Oshodi-Apapa Expressway: Road users beg for permanent solution to gridlock

As the perennial gridlock on Oshodi-Apapa expressway persists, motorists plying the route and other road users have again appealed to the federal and state governments to find a permanent solution.
The motorists expressed disappointment that for years bad roads which were the major cause of the problem could not be addressed.
They told News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Lagos that unavailability of traffic wardens, lack of traffic signals and the ongoing reconstruction on some sections of the road contributed the gridlock.
They also lamented the attendant economic and man-hour losses, saying that on the whole, the nation paid dearly for it.
Precious Ezeh, a nutritionist who plies the road daily to work, told NAN that the absence of traffic wardens to control the flow of traffic had added to the gridlock.
Ezeh said: “I hardly see traffic wardens controlling the flow of traffic in places where there are no traffic lights and even where there are, they are not usually effective.
“Since everyone is in a hurry to reach their destination, no one is patient enough to let the other pass.
“The convergence of vehicles at crossroads leads to gridlock, the government should ensure that traffic wardens perform their duties, so that they can ease traffic jam.
“The government should come to our aid. The gridlock on the road leaves me tired. I get to the office tired and it affects my output at work.”
A civil servant, Princess Uboho, who believes that the condition of the road was the major cause of the gridlock, said that the potholes on it were too many.
Uboho said: “The potholes on the road are more like craters. When the motorist gets to that point, they try to slow down which causes traffic jam.
“The condition of the road also affects vehicles and causes them to breakdown resulting in traffic jam which expose people to risks like armed robbery, especially at night.”
Andrew Ngene, who works in a private firm at Apapa, said he believed the ongoing construction was the major cause of the gridlock.
Ngene said: “The government should create a diversion for motorists.
“Staying too long in traffic affects the car which leads to overheating of the vehicle and even the health of the driver and his passengers.”
Reacting, Adedotun Abayomi, a Patrol Commander in the Lagos State Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps, told NAN that the ongoing construction of the Apapa road was the main cause of the gridlock.
Abayomi said: “The ongoing construction at Apapa is the main cause of the gridlock and until the construction is over, the traffic will continue.
“The heavy duty vehicles on the road should also be cleared to ease the flow of traffic. This is why we have a patrol team that goes about to ease traffic at some designated points.”