Abiodun flags off reconstruction of Lagos-Abeokuta expressway Friday

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun will on Friday, August 23, 2024, flag off the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta expressway.

The Ogun State Government made this known via a statement made available to The Star on Wednesday, August 21.

The state government noted that the contracting firm, Craneburg, has moved to the expressway to begin the reconstruction of the ever-busy road.

It stated that 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.

According to the government, 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 travelling less stressful while the reconstruction is ongoing.

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

9 die, 7 injured in Lagos-Abeokuta expressway accident

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, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, were frustrated by delays from the federal government.

Abiodun said the federal government approached for the transfer of the road to the state and President Tinubu granted the request.

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.”

The Star