Reconstruction Work Begins on Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Expressway

James Sowole in Abeokuta

Succour is on the way for motorists plying the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Expressway as the contracting firm, Craneburg, has moved to the site to begin the reconstruction of the ever-busy road.

The flag-off/turning of the sod for the reconstruction will take place tomorrow, Friday, 23rd August. It will be performed by the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

Craneburg started mobilising its equipment to the site 10 days ago to begin palliative measures in an attempt to make one side of the road motorable, while construction proper begins on the other section.

The palliative measures already completed on the road covered Sango-Ota, Pakoto, Ifo, Ewekoro, Itori, and Obada, with stone bases spread on the bad portions to make traveling less stressful while the reconstruction is ongoing.

The federal government-owned road has been in a deplorable state for more than 20 years. It was finally handed over to the state government this year by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration after previous efforts.

Abiodun emphasised that bureaucratic bottlenecks stalled the reconstruction of the road.

While recalling the efforts by the Ogun and Lagos state governments to take over and reconstruct the expressway, Abiodun said he and his Lagos State counterpart were frustrated by delays from the federal government.

According to the governor, with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the federal government was approached again for the transfer of the road to the state, a request that was granted.

He said: “The Abeokuta-Ota-Lagos road is a federal government road and has been in very bad shape for long. Because of the suffering our people endure on the road, my counterpart in Lagos and I jointly wrote a letter using a single letterhead to the federal executive council, seeking the transfer of that road for us to reconstruct.

“After waiting for a month without a reply, we wrote a reminder. That road was not handed over to us until the present federal government came on board. The contract for the road had been awarded since May this year.”