Afrigather Motorists on Apapa-Ijora bridge are once more going by a tough driving expertise because the Federal Authorities has closed the bridge on the Mobil Highway junction for emergency repairs.
All automobiles and vans are, due to this fact, to return down by marine bridge exit and Mobil Highway exit. Thereafter, they are going to take the service lane into Apapa.
This closure, in response to authorities of the federal government, would final for 3 months, bringing to seven the variety of instances this specific bridge has been closed to visitors within the final seven years.
Information present that the bridge was closed for six months in 2016, 4 months in 2017, six months in 2018, 5 months in 2020, and three months in 2021. In 2022, it was closed partially for 3 months from January 7 to April 2 for emergency repairs.
Motorists, particularly residents of the port metropolis who’re all the time on the receiving finish of those frequent closures of the bridge, have described this newest closure as “one incident too many.”
Till February 2021 when a collaborative effort by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Lagos State authorities launched the Eto App (a call-up system) to regulate truck motion out and in of the port metropolis, Apapa was in a deep visitors mess, making it a loathsome vacation spot averted by many.
However, even with that, motorists and residents had, at one time or one other, been subjected to horrible driving expertise as trailers and tankers, which have develop into a military of occupation on the bridges, develop into chaotic and unruly every time there’s want to shut the bridge for restore work.
“We have to brace up for extra arduous instances,” Sola Giwa, a Lagos State employees member appointed to handle visitors, cautioned on the weekend, including, “We’d guarantee driving expertise as we navigate the three-month diversion.”
Giwa mentioned that, as anticipated, there can be some inconveniences throughout this time. “Just like the saying goes, you can’t make an omelet with out breaking eggs. I’d quite have some visitors than a bridge collapse. Please, bear with us because the Federal Authorities repairs the bridge,” he pleaded.
He, nonetheless, suggested that the vans ought to take beneath the bridge and join the service lane beneath the bridge to Leventis, saying that as motorists, they may not have the mayhem brought on by vans and resident/non-public automobiles, all making an attempt to navigate one lane to Mobil Highway.
On the weekend, the scenario might greatest be described as chaotic — vans making an attempt to do a U-turn on Mobil Highway induced an extended visitors snarl whereas many non-public automobiles had been trapped in-between vans, not sure when to make their method into Apapa.
“That’s precisely what occurred a couple of minutes in the past; you possibly can’t think about the visitors jam (gridlock) brought on by these trailers making a U-turn there; it’s an absolute nightmare certainly,” an Apapa resident lamented, suggesting that, within the curiosity of sanity and security of the residents, the vans shouldn’t be allowed to make use of the Mobil Highway exit.
Apart from the driving expertise, which, for them, is a nightmare certainly, the residents are scared stiff of the safety threat which the current visitors scenario of their setting poses, pleading with the Lagos authorities official to offer safety for them.
“Please, can we’ve safety and which method ought to common autos take; simply apprehensive of getting to navigate visitors on one’s personal,” one other resident pleaded, commending Giwa for his efforts at guaranteeing sanity within the space.
Yet one more resident, who launched himself merely as Elias, recommended Giwa, saying, “Could we ask now that there’s visitors, let safety be elevated, particularly in Ijora as we’ll now develop into targets of armed robbers who will reap the benefits of our immobility; please, assist to place this criticism to Ijora command as most robberies happen at that finish.”
To ease the hardship brought on by this visitors scenario, Daniel Edward, an engineer, instructed that these dealing with the call-up system ought to scale back the variety of vans per day whereas the restore work lasts.
