The dreaded gridlock on Lagos roads reared its head all through yesterday on the Oshodi-Apapa expressway as thousands of stranded motorists resorted to trekking a long distance to escape the standstill that stretched from Five Star bus-stop to Anthony bus-stop.
The traffic build-up began since Wednesday worsened yesterday leading to a total shutdown of vehicular movements on the busy highway due to an ongoing road reconstruction project. The only available route to escape the standstill was the service lane, meaning five lanes had to merge into one to sail through like the proverbial eye of a needle.
One of the engineers at the scene told The Guardian that the reconstruction has not taken its full phase as more traffic will be encountered from today (Friday). He therefore urged road users to brace up for more hardship until the project is completed.
He said: “We began this at about 8:00a.m. this morning (Thursday), and this is first phase of this road construction by the Federal Government, which started from Mile 2. We began by digging the middle of the road for pipes which is what we are doing now, and this will continue for every 500meters till will get to Oshodi before the actual construction begins”.
While commuters are not pleased with this development, they blamed their tortuous experience on the road to lack of proper time management while lamenting that the best time for the execution of such project would have been at night.
A bus driver, Solomon Adebanjo, said: “I have been in this traffic for over one hour. This should have been done at night when road users are few plying this route. Now, what would have taken me about three trips in time and fuel is still being spent halfway through to Mile 2. Government should always consider the masses when carrying out projects. Yes we know it is for the benefit of the people but must the people suffer and almost die before they enjoy little dividends of democracy. When they use the road, it is with big SUVs and escorts of security men to pave the way for them.”
Another stranded motorist said beyond the intermittent road blockage on the road, government should find a solution to the perennial gridlock on Oshodi-Apapa expressway.
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