Lagos-Ibadan Expressway: See The Reconstruction, Rehabilitation And Expansion of Nigeria's Busiest Road

The Lagos-Ibadan is one of the busiest roads ever in Nigeria, its the road that links Lagos, Oyo and Ogun States together. Thousands of vehicles from cars, trucks, bikes and other forms of transportation make use of this road to get to their various destination, most times, inter-state transportation.

The Lagos–Ibadan Expressway is a 127.6-kilometre-long (79.3 mi) expressway connecting Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State and Lagos, Nigeria's largest city. It is also the major route to the northern, southern and eastern parts of Nigeria. The expressway is the oldest in Nigeria, commissioned in August 1978 during the Military era, under the administration of Major-General Olusegun Obasanjo.

The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was closed partially for full rehabilitation work on 2nd September 2019 and so far, it has been hectic for those who use the road regularly. For example, yesterday was a total standstill as the road was completely under locked down.

The reconstruction of the expressway was flagged off on July 2013 by Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the immediate past President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to help reduce the travel time of hundreds of thousands of commuters and international air passengers. The contract was awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria and Reynolds Construction Company Limited at a sum of 167 billion Naira, equivalent to $838,986,290. Two sections of the expressway will be reconstructed and this includes Section I (Lagos to Sagamu Interchange) and section II (Sagamu Interchange to Ibadan).

AutoReportNG monitored the ongoing rehabilitation and expansion which is currently ongoing at the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and we noticed that Julius Berger is trying to finish up before the proposed date (Dec 2019). According to the images at our disposal, the U-drainage system and other forms of construction are ongoing at the site.

On 2nd Sept. 2019, the traffic advisory by the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) on Sunday, motorists were advised to make use of alternative routes.

The alternative routes listed by the spokesman of TRACE, Babatunde Akinbiyi, are Iyana Ipaja/Ota/Ifo/Abeokuta/Sagamu-Benin Ore expressway; Victoria Island/Lekki/Epe/Ijebu-Ode-Benin/Ore expressway or the Ikorodu/ Itoikin/ Ijebu-Ode-Benin/Ore expressway.

Akinbiyi said: “In view of the imminent closure of inbound Lagos traffic along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway for reconstruction and rehabilitation work on the 600km stretch of the corridor to be carried out from Berger (New Garage Bus Stop) – Ogun River (Kara Bridge), scheduled for Monday, 2nd September-Sunday, 15th December, 2019, the the general public, particularly the motoring public, is hereby apprised of the need to plan their journey, add more time to their travelling
time and take necessary precaution.

“From Monday, 2nd September 2019, inbound traffic (movement) from Kara Bridge to Berger would be sealed off and diverted into the same carriageway along the expressway conveying traffic outbound Lagos, thereby making both inbound and outbound traffic to be accommodated on
the same section of the expressway.