Wow GAR3TH!

Fancy meeting you here!

You guys (Håkønljzberg , friendsofthecity, etc) are doing a great job on skyscrapercity.

I have been a regular 'viewer' of skyscrapercity for some years now. And I must say I have learnt quite a lot for you guys. Keep up the good work.

Actually, today makes it exactly one month after I officially joined skyscrapercity. Fancy that!

Now that you have officially invited me, I would try and meet up with the high standards you guys have there with my own posts and pictures.

If you check the start of this thread, you would observe that I have actually quoted some stuff from skyscrapercity:

johnie:

The third round about through to the lekki (Maiyegun) beach is supposed to be transformed through the developement of a New Maiyegun Scheme (La Plage Business Distric and Estate) - (See http://laplagebusinessdistrict.com/ , [url=http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=653674[/b]]http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=653674[/url] and http://www.nairalist.com/lagos/housing/2993)

LCC & Hi-Tech must do something about the stretch between the second roundabout and the third roundabout.

In the evenings, the traffic jam stretches from third round about all the through the second round about sometimes to the Amazon Oil junction.

In the morning, the go-slow stretches from Ilasan (Jakande first gate/third round about) all the way to the fourth roundabout (Chevron).

The major cause of these bottleneck is the location of the bus stops at these points (between Ilasan and third roundabout).

I observed on Tuesday that a clearing has been done just the Ilasan Bus stop (when heading towards Epe) which I hope is intended to temporarily move the bus stop away from the main road and ease traffic there. A similar thing must be done immediately for the bus stop on the other side of the road (at Ilasan) and at the third round about.

If these areas are attended to, there would be an immediate improvement in traffic flow.

Hi tech/LCC, please take action immediatey!

Approaching the second toll plaza currently under construction beside Chevron. These pictures were taken approaching V/I from Ajah.

Pic 1: Construction materials
Pic 2: Graffiti on the road protesting tolling and fencing, very close  the site of the second plaza at Chevron

Construction of the ramp that would take traffic from Ozumba Mbadiwe (near Law School) up the Falomo Bridge. Newly re-constructed, but still unoccupied 1004 Estate can be seen in the background

pic 1: From Ozumba Mbadiwe
Pic 2: &3 : From the Bridge

With the ramp, vehicles would'nt have to turn into Adeyemo Alakija before joining Akin Adesola to get on the Bridge. This should ease traffic for those passing the junction tremendously.

Johnie, Johnie, Johnie. How many times did i call you? God will shower billions of blessings upon you. You don't know how much i dey gbadun your photos. Abeg no let the naija factor enter oo. Keep up the good work. Keep photographinggg all the way. I always check this page everyday in anticipation of ur photos. My mouth dey always water anytime i open this thread.
Jokes apart. Good job bruh.
I wonder why it's taken them this long to get to that stage of the ramp. Before i left, all they were doing was just bending steel rods. If only the LASG knew how to prioritize. That ramp should have received greater focus. If they had focused on the ramp, expansion and not on the toll gate, peeps would have appreciated them more. Imagine the relief that ramp would bring. No more grid lock at law school. people wont even think twice b4 they start shelling out their toll fees.

phuck_NL:

Abeg no let the naija factor enter oo.

Thanks P. I'll keep doing my best.

I don't understand what you mean by Naija factor though.

phuck_NL:

Johnie, Johnie, Johnie. How many times did i call you? God will shower billions of blessings upon you. You don't know how much i dey gbadun your photos. Abeg no let the naija factor enter oo. Keep up the good work. Keep photographinggg all the way. I always check this page everyday in anticipation of your photos. My mouth dey always water anytime i open this thread.
Jokes apart. Good job bruh.

+1.  Johnie, your efforts are very much appreciated.

@Mod's, when will we get this on the front page?

I have observed that though most of the stretch of completed road work is fenced, there are some unfenced portions along the road. These unfenced portions are mainly in front of some establishments and I am wondering why these are not fenced off like the others.

These examples are of two car showrooms whose frontage are 'yet' to be fenced.

X-2-X:

+1. Johnie, your efforts are very much appreciated.

@Mod's, when will we get this on the front page?

Thanks X-2-X. Your assistance in resizing the first set of photos is appreciated.

The former entrance to the Palms Shopping Mall and Total Filling station from the express way has been fenced off.  Some sort of wire mesh fencing has been erected along with the concrete fence.

I am not quite sure why the mesh fence is being used in some places and the concrete in others. Probably for landscaping? or temporarily?

Pic 1 & 2: Wire mesh fencing at the former entrance (seen from the express way)
Pic 3: Concrete fence (seen from the Palms Shopping Mall entrance)

The campaign aganist the tolling and fencing of the expressway is revving up.

