their articulated vehicles on the road, contributes hugely to the trauma motorists go through plying the road.
Lagosians got a temporary relief recently when the Federal Government announced it had awarded contract for the construction of the road; but the contract was not for the entire stretch of the road but just a section of it. Now, the construction of the Sunrise-Sanya axis on the right hand side of the highway has been completed.
But if commuters had thought work on the left hand side of the road would start immediately, they have been proved wrong. A proof of this is that months after the right hand side from Sunrise to Sanya was completed, no sign of work has been noticed on its left side Apapa-bound lane.
Before the completion of the right hand side, the journey could take an hour or more, especially during rainy season. Now, it’s less than a 10 minutes drive. That section of the road was most problematic with big potholes compared to gullies, especially between Second Rainbow and Coker Bus-stops.
It is now a tale of two worlds on the same expressway, as there are several spots with potholes, which obstruct traffic, making many people lose man-hours hours in traffic, apart from the damage indented on the vehicles.
The service lane at First Rainbow is almost impassable, a section of the fast lane in Mile Two is terribly bad while the service lane is almost a gully. It is the same story on the service lane at Berger under-bridge bus stop.
However, while there is no budgetary allocation yet for the reconstruction of the bad portions – left hand side of Sunrise to Sanya, and Sanya to Cele and Oshodi – the contract for both sides of Sunrise to Wharf has been awarded to Boroni Prono. The contractor is on site but the pace of work is very slow.
It was, however, gathered from an engineer that the company is slow in executing the project because the fund needed to fully execute the project is not in this year’s budget, meaning that the firm cannot recoup its money back this year if the project is completed.
According to him, the contract was reviewed upward because of new demands to ensure that the road is durable and cater for the new challenge created by the tank-farms around Trinity and Coconut Bus-stops, while the upward review fund for it was not provided for. This, to him, is why the contractor is slow because no contractor would want to execute a project when there is no budgetary allocation.
One of the Project Supervisors, Mr. Godwin Eke, disclosed that there are plans by the ministry to take the reconstruction to as far as Oshodi but budgetary provision is not yet available for it.
-Guardian
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