Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade has assured investors and residents of the state that the interchange bridge at the Odukpani end of the Calabar-Itu road being constructed by his administration would be put to use soon.
A statement quoted Ayade to have said this during an inspection tour of the project, adding that his government was focused on completing on-going projects before exiting office by May next year.
Known as Spaghetti flyover, the bridge, when completed, was expected to ease traffic into Calabar, the Cross River state capital, from both the axis of Calabar- Itu road and Calabar-Ogoja road.
According to the governor, “our emphasis is to deliver on our mandate. That is why we are going from project to project to ensure that we meet the target we have set.
“By December we will surely have the spaghetti flyover fully in use and reduce the suffering here at Odukpani Junction where people spend up to two- three days in traffic coming into Calabar.”
On the peculiarity of the bridge, the evidently excited governor said, “What we have done in our design is to have a bridge that creates a link with the artery that takes you into Calabar and into the SuperHighway and then through the city tollgate that empties you into Calabar.
“This is a state road but the Spaghatti flyover overflies the federal highway and allows you access into Calabar without having to pay toll but if you have to go through the superhighway and the state road, you definitely have to pay toll because that is the only way to generate the resources required for the maintenance of the SuperHighway.”
Expressing satisfaction with the quality of work at the bridge, Ayade gave kudos to the indigenous company handling the project.
“I’m very satisfied with the quality of the job done here. I’m quite impressed. We have Turkish Engineers working with our local Engineers. Indeed, the company handling this project is an indigenous company.
“We only hired the foreigners as Engineers but did not award the contract to a foreign company, they are only staff of the indigenous company,” he explained.