Graffiti, posters and boards denouncing the tolling and fencing of the road are springing up.

Boards:

Graffiti & Poster

There will be chaos when they start charging tolls.

phuck_NL:

Like joke like joke, una no go gree post this pics abi?
Una well done ooh. Okay, the first person to post the pics go receive 100 dolls.

I'm waiting for the USD100.00!

Ha Johnnie! Did you see how i used Steven Segal style to stylishly abandone that statement!!!
Do you accept credit cards? lol!!!!!!

phuck_NL:

There will be chaos when they start charging tolls.

I guess it will all depend on how much is charged, how much progess has been made in expanding the road and how much relief the expansion is perceived to have brought.

If the expansion does not appear to bring relief to motorists, and the toll is high, obviously that will be a recipe for chaos.

If Lagos State govt has already signed a contract with LCC to concession the road and allow tolling, can they (LASG) now not honour the contract due to the populace pushing back the idea? Surely, the Lagos PDP propaganda machinery will want to exploit this .


Things will get interesting in this Lekki axis, no doubt. I am staying tuned.

Why are they fencing the road? Is there a war going on there like IRAQ? Is this the development that you people have been praising Fashola for?

otokx:

Why are they fencing the road? Is there a war going on there like IRAQ? Is this the development that you people have been praising Fashola for?

I believe we already know why they are fencing the road. At least LCC has given their reason. I think it's B.S but they have given a reasonable reason. = Safety of the populace. They don't want people running onto a high speed highway. I'm sure we all know thats not the entire reason sha but lets leave that for another day.

X-2-X:

I guess it will all depend on how much is charged, how much progess has been made in expanding the road and how much relief the expansion is perceived to have brought.

If the expansion does not appear to bring relief to motorists, and the toll is high, obviously that will be a recipe for chaos.

If Lagos State govt has already signed a contract with LCC to concession the road and allow tolling, can they (LASG) now not honour the contract due to the populace pushing back the idea? Surely, the Lagos PDP propaganda machinery will want to exploit this .


Things will get interesting in this Lekki axis, no doubt. I am staying tuned.

Mos def. One thing i know for sure is that the traffic situation will still exist so thats gonna be a problem. Unless they charge 20 naira, there will be problems.

phuck_NL:

There is only one solution to this problem. A FLYOVER. THIS IS THE ONLY SOLUTION.
If they expand that roundabout to 500 lanes, you will still have traffic because it is a "choke" point. The masterplan for this upgrade should never have been approved in the first place. They should have left the road as is and just build another road by the beach. I doubt anyone will be pleased to pay toll and still experience any form of traffic. This project will be a failure. I said it earlier. Too many cars ply this lekki route. A roundabout will not work.

last time i was in lagos, the lekki phase 1 roundabout had been removed.
is the roundabout back?

what about the roads that lead to the 'go kart center', GT bank (the lane from the lekki express way), has that been fixed has well?

funkybaby:

last time i was in lagos, the lekki phase 1 roundabout had been removed.
is the roundabout back?

what about the roads that lead to the 'go kart center', GT bank (the lane from the lekki express way), has that been fixed has well?

If you go back a few posts on this thread, you will see pictures of the upgrade. Johnnie has done a good job in helping us out there. The whole reason for removing the roundabout was to widen it. They never intended to eradicate it or build a flyover or any special solution. All they have done is remodelled it and expanded it.
Really don't know what/where the "go kart" center you are talking about is

Lekki road: LCC introduces toll-free number for reporting incidents

The Lekki Concession Company, the concessionaire of the Lekki Toll Road, has unveiled a toll-free number for reporting road incidents along the road by members of the public to facilitate prompt responses to incidents along the road.

It is expected to help in the maintenance of free flow of traffic as well as reduce the number of potential fatalities as a result of traffic incidents on the road.

The company unveiled the number to participants at the fourth interactive workshop on traffic management, health, safety, environment and law enforcement on the road last week. It also disclosed that steps were being taken to further enhance and accelerate incident reporting and response process, while also providing stakeholders with information concerning LCC‘s radio communication processes.

More details here: http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201006070413034

There is a school located very close to the second toll plaza that has been "beautified" by the LCC.

The beautification project, from what I could see from the outside, basically covers the construction of a football playing flied, landscaping and erection of various road safety signs within and around the school. The bulding have also been painted and some roffing sheets replaced.

LCC erected a sign board very close to the express way signaling the project.

Recently, I observed that the sign board had been vandalised wth the logo of LCC removed from the sign board.

