Traffic within the Lagos Metropolis has suddenly taken a terrible turn in the past 2 weeks. You will be lucky to drive through the third Mainland Bridge (3MB) at anytime of the day without encountering a bumper-to-fender flow of traffic even during supposedly “off-peak” traffic period.
I believe the Lagos State government should know better than to simultaneously embark on multiple infrastructural upgrade within the heart of Metropolitan Area of Lagos. The adage Rome wasn’t built in a day applies very aptly in our current situation. No doubt, there is the need to urgently bridge the infrastructural gap, which we appreciate the drive of the government of the day, but this should not be at the total expense of the citizenry who these facilities are being built for. After all, of what importance is the beauty of a city whose inhabitants are hospitalised due to trauma they were subjected to during the construction period.
This played out during the expansion of the Mile 12 to Ikorodu axis of Ikorodu Road. The traffic gridlock experienced consistently by the commuters through this rural-urban highway upgrade enroute to the Ikorodu suburb of Lagos was for the most part of the construction period (which spanned over 2 years) was nothing short of HELL. Accidents and robbery in the traffic gridlock were a daily occurrence throughout this period. Citizens abound whom still lick their wounds as a result of these incidences in the form of shut businesses, robbed or murdered persons/ relatives, permanent health condition; this is despite the succor and new opportunities that the upgraded highway gives to the present day people and that of the foreseeable future.
It is hard to believe that little lessons from this project is being brought to bear on other projects currently being executed. Must the Citizenry be subjected to constant hellish hardship in a bid to build a city of the future? I quite disagree with this.
I fear same ordeal awaits Lagos inhabitants and commuters in the face of the Oshodi interchange Station project and the now simultaneously commenced International Airport Road upgrade. A similar case is panning out at the Ebute-Metta area with the Yaba bus station and Oyingbo bus stations being simultaneously upgraded all being compounded by the Apapa Wharf Road project with the queue of trucks back-tracking from Apapa as far as Onipanu area of Ikorodu road. A piecemeal of what is to become a recurring decimal with in the Metroploitan area of the state in the coming weeks was experienced on Friday 22 September 2017 during peak traffic-flow period (in the morning), where practically the entire highways within the state was on lockdown and motorists/commuters had to spend grueling long hours to get to their various workplaces and businesses.
The end doesn’t always justify the means… The means matters as much as the end.. Effective planning, co-ordination and phasing of projects are essential to minimise the impact of upgrade/construction of public infrastructures on the lives of daily commuters and businesses. Let Lagos take a cue from the King’s Cross Station upgrade.
The impact of construction phase on normal day to day usage of public infrastructure should be accorded the importance it deserves at the planning phase of all public infrastructure.
