By Bennett Oghifo
The Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Mr. Godwin Eke, yesterday, appealed to motorists to avoid excessive speed on the Lagos-Ibadan road to avert accidents.
Eke made the appeal during an inspection to monitor traffic flow on the highway by engineers supervising sections one and two of the ongoing Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Reconstruction/Rehabilitation project.
“My advice to motorists is that they should drive with caution, carefully and slowly because we noticed that they are over-speeding.
“There is usually temptation to over speed when driving on a smooth road like this,” he said.
Section one of the project spans from Lagos to Sagamu interchange and is being handled by Julius Berger, while section two spans from Sagamu Interchange to Ibadan, and is handled by Reynolds Construction Company.
The controller said that section one of the project under his jurisdiction was almost 40 per cent completed.
“This action to monitor the flow of traffic was necessitated by the insistence of the Honourable Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, saying that since we have some improvements on the road, we should go to the highway and get the feeling of the motoring public so that we can know the area we have to improve upon.
Giving a brief history of the highway, the Federal Controller of Works, Ogun, Mr Olukayode Popoola, said that last year, the gridlock on the highway was bad to an extent that some motorists slept on the road.
“There is a lot of improvement because a lot of money has been spent on this road to alleviate the suffering of road users,” he said.
Popoola appealed to motorists to continue to cooperate with the contractors on the project when they return to site on Jan. 3, 2017to speed up work.
He also called for increased funding of the project for its speedy completion.
Also, Mr. David Ogunjana, Federal Roads Safety Corps Unit Commander, Ogunmakin, Ogun, expressed worry at the speed of vehicles on the highway.
“We appreciate the Federal Government because this road is free of obstruction now and we have not recorded crashes compared to last year.
“This time, I want to advise road users to apply caution the way they apply this road because it is smooth and free.
“No obstruction, no gridlock, the only thing we are afraid of is over speeding; motorists should use speed limiting devices to monitor their speed,” he said.
Some road users who spoke to journalists expressed satisfaction with the smooth flow of traffic.
A lawyer, Mr. Femi Adeyemo, said that he had been plying the highway since 1980 and commended its current facelift.
“At the beginning, it was very difficult travelling on this road, but with the current budget allocation, there has been a lot of improvement, particularly on the Lagos axis,” he said.
A truck driver, Mr. Kola Adeyemi, told journalists that the usual gridlock on the highway had disappeared because of the repairs done on the road by the government.
“The road is okay now compared to a few months ago, it is smooth and no traffic, we thank government for the work,” he said.
Mr Enejo Ibrahim, a driver of Royal Top Transport Company Ltd who plies the Lagos-Abuja route, said that repair had reduced travel time.
“Our movement is free now; before, we spent more than two hours from Berger in Lagos to Sagamu Interchange, but now it is just about 30 minutes,” he said.
Mr Musiliu Adewale, a commercial bus driver who plies the Lagos-Ibadan route, commended the free flow of traffic, but appealed for more warning signs to avoid accidents.
Also, Mr. Samuel Yerima and Mr. Rilwan Fijoba commended the smooth road and free flow of traffic, but appealed for increased surveillance by traffic management agencies to regulate speed on the highway.
