Third Mainland Bridge To Be Shut For Two Months

IT IS FOR THE GOOD OF NIGERIA AND LAGOS IN PARTICULAR.


COME TO THINK OF IT, LAGOS DESERVES A 4TH MAINLAND BRIDGE.

these are days when i relish not working i Lagos!!!!!!!!!!!

i can imagine the torture and pain people who work on the island and live on the mainland would face getting home evryday.

beans!!!!!

ph airport was supposed to be -what was it- three months and it stretched to was it 9 months ?
we'll be lucky if the bridge is opened by then end of 2008

Synonymous to bringing Lagos crumbling down.

I can imagine the agony of lagosians who work on the island and live on the mainland. Before this renovation work, the traffic situation was hectic, how much more now that the road would be closed. I think we all should learn from this and imbibe the periodic maintenance culture.

this is good news.  with all the wear and tear inflicted on it by nigerian motorists I'm surprised it is still standing. 

It is good to know that someone finally remembered that bridge! Initially, the bridge was meant to last 10years whilst they construct a bigger bridge to ease the traffic on that bridge. My problem with these guys is that when will they ever stop their fire brigade approach to everything??? A one year notice with several reminders would have been sufficient and I am sure all commuters will understand and even appreciate the govt.

na wah o, i cant even imajin how its gonna be,
longer notice would have been in order, even with al that there is no guarante tat a good job woulld be done
tis just rubbish cuz its obviously going to take forever to complete a half baked job.
what is goin on in Yaba is just ridiculous, they've been at that road for close to 1 year, no results
we can only hope they would be speedy, if not we 'manage' as Nigerians are used to doin,

It probably will, because it's a major bridge. see, the bad thing about bridges is that now people will have to be taking other roads and cause more hold up than there should be.


Na Lagos o!

two months too little.  6 months of repair work would be an even better deal.

, Only in Naija,

How do the Lagos Govt want to manage this situation?




For me o!, Let them force everybody to keep their FREAKING cars at home and use a BRT bus to get to the Island. If the people can afford it, let them keep two cars: one on the Island and one on the Mainland. The BRT will shuttle from a particular point into the Island to a particular point in the Mainland. I believe this will cut down on traffic, that is if the buses are running at 85% potential.

At least that should ease movements especially during the rush hours,

@Post

This is very good
Traffic would become more chaotic, but better to put safety first!!

well rasputinn the issue is that presently in lagos there are not so many alternatives after 3rd mainland bridge is removed.
to link island now u'd have to go either through Apapa or go through surulere route which is a bit longer for those staying anywhere after mile 2 side.
but whichever way i guess lagosians would just have to adapt to the stress and changes for the period.
just like when the road expansion on ozumbadiwe-lekki road was been done it was higly inconveniencing going through that route the times i did.

  Lagos opposes closure of Third Mainland Bridge


Stakeholders held a meeting on Wednesday on the proposed closure of the Third Mainland Bridge for repair works schedued to begin on Thursday(today).

It was learnt that the Lagos State Government objected to the closure of the bridge during the meeting to map out ways to ease the traffic chaos that might arise thereafter.

Our correspondents gathered that state government officials told representatives of the Federal Government that the state lacked the resources and infrastructure to deal with the likely traffic crisis that might arise as a result of the planned closure of the bridge.

The Commissioner for Transport, Lagos State, Prof. Bamidele Badejo, confirmed this during a telephone interview with THE PUNCH on Wednesday night.

Badejo said, “There is a committee working with the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

“As at today(Wednesday), we’ve not resolved certain issues and as a result, there is no way the rehabilitation work can commence.

“However, there will be another meeting tomorrow (Thursday). But I can say categorically that the rehabilitation work cannot go on as planned because there are many areas that are still not clear and which must be cleared before work can commence.

“I want to assure you that we are not keeping quiet. LASTMA (Lagos State Traffic Management Authority) is working with them.”

The Federal Controller of Works Lagos, Mr. Tunde Ekunsunmi, also confirmed that there would be a meeting with Governor Babatunde Fashola today.

