3rd Mainland Bridge: Roads That Are Likely To Be Congested

It is no news that the 3rd Mainland Bridge in Lagos will be shut for vehicular movements for 4 days from 12 am 24th August 2018. Lagos is a cosmopolitan city with traffic issues, with traffic issues from trailers, and tankers to cope, traffic in Lagos has been a pain to every motorist. The closure of 3rd Mainland Bridge will have an adverse effect on Lagos roads. The Lagos State Government with all security agencies has advised road users to use other road alternatives like Carter Bridge also known as Eko Bridge, Ikorodu Road among others.

AutoReportNG went to town before the closure of the 3rd Mainland Bridge to access the level of traffic and how the city can fare during these 4 days, during our assessment, we noticed some areas that may be traffic prone for users in these four days.

1. Ikorodu Road

Except a miracle happens midnight and all the tankers and trailers within these roads are relocated, Ikorodu Road may be the worst place to be. With trailers all over the road, they have not only constituted a nuisance to the road, they have divided the road into two, they took the other part of the road while vehicles took the other lane. Now that the 3rd Mainland Bridge will be closed, this road will be heavily packed as this road leads to major road outlets like Ketu, Ojota, Ikeja and those going outside Lagos.

2. Eko Bridge

Eko Bridge will be the best alternative for those who are coming from Island and want to link to the mainland, however, Eko Bridge seems to be faced with three issues, one is traders selling within this area. Traders in Idumota, Balogun, Oke-Arin, Isale Eko block the roads when they are selling, a visit to Idumota during the day will reveal the situation of things to you even with the presence of CBD and LASTMA officials, they seem uncontrollable, also is the case of the danfos that turn the road to their park, going towards Eyin Eyo when climbing the bridge is usually hectic especially areas like Tom Jones, Adeniji among others, except if the LASTMA decided to do a total overhaul of that road, another one aspect to be worried about are the trailers and tankers. The trailers and tankers have taken over roads from Iddo, Ijora Olopa up to Ijora 7up and then to the bridge linking Apapa. With these two issues, they can maneuver from Ijora Olopa to link Costain bridge.

3. Oshodi-Apapa Expressway

This road can best be described as the mother of all traffic in Lagos all thanks to the port, trailers, and tankers in this route. The Oshodi-Apapa Expressway has become practically unmotorable due to the trailers on the road, with the closure of the bridge, this road will be in total mess except for something fast is done on time.

Other roads which may likely be jampacked include, Yaba, Bariga Road, Obalende.

The good thing is that LASTMA, FRSC, RRS and some other security agencies will be on the road to help direct and maintain orderliness on the road.

Advice
Since we all know the road will be blocked, now is the time to encourage our car owners to pack the cars at home and use the Bus Rapid Transit, BRT as this will help to reduce the number of cars on the road.