“One of the articulated vehicle drivers told Daily Sun at a spot near Trinity Bus Stop that he had spent 10 days crawling along the queue to where he was, and he was still miles away from the wharf at that time.”
On many streets, gridlocks are the phenomenon. Even the blind can see this. So, Lagos residents are forced to deal with the strange phenomenon.
Before the seat of power was moved to Abuja, Lagos was known as a city of gridlocks. But over time, the problem has grown in scale and proportion. Still, it did not present itself as the menace as it is now. Back then, vehicles could drive straight from Oshodi to Apapa without much hassle.
Stubborn Lagos bus conductors could be seen perching at their danfo doors, screaming “Wharf straight,” warning prospective passengers that they were not prepared to stop midway until they hit the port city. From the mainland, vehicles could drive freely to Apapa and Lagos Island and return in good time.
Traffic hiccups were occasionally experienced, especially when there was a breakdown. But now, residents of Lagos suffer far more than that.
Over the past three years, the traffic situation in Lagos has changed considerably. Now, it has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. From nowhere, articulated vehicles have descended on the city’s streets like a swarm of locusts.
Their arrival was steady. And now, there is hardly any major road around the wharf where people are not experiencing severe pain. Space on such streets – including various inner-city streets – have been taken over, leaving motorists and commuters in despair.
As it is, the long-talked-about megacity status of Lagos is under threat, if not rubbished. In eight years of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s tenure in office as Lagos State governor, he mounted the Eko megacity campaign. Experts, however, believe that the area’s megacity status is self-imposed on account of its population, which is in excess of 10 million inhabitants.
Whichever way the argument goes, the truth is that former Governor Tinubu built some infrastructure to justify that emerging status. He also established the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) to contain the traffic menace.
His successor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, also brought significant improvement to the metropolis. The current governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has continued in similar stead. He has, so far, tried to solve a good part of the traffic gridlocks in the Berger and Oworonshoki axis. With such improvements, some are beginning to believe in the megacity idea.
Some people, including the state government, prefer to now see Lagos as a smart city.
But the traffic situation in Lagos leaves one with a sour taste. Perhaps part of this challenge is the city’s population, which is on the upward climb, and which the state government says is in excess of 16 million.
On account of numbers, Lagos counts in the league of megacities like Tokyo, Japan, Beijing, China, Cairo, Egypt, and Johannesburg, South Africa, but is short on infrastructure.
On a bad day in Lagos, trucks are all over the Ojuelegba Bridge, all headed for Apapa. They take up one of the two lanes, condemning every other motorist to the remaining lane. Doing so, they drastically reduce traffic flow. Now, you have guessed right: when any of those trucks break down, which could be for hours, Lagos suffers.
From Funsho Williams (former Western) Avenue, down to Costain and areas around the National Theatre, Apapa-bound trucks are parked on the road. Even on the bridge inward Lagos Island, trucks are parked for days. Their drivers urinate and defecate on the bridges and any available open space. And they could be on the same spot for many days.
Many who are still using the Oshodi-Mile 2-Apapa Expressway might be unable to tell their experience in one breath. The traffic situation in that axis is hugely unpredictable with the pain and anguish it brings. Sometimes, queues of trucks stretch as far as Ilasamaja, each of them bound for Apapa’s two ports about 10 kilometres away. They are either going to drop containers or pick up goods or load imported petroleum products from tank farms.
At some spots, the vehicles occupy the innermost of the three lanes, at other places, they take up two, including the service lanes. In some other areas, they lock down the roads. Other road users are allowed no chance to drive through or make a quick getaway. Those caught in this mix are marooned for hours, unable to free themselves from the maze.
One of the articulated vehicle drivers told Daily Sun at a spot near Trinity Bus Stop that he had spent 10 days crawling along the queue to where he was, and he was still miles away from the wharf at that time.
Investigations by Daily Sun showed that, at Berger, both sides of the Apapa road under the Kirikiri Bridge have failed. From there, the road is progressively in disrepair, up to Tin Can Island Wharf. Only a section of the service lane is fairly motorable for heavy-duty vehicles whose cargo falls off every now and then.
Credit- Sunnewsonline.com
