Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ganiyu Johnson, an engineer, who made the disclosure during the 2016 Ministerial Press of the state’s infrastructure Ministry, explained that several shanties would be demolished while assuring that plans had been made to relocate and compensate affected property owners. According to him, the government had been able to come up with a plan that would minimise the large scale demolition unlike in the last administration in which the project would have claimed about 3,000 property.
He said:” Previously, we had 10 alignments but we have narrowed it to one and the reason was that most of the past alignments we had could lead to the relocation of over 3000 structures and shanties but with the alignments we have now, it would not take more than 800 structures and changes.
“The bridge would serve as an alternative route to solve the incessant traffic congestions on the earlier mentioned routes as well as help redistribute traffic efficiently and act as outer ring road for conveying of goods from the Free Trade Zone, Fertilizer Plant, Deep Seaport, Dangote Oil Refinery and the proposed Airport.
“Lagos State Government has held discussions with a consortium of consultants in furtherance of the project, while M.O.U will be signed before the end of May 2016.”
Johnson said the project was meant to address the perennial traffic snarl in the area and reduce the travel time of commuters in the state.
The commissioner said various alignments had been proposed by these consultants for consideration, as a preferred alignment had also been proposed as most ideal.
According to him, the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge traversed from Ajah to North West direction towards the Lagoon Shoreline to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway via Ikorodu while the approximate length of the road/bridge is 37.9km with a design speed of 140km/h.
The significance and value of the proposed construction lies in its capacity to rapidly decongest the traffic gridlock within the Lekki Corridor and redistribute traffic towards Lagos Mainland which serves to meet increased future road infrastructure demands.
“The proposal further reinforces the policy thrust of this administration on the provision of efficient transportation system as a catalyst for social and economic development of the state, complementing the on-going efforts and vision of achieving a Mega- City status for Lagos State Improvement of Ikeja Network of Roads.”
