The Federal Government on Tuesday partially shut the Iyana Oworonshoki-Adeniji Adele section of the Third Mainland Bridge, to begin comprehensive rehabilitation works on the bridge.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos State, Mrs Olukorede Kesha, supervised the closure to mark the beginning of the rehabilitation.
The closure was done at the intersection where motorists coming from Ojota link the Third Mainland Bridge on the Island-bound carriageway.
Kesha was accompanied by the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr Kayode Farinloye; the Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi; Commissioner of Police, Fayoade Adekoya, and other top officials.
She said the closure of the bridge would be done in two phases daily and traffic diverted to different carriageways at different times.
This, she said, was to give motorists opportunity to use the bridge while the rehabilitation works continued.
She explained that the Mainland in-bound Lagos Island lane would be open from 12.00 a.m. to noon, while those who intend to come from the Island to the Mainland will use Eko Bridge.
She added that from 12.00 p.m. to midnight, motorists would be able to access the bridge from the Island to the Mainland, while motorists from the Mainland heading towards the Island would have to use Eko or Carter Bridge.
Kesha said the rehabilitation works, which will include replacement of some expansion joints and total replacement of asphalt, would last between six to eight weeks.
She said the closure was part of the ongoing work that started in November, 2023, focusing on fixing the ramps, and some repairs on the remaining parts of the bridge, including the underdeck and lagoon sections.
“Motorists from Iyana Oworo, Toll Gate, Ogudu or Ibadan can no longer use this axis (Island Bound carriageway) so they will have to go through Gbagada, Anthony-Ikorodu-Road-Western-Avenue, Funsho Williams to Carter Bridge or Eko Bridge going forward but this is going to be a daily thing.
“So, in the morning, they have the access from 12 midnight to 12 noon the next day while in the afternoon, the Adeniji to Iyana Oworo bound have the free access from 1.00 p.m. thereabout till 12 midnight,” she said.
The controller said measures were in place, including radio jingles, to ensure motorists understand diversion points, to ensure seamless movement.
She said adequate road signs would be added around detour points at Ojota and Oworonshoki in addition to traffic managers’ deployment to reduce challenges of road users.
Keisha said that the scope of work would include complete removal and replacement of the asphalt of the deck to the standard two inches to make motoring smoother and safer on the bridge.
She said carefully chosen competent contractors on the project were going to work round the clock for speedy completion of the top deck work on the bridge.
“There will be 24 hours construction here, that is why it is fast-tracked to eight weeks,” the controller said.
She said that the Minister for Works, Mr David Umahi, was going to flag off rehabilitation works under the bridge at the weekend, so that simultaneously work would take place both on lagoon sections and the top deck.
Keisha expressed confidence that there would be seamless traffic flow and management because of the collaboration with the traffic and law enforcement heads who would be physically present.
She appealed to motorists to obey traffic rules and use alternative routes to prevent hardship as comprehensive repairs continued on the highway.
Osiyemi, on his part, expressed satisfaction with the collaboration between the state and federal government.
He said that 250 Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) personnel would be deployed to work with road safety officials on the project.
Also, the state Commissioner of Police promised top notch security for the project, while his FRSC counterpart promised to ensure all exits and links to the bridge were properly manned.
Some motorists who were the first set of people to be affected by the closure commended the government, but called for measures against hardship on the road.