He said, “When we meet tomorrow (today), we will resolve this; the earlier we get out of it, the better.

He, however, was not categorical about a change in the date of commencement of the repair, saying that that would be decided at today’s meeting.

Ekunsumi said the rains had distrupted plans to repair alternative routes that motorists would have to use in the event of the closure of the bridge.

The controller had told THE PUNCH on Tuesday that the bridge would be partially shut to traffic till September 6 to enable the contractor handling its rehabilitation to carry out the job without any hindrances.

If the bridge is eventually closed, ferry, helicopter and train services may become alternative means of transportation for many people moving in and out of the Lagos Island.

The Chairman, Corporate Messengers Ferry Services, Mr. Akin Akinyemi, said the Lagos State Government might construct emergency jetties where passengers could board ferries on some of the 10 abandoned routes in the state.

The abandoned routes include the Marina-Ikorodu, Marina-Mile 2 and Marina-Aja. Only the Marina-Apapa route is currently operational.

Akinyemi, however, added that the reactivation of the jetties could not be achieved in less than a month.

He also advised that the Marina-Oworoshoki, Oworoshoki-Island and Marina-Mile 2 routes be made operational so that the state could cope with the imminent traffic crises.

Akinyemi said, “The Lagos State Government has agreed to construct some emergency jetties but before the jetties are constructed, some of the terminals have to be dredged and this will take about two weeks. So, a month will be okay to quickly do all the intervention measures.”

He said it was disheartening that Lagosians were yet to appreciate the importance of water transport in the state.

The CMFS chief also disclosed that the two ferry service operators were planning to increase their fares from N50 to N100 per trip due to high cost of diesel.

Ferry services in the state commences at 7am and closes at 6:30pm daily.

Akinyemi explained that within the hours of operations, a ferry usually depart every 30 minutes with a minimum of 100 passengers per trip.

Our correspondents also learnt on Wednesday that the Nigerian Railway Corporation had arranged to increase its number of mass transit trains from six to eight in Lagos.

The Managing Director of the corporation, Mr. Jetson Nwankwo, said the frequencies could be further increased from Iddo to Agbado and Ijoko in Ogun State, depending on demand.

Although he admitted that the company did not have enough locomotive engines, he said that it was prepared to suspend its Lagos-Kano service to boost the Lagos train service during the period that the Third Mainland bridge’s repair would last.

The NRC runs three train services in the morning and three in the evening.While two from Ijoko and Agbado head for Iddo, the third train takes off from Iddo to Agbado.

The morning services begin at 7am and the evening at 4pm.

Nwankwo advised the National Inland Waterways Authority to take advantage of the current situation and reactivate its jetty at Iddo to enable train passengers and other people to connect the ferry at that point to Marina.

The corporation, he added, could revive the extension of the rail track at Iddo to the jetty.

The Railways District Manager for Lagos, Mr. John Dottie, listed the stop stations as Ebute Meta, Yaba, Mushin, Oshodi, Ikeja, Agege and Agbado.

One of the helicopter companies in Lagos has also initiated moves to benefit from the closure of the bridge by commencing “awareness flights” to and from Lagos Island.

The Ground Operations Manager of Caverton Helicopters, Mr. Victor Chibuogwu, said the awareness flights started last week.

Chibuogwu said that the firm, which operates air shuttle services within the Lagos metropolis and adjoining cities has an heliport along Ozumba Mbadiwe Road on Victoria Island.

On the affordability of the fares, he said the company presently charges N27,000 for adults, N18, 200 for children, and N2,000 for infants for two-way flights between the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja and Victoria Island.

He said although other helicopter operators made use of Caverton’s heliport, the company was prepared for the possible increase in traffic due to the closure of the bridge.

Chibuogwu noted that it would take just seven minutes for its helicopters to fly from Ikeja to the Lagos Island.

OAS Helicopters in Maryland, Lagos, said it provides only charter services.

A charter flight on its eight -passenger helicopter to the Island costs N377,000, including Value Added Tax.

The company assured that it had enough helicopters to accommodate any possible increase in traffic.