Pic 1: The vandalised sign board
pic 2-4: The school compond seen from the express way (observe the safety signs in yellow an white/red, football field, replaced roofing sheets as well as painted buildings)

johnie:


Recently, I observed that the sign board had been vandalised with the logo of LCC removed from the sign board.

While I understand the grievance of the people with the issue of non provision of an alternate access route and support their right to peaceful protest, I believe all forms of violent protests and vandalism should be condemned.

johnie:

While I understand the grievance of the people with the issue of non provision of an alternate access route and support their right to peaceful protest, I believe all forms of violent protests and vandalism should be condemned.

I agree completely.

This is what happens when ex-Governers and incumbents serve "their own" interests. The people will never accept the tolling idea.
Build an alternate route, then start tolling. Thats the way it's done everywhere.

News item relating to the renovation of the school:


Ikota Primary School gets LCC’s support
Tuesday, 08 June 2010 01:13 Philip Okafor

The pupils and teachers of Ikota Primary School, Ikota in the Lekki Peninsula of Lagos State were in a festive mood on pen-ultimate Friday when the LCC Safety First and Beautification project was handed over to the school’s management.
The initiative aimed at ensuring that adequate road safety standards are in place for the pupils as well as provide for them an environment that is conducive for both work and play. It was sponsored by the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) as part of its community support and development programme.

The project, which resulted in a welcome facelift for the school’s premises as well as provided its pupils and teachers with basic infrastructure, involved the construction of a car park with walkways and road safety signs, the installation of goal posts with nets and planting of grass on a football pitch, landscaping and beautification of the school’s premises, the provision of a water supply facility and the donation of a power generator.

Maintenance work on the initiative will be sustained by LCC over the next two months, after which responsibility will be transferred to the school’s management.

The executive chairman of Eti-Osa local government, Olanrewaju Elegushi, commended the initiative, describing it as being in line with the modernization earmarked by the local government council for public schools in Eti-Osa. “We thank the management and staff of LCC for this gesture. We appreciate it very much and we look forward to having more of its kind in the future,” he said.

Stressing the importance of ensuring that a proper maintenance culture is imbibed by the beneficiaries of the initiative, Eleguish added that such disposition would facilitate the sustainability of the project. Also speaking, the headmaster of the school, Adebola Onanuga praised the effort of LCC, assuring of the school’s commitment towards making the initiative a sustainable one.

Charles Imevbore, head of corporate affairs and communications, LCC, reiterated the company’s interest and commitment towards ensuring that appropriate measures are taken to ensure the safety of children in the area.



“The Ikota Primary School Safety First and Beautification project is the pilot in a series of community development initiatives of this kind to be implemented by LCC,” he said, promising of that the company would identify other areas of partnership with the Eti-Osa Local Government towards the sustained development of its communities.

He thanked the people of Eti-Osa for the kind assistance given to LCC since the commencement of the rehabilitation and upgrade of the Lekki-Epe Expressway, stressing that the project would have been impossible without the partnership and support.

This project is one of several initiatives undertaken by LCC over the past few months, in furtherance of its community support and development initiative. Other completed projects include the donation and installation of electricity transformers and substation installations to four different communities in the Eti-Osa local council development area.

Source: http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11679:ikota-primary-school-gets-lccs-support-&catid=89:learning&Itemid=347

Lagos, Allottees Partner To Develop Lekki Scheme II

The Lekki Peninsula Scheme II is to witness rapid development as allottees have resolved to partner with the Lagos State government to sand-fill the swampy plots.

Allotees, especially those whose plots fell within blocks 37, 38 and 39, complained of inadequate funds to reclaim their plots, which needed sand filling before they could erect any structure.

The scheme was established in 1994 as an extension of Lekki Scheme I in order to provide home ownership to the people of Lagos State, Nigeria.

The Scheme with over 2,000 residential plots had been fully subscribed, but had no development in place despite availability of infrastructure.

Worried by the low development of the scheme a stakeholder meeting was held where the allottees decided to partner with the state government in sand filling the swamp.

Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau, Mr. Gbenga Ashafa, said the idea of the stakeholders meeting was the initiative of the newly employed General Manager, New Towns Development Authority, NTDA.

According to him, the present administration had reiterated its commitment to finding solution to the problems that has posed a threat to the realisation of its various programmes, especially in the area of development of schemes.

Ashafa enjoined the allottees to interact freely and come up with different ideas aimed at finding solution to the present problem of low development in Lekki scheme II.

General Manager, NTDA, Dr. Adeyemi Isiba, said he visited the scheme and was highly disappointed by the level of development that had taken place so far.

