Federal government has suspended construction works by Julius Berger on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway to give way for free flow of vehicular traffic on the ever busy road during the yuletide season.
Speaking with journalists after inspecting a stretch of the road, director, Federal Ministry of Works, Southwest, Adedamola Kuti said the government decided to remove the barricades causing gridlock on the road ahead of December 15th earlier announced to allow travellers to ply the road with ease.
Kuti, who said construction works would continue in January 2023, assured that the project would be completed by 30th of March, 2023.
As part of our ember month programmes, there was an announcement we made before that all barriers at road construction sites will be removed by 15 of December to allow for free movement during this season. So on Lagos-Ibadan, we have already attained a level to which we can allow those barriers to be removed, so rather than waiting till Thursday, 15th December, just as we did at the other section from the old toll gate up to Otedola Bridge, which we opened for traffic last week, we have also completed this stretch to a level where we can allow movement.
‘’You will also observed that the construction work has not been completed, it is still work in progress but because of the season we are in rather us opening up new sections on the roads that cannot be completed before Thursday, we decided to allow for movement so that people can travel during this Christmas period till January after the New Year holidays when we shall resume back our work.
He admonished the motorists to drive on the routes according to the rules, saying the stipulated maximum speed on the road is 100 kilometres per hour.
On when the road will be completed, Kuti said,’’ As for the completion date it has shifted a little bit due to some unforeseen circumstances which we saw in the process of the but all issues are being resolved and we are already working towards completing the project before ending of first quarter in 2023. That is by 30th of March 2023.’’
The commissioner of police in Ogun State, Mr. Lanre Bankole, said apart from removing the road barriers to end gridlock prevalent on the road, the police command will ensure safety and adequate security not only on the road but the entire state.
