Commuters, Motorists Groan As Rain Worsens Lagos Gridlock

Commuters and motorists yesterday were held up in serious traffic gridlock for hours as a result of torrential downpour that lasted for many hours.

Places on the Lagos Island like Dolphin Estate, Lekki and other areas were flooded as a result of the torrential rainfall which occurred in major cities across South West of the country.

Commuters from the Lagos inward section of the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway: Mowe, Magboro, Arepo junction spent hours in traffic and lamented that public buses jerked up the bus fares as a result of the rain which added to the intermittent traffic gridlock on the axis caused by ongoing construction of a section of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Commuters along Lagos – Abeokuta road also experienced traffic gridlock as many were seen trekking to a bus stop to continue the journey as there were flash floods along the road.

Officials of the Lagos Transportation Management Authority (LASTMA) were at major areas controlling the traffic and attending to vehicles that got damaged on the road.

A motorist noted that he had sent more than two hours on the road to a destination that should normally take him thirty to forty-five minutes.

A commuter, Mr Abel Nwachukwu lamented that despite leaving home around 7am, he was still on the road to his office at 12pm, saying the traffic gridlock was serious.

“I don’t know why the rain continued like this as we are still trying to cope with the go-slow (traffic) as you can see. The bus drivers even increased our fare to N700 as against the normal fee which is N300. This is too much and I am not yet at my workplace at Mushin. Government should help us and finish the construction in time so that it will be easier for us,” he said.

Another commuter who refused to give his name lamented that he was considering going back home as he may not get to his place of work in time. He added that the hardship was affecting his expenses.