Third Mainland Bridge. PHOTO: TheCable
Former National Publicity Secretary of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Prince Adelaja Adeoye, has called on the Minister of Works, Babatunde Raji Fashola, to fix the potholes on the Third Mainland bridge in Lagos.
Speaking with newsmen in Lagos, Adeoye said while the Federal Government was working on the strength and thrust of the bridge to avert disaster, which had been due for maintenance long ago, the bridge should have been resurfaced so that the work is done once and for all .
Adeoye also went on his official Twitter handle and called the attention of the Federal Ministry of Works on the need to rework the surface of the bridge, stating that there were too many openings and holes, which caused crashes.
“There have been several pictures of the bad portion of the bridge circulating online, with displeasure from the users who feel there should have been total repair of the bridge. The busy bridge was closed down for several months by the government to enable them to do a maintenance work, but when it became open to commuters, one can hardly see any reason it was closed for that long,” he bemoaned.
Adeoye noted that while many people might not appreciate the job done on the bridge because it was purely technical, the government could have gone a step further by either repairing the bad portions or giving complete resurfacing on both sides.
He, however, commended Fashola for his efforts across the country, but said he needs to encourage contractors working on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to round off the project quickly, as the work was taking too long to be completed, and creating serious gridlocks for travellers.
“Most of these highways serve as gateways to the commercial centers of South West Nigeria, apart from the road reconstruction.”
For security’s sake, there should be embankment and bush clearing on both sides to arrest some of the security concerns on the highways, such as kidnapping and others. Closed circuit cameras on strategic points on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Ijebu-Ode and Benin-Ore roads will also help in tracking some of the criminal activities there,” he said.
