800 Houses Marked For Demolition For Construction Of 4th Mainland Bridge

 The proposed 4th Mainland Bridge in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria will claim at least 800 houses, says the Lagos State Government.

Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Ganiyu Johnson said at a Ministerial Press Conference today in Ikeja that at least 800 shanties and structures would be demolished, as government would relocate and compensate affected residents.

Johnson said government had been able to come up with a plan that would minimise the large scale of demolition, unlike in the last administration, in which the project would have claimed about 3,000 structures.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had said during the last Town Hall meeting that his administration would sign a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, with some consortium before the end of May 2016.

“In its determination to solve the perennial traffic gridlock observed almost on a daily basis by commuters on the 3rd Mainland Bridge and roads within Victoria Island, Eti-Osa/Lekki-Epe corridor which according to the World Economic Study, 2015 is the fastest growing corridor in Africa, the Lagos State Government welcomed proposals for the construction of the 4th Mainland Bridge.

“The bridge would serve as an alternative route to solve the incessant traffic congestion on the earlier mentioned routes as well as help redistribute traffic efficiently and act as outer ring road for conveying of goods from the Free Trade Zone, Fertilizer Plant, Deep Seaport, Dangote Oil Refinery and the proposed Airport.

“Lagos State Government has held discussions with a consortium of consultants in furtherance of the project, while M.O.U will be signed before the end of May 2016,” Johnson stated.

The commissioner said various alignments had been proposed by these consultants for consideration, as a preferred alignment had also been proposed as most ideal.

According to him, the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge traversed from Ajah to North West direction towards the Lagoon Shoreline to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway via Ikorodu while the approximate length of the road/bridge is 37.9km with a design speed of 140km/h.

“The significance and value of the proposed construction lies in its capacity to rapidly decongest the traffic gridlock within the Lekki Corridor and redistribute traffic towards Lagos Mainland which serves to meet increased future road infrastructure demands.

The proposal further reinforces the policy thrust of this administration on the provision of efficient transportation system as a catalyst for social and economic development of the State, complementing the on-going efforts and vision of achieving a Mega-City status for Lagos State Improvement of Ikeja Network of Roads,” he explained.

Johnson added that the state government initiated a study to upgrade the network of roads in Ikeja to improve and boost the economic stature of the seat of government to word class standard commensurate with other capital cities and also to reduce to the barest minimum, traffic gridlock along the corridor.

“This will involve the expansion of Awolowo Way with an elevated highway from the Airport Hotel to Alausa to decongest the traffic gridlock along Allen Round-about, Kudirat Abiola Round-about and Agidingbi Round-about.

There will also be an expansion of the Allen/Opebi Road to Odo Iya-Alaro via a link bridge at Ogudu to the 3rd Mainland Bridge.

All these network of roads when upgraded will boost the economic activities in Ikeja being the seat of government,” he said.