Relief and excitement came the way of motorists and road users on Apapa-Oshodi-Ojota-Oworonshoki expressway, as the Federal Government opens Airport Link Bridge
By Emma Ogbuehi
After 11 months of delay and slow pace of work, the Federal Ministry of Works, has eventually fixed and opened the Lagos Airport Link Bridge. The bridge which many had feared was abandoned, was opened on Tuesday, November 30, 2021.
The bridge, which links the Apapa-Oshodi-Ojota-Oworonshoki expressway, was razed when a tanker conveying 44,000 litres of diesel fell on the road and burst into flames early January, this year.
Fixing the bridge was long in coming. Dates had earlier been given for fixing the infrastructure but were not kept.
For instance, in June, three months after Federal Government’s, pledge to commence repairs on the bridge, there are no activities to that effect, further compounding the agony of commuters and other road users on that stretch of the State.
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Earlier in March, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Alhaji Babangida Hussaini, had, had on a visit to the facility, assured that repair works would start by the end of that month. Hussaini added that he had the permission of the minister of works and housing, Babatunde Fashola, to inspect the bridge.
“We have just concluded the technical evaluation. We have done the integrity test. What we are doing now is the procurement process. I can assure you that the contractor will start work on the bridge by the end of the month (March) because it is an important link road to the airport,” he reportedly said.
The pledge was not kept at the advertised period.
Because of the closure of the bridge, motorists accessing Airport Road from Apapa, FESTAC Town and surrounding areas, were forced to go through Oshodi – Anthony-Maryland, adding to the traditional chaotic traffic on that end. Same stress applied to those going towards Agege Motor Road through Bolade who now pass through Oshodi before making a detour.
Due to the pressure on the expressway, traffic snarl often extending from Anthony link bridge, Ikorodu Road up to Iyana Isolo on Apapa-Oshodi Road, became a regular occurrence with attendant man-hour loss and exposure to street urchins and other criminal elements.
On occasions, motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles by the road side because of heavy traffic on the road. A commercial bus driver, Tajudeen Alao, who spoke with our reporter, chronicled the pains of his colleagues on the road, saying that by the time they spent the whole day on traffic, it was always difficult for them to make their daily returns to the vehicle owners. “Oga, the thing no be small matter oh. Before we de go Ikorodu about four or five times in a day. To complete one trip and return de hard us because of go slow on the road”, he narrated.
He expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for fixing the bridge and easing the road users the trauma of the traffic on the expressway.
Joy Chiedozie, who works with a federal government agency in Ikeja, recalled the agony of going to her office before the bridge was repaired. “Getting up in the morning and realising that I would pass that hell of traffic between Toyota Bus Stop and Anthony Link Bridge, used to give me considerable amount of pressure”, she said.
Like Alao, she lauded the Federal Government for effecting the necessary repairs on the Link Bridge, by that freeing inbound Ikeja motorists from stress and saving the expressway pressure from traffic.
Residents are also calling for police presence on the road, especially at night to check the menace of traffic robbers on the stretch.