Vehicles plying the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway inward the Ibafo-Mowe, Ogun State axis were again grounded by traffic on Saturday as a result of the ongoing reconstruction of the expressway.
The four-lane road, Sunday PUNCH observed, was collapsed into one, affecting the flow of traffic.
Passengers had to alight from their buses to trek from the Otedola axis to Berger in search of respite from the situation.
Our correspondent, who observed the development from the Secretariat Bus-stop, saw passengers lining the road in their droves, walking briskly down towards the Berger Bus Stop, even as it drizzled.
Sunday PUNCH learnt that a truck had broken down right after Otedola Bridge, worsening the traffic situation.
A nursing mother, Mrs Bisi Akinola, who backed her child and carried a small bag on her head, said she joined a bus from the Toll Gate Bus-stop and was charged N500 as fare to Berger Bus Stop.
She, however, abandoned the bus and joined the other passengers who trekked to Berger.
According to her, it was better than waiting in the car, as the traffic did not seem to move.
“I live at Lotto, Ogun State. If I keep waiting, what time will I get home? I have left the N500 for the driver. He refused to give me a refund. I will trek with my child to Berger and take a motorbike down to my house. It is better for me. I don’t mind the rain,” she said.
She also begged the government to urge the construction company, Julius Berger Nigeria, to complete the construction speedily and ease traffic on the expressway.
A construction worker, Samuel Okaka, said he left Iyana-Oworo at 12pm and was yet to get to Berger as of 5.34pm when our correspondent spoke to him.
“As you can see, the traffic is terrible. Nothing is moving. I am tired. All my body aches from the stress I have gone through today. It is better I trek. I have begged the driver to give me some refund so I can begin my journey,” he said.
At the New Garage area, the entire road was reduced to one lane as construction activities took one-third of the road.
This, Sunday PUNCH learnt from other passengers and commercial bus drivers, had been the situation of things for some weeks.
The Lagos State Ministry of Transportation had in a traffic advisory issued by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Abduhafiz Toriola, on Friday, urged motorists to avoid the expressway, urging them to take alternative routes.
This, according to the Toriola, was in line with the Federal Government’s announcement of traffic diversion on the expressway, as construction works on the corridor reached the concluding stages.
According to the diversion plan as announced by the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Mrs Olukorede Kesha, motorists were advised to take the exit from the New Garage Bus Stop on Lagos bound carriageway en route River Valley Estate, Isheri and Ogunusi Road will be closed to traffic.
