Deji Lambo
Commuters and motorists plying the Sagamu Road, Lagos State, have called on the Federal Government to expand the road.
They told PUNCH Metro that the road, which is undergoing rehabilitation, was too narrow, adding that the plan to make it two lanes serving two-way traffic was faulty.
A businessman, Ernest Ogboh, urged the Federal Government to use the road’s setbacks to expand the project.
He said, “People who built houses in the area left the setback for this kind of project; so the government should expand the road because it is too narrow. People have complained that two vehicles cannot ply the road comfortably.”
A commercial bus driver, Michael Etebu, said any vehicle that broke down on the road would cause gridlock.
The 38-year-old Computer Science graduate turned bus driver said, “The road is not wide; it should be expanded to two lanes to and two lanes fro, so that there will be free movement of vehicles. What they are currently doing is just two lanes. If any vehicle breaks down, there will be serious traffic.”
A resident, Ahmed Olatunji, noted that the Sagamu Road was the only alternative road available to drivers whenever there was traffic on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
“The Ogun State Government made six lanes from Sagamu to Community Road in Ogijo before the Federal Government took over the project because it is a federal road. Now that the Federal Government has taken over, they are supposed to do more than what the state government did. Many trailers pass through this road; if the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is blocked, the only alternative road for those going out of Lagos is this road. We are pleading with the government to expand it,” the driver said.
A motorist, Olatunji Oladepo, said the ongoing rehabilitation would not change anything if the road was not expanded.
He said, “I have been using this road for more than four years now. It is a good thing that the government has heard our cries by deciding to repair it. But if they don’t expand it, the rehabilitation will make no difference. Soon, it will turn bad again.”
The Federal Controller of Works, Lagos State, Mr Ademola Kuti, said the rehabilitation were in line with the plan of the Federal Government.
He said, “The road belongs to the Federal Government and the government is doing what it should do by rehabilitating it. This is a road that has been abandoned for years and the Federal Government is fixing it. People should allow us to do our job; the work is still ongoing and we are working in line with the design that was handed over to us by the government.”
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