Road users groan as Lagos begins Ifako bridge repair

LASTMA officers

Motorists plying the Oworoshoki-Ketu Expressway, Lagos State, were held to several hours of gridlock on Saturday and Sunday following the commencement of repair work on the Oworonshoki-Ifako bridge.

PUNCH Metro correspondent who plied the area on Saturday observed that a partial demarcation on the bridge left motorists with one-lane movement which resulted in backlog of vehicles and slow vehicular movement.

Commuters were seen resorting to trekking to avoid the gridlock which lasted about three hours.

Similarly, on Sunday, motorists were held to several hours of gridlock due to the repairs.

A motorist who spoke to our correspondent lamented how he spent over an hour navigating from the Gbagada Expressway en route Alapere through the Ifako bridge.

He said, “I spent over an hour just to connect Ifako bridge from the Gbagada end of the expressway. This used to be a distance of less than five minutes. If this could happen on a Sunday, imagine what will happen on a work day.”

Reacting to the traffic situation, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority said the repair was necessary to ensure the stability and integrity of the bridge. Punch