Motorists lament traffic snarl as Julius Berger resumes work on Long Bridge

Motorists and other road users on Wednesday decried the delay in the completion of the Ojoo end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project.

The respondents expressed dissatisfaction over the slow pace of work in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria in Ibadan.

They unanimously said the slow pace of work had recently led to regular crashes at different sections of the expressway.

The road users called on the Federal Government to prevail on the construction company, Reynold Construction Company, to expedite action on the project.

NAN recalls that 16 people died in an accident involving multiple vehicles at the Agbowo-Ojoo section of the road on Tuesday.

According to the Federal Road Safety Corps, 17 other people sustained varying degrees of injuries in the crash of four vehicles.

The FRSC attributed the cause of the accident to the brake failure of a MACK truck, which, consequently, collided with the other vehicles.

A witness who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the obstruction of one side of the road by the RCC made the truck collide with oncoming vehicles.

A taxi driver plying the Iwo Road-Ojoo route, Mr Ezekiel Ayoade, lamented the alleged nonchalant attitude of the construction company.

Ayoade said motorists plying the road were always at God’s mercy as they face dangers daily, particularly in the Agbowo-Ojoo section.

A commercial driver plying Ibadan-Ilorin, Alhaji Saheed Olumore, described the delayed completion of the road as “not encouraging.”

“The Federal Government should prevail on the contractor to complete the remaining section on time; people die weekly on the road.

“The government shouldn’t wait until an important personality dies before realising the section of the road is claiming lives,” Olumore said.

Another road user, Caleb Ajayi, says the people have had enough.

“It is high time the government intervened in road users’ plights because we can’t fold our arms while our people die prematurely due to the negligence of a few individuals.

“The Minister of Works, David Umahi, should summon the RCC to explain what is delaying the completion of the road despite assurances to complete it in January 2024,” said Ajayi.

Meanwhile, a staff member of the RCC, who pleaded anonymity because he was not permitted to speak on the matter, attributed the slow pace of work to the delay in releasing funds by the Federal Government.

He said the company had been doing skeletal work since April, hoping the government would release the funds to complete the project.

He, however, appealed to motorists plying the road, especially in the Agbowo-Ojoo area, to always exercise caution.