He added that the level of infrastructure in Lekki Scheme II was deteriorating everyday in the absence of development by allottees, lamenting that some parts of the scheme had been turned into refuse dumps.

“I felt so bad and I think we cannot just fold our arms and watch our infrastructure deteriorate; we need to act fast. The reality of Lekki II is that the street level and the floor level is about one metre; this will pose a lot of problems, like flooding for the allottees if their plots are not sand filled to the level of the road,” he said.

Source: http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2010/06/11/lagos-allottees-partner-to-develop-lekki-scheme-ii/

Lagos, subscribers agree on Lekki II development

By Akinpelu Dada
Published:Punch, 31st May 2010
The failure of the Lekki Peninsula Scheme II to attract swift development 16 years after it was created has been a source of worry to the Lagos State Government and subscribers, who were allocated plots in the prime scheme. The scheme was meant to be an extension of the popular Lekki Peninsula Residential Scheme I.

Fear of possible revocation of the right of occupancy to the plots had gripped most of the allottees following consistent government prompting for them to move to the site and commence development.

Pointing to similar lines of action in Lekki Residential Scheme I and Magodo GRA, where the government had revoked the Certificates-of-Occupancy of undeveloped plots of land, the allottees had taken the various government notices seriously.

But our correspondent gathered that they had been hampered by the marshy terrain of Lekki II, which had prevented over 90 per cent of the subscribers from building there.

At a stakeholders‘ forum convened by the government earlier in the month, indications had emerged that the worrying state of affairs might soon give way to unprecedented development in the highbrow enclave, located around the Sangotedo area, of the Lekki-Epe Expressway.

Part of the resolutions reached at the forum was the resolve of the allottees to partner government on sand-filling their swampy plots so that they could commence developments as soon as practicable.

The allottees, especially those whose plots fell within blocks 37, 38 and 39, had complained of inadequate funds to reclaim their plots, which needed massive sand-filling before they could erect any structure there.

Based on the popularity of the earlier Lekki Peninsula Residential Scheme I, real estate savvy investors had immediately subscribed to the new scheme, which had over 2,000 residential.

But their hopes of immediate development was dashed when they realised that the area was water logged and that the relevant government agencies were initially reluctant to provide the necessary infrastructure.

Speaking at the forum, the Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau, Mr. Gbenga Ashafa, said that the meeting was the initiatives of the newly appointed General Manager of the New Towns Development Authority, Dr. Adeyemi Isiba.

He said Governor Babatunde Fashola had welcomed the idea of convening the meeting and advised that a democratic approach be adopted on the issue with the government collaborating with the allottees and seeking their opinion rather than imposing any decision on them.

According to Ashafa, the Fashola administration has reiterated its commitment to finding solutions to the problems that have posed a threat to the realisation of its various programmes, especially in the area of development of residential schemes.

He urged the allottees to interact freely and come up with different ideas to solve the problem of slow development of Lekki Peninsula Scheme II.

Isiba said that he had visited the scheme and was highly disappointed by the level of development that had taken place so far, noting that the infrastructure already provided was deteriorating at an alarming rate due to the inability of subscribers to take possession.

He said that the reality of the scheme was that the allottees needed to raise the street and floor levels by about one metre by sand-filling their plots in order not to encounter flood problems.

He, however, said that the issue had been looked into from an engineering point of view and it was concluded that joint sand filling by both parties would be the best solution.

The statement quoted some of the allottees, Mr. Olatunbosun Oke, Mrs. Atotileto and Miss Ayo Ajose-Adeogun, as commending the idea of the forum and expressing their support for the joint sand filling proposal.

Other stakeholders present at the forum also supported the idea and commended the government for using a democratic approach to handle the problem instead of unilaterally imposing unrealistic conditions and fees on them.

Source: http://www.naijaproperties.com/news_193.php

This excerpt from the website of Hi-Tech (the engineering company working on the expansion of the Lekki Expressway), though dated, claims that the coastal road is planned to be an eight lane highway:


"the Estate, on its nothern boundary, has a direct access to the existing Epe Expressway, while the southern boundary has access to a beautiful unspoilt tropical beach on the Atlantic coast.

The Planned expansion of the existing Epe Expressway to 6 lanes is due to commence in 2005, while the construction of the 8 lanes Coastal Highway accessing the southern boundary of the Estate is due to commence in 2006. These`major axial roads will provide excellent accessibility to the Estate from either boundary."

See http://www.hitech-company.com/EkoAketePropertyDevelopment.html


I hope this coastal road would not turn into another fourth (4th) mainland dream bridge.

Tinubu when campaigning for  a second term asked us to "imagine" a 4th mainland bridge.

Almost eight years after, we are still imagining it!