Motorists, commuters groan over pace of work on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

Motorists and commuters plying the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway have continued to groan over the slow-pace of work on the stretch of the road.



They complained that they spent several hours on a journey that is supposed to last for 15 minutes.

On Wednesday, the gridlock held back motorists and commuters between Ibafo and the edge of the Lagos long bridge.

The contractor handling the project, Julius Berger, has been blamed for the delay on the road.

A motorist, Segun Hassan, left Ibadan, the Oyo State capital to Lagos at 11am yesterday and on getting to Ibafo on the expressway, he met a gridlock, which he thought would only last for few minutes.

But for more than two hours, he waded through the traffic to get to the long bridge.

A frustrated Hassan said the contractor handling the project should be blamed for the gridlock.

His words: “I think the government has tried to let us realised that the project has been awarded to Julius Berger. But it seems the contractor is practically holding the country to ransom with the way it was handling the project.

“How can they be using few men to do such huge job and this has caused the work to slow down. It is high time the government call them to order to hasten the job.

“They just demarcated the road and this has made it difficult for motorists to make full use of the road. So, if any vehicle breaks down, it will surely cause serious traffic on the road.”

A commuter, who lives at Magboro area of Ogun State, Mrs. Iyabo Ogunmola, corroborated Hassan’s claims when she said the contractor had not been fair to road users with the way they have been handling the project.

“I had expected that the contractor should have been working day and night to ensure that project is completed on time, but they only work during the day and this had made the work to slow down for now.

“For months, they are still doing only some section of the road to Lagos, starting from the long bridge,” she said.

Residents along the road were not left out of the gridlock, as most of them have resorted to leaving home early to avoid the traffic.