FG to shut Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway over safety breaches

The Federal Government has given motorists and other road users on the Lagos section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway two weeks to comply with safety rules or face a possible shutdown of the route.

The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Olufemi Dare, issued the warning on Monday during an inspection of the highway, saying persistent safety violations, vandalism and other illegal activities had become a major concern.

Dare said the warning followed a directive from the Minister of Works, David Umahi, adding that the government could close the road if there was no significant improvement.

“Within two weeks, if there’s no improvement on all these issues, then we have no option than to come back and shutdown this road,” he said.

According to him, the coastal highway remains a construction site and should not ordinarily have been opened to motorists before the completion of its bridges.

He said the government could redirect traffic to the Lekki-Epe Expressway if the coastal road was shut.

The Lagos portion of the project is divided into two sections covering about 103 kilometres, with Section 1 measuring approximately 47 kilometres and Section 2 about 56 kilometres.

Dare said the two sections have 20 major bridges, 10 in each section, with several still under construction.

He expressed concern over motorists driving at excessive speeds despite ongoing construction activities and the prescribed 30km per hour speed limit.

“We have said your speed on the coastal road must not be more than 30 kilometres per hour,” he said.

The controller said accidents had continued to occur along the route, warning that the government could no longer tolerate the loss of lives.

He also directed articulated vehicle operators to stop using the highway as a parking area, saying trucks and trailers had been parked along sections of the road.

On security, Dare said the government had reached an agreement with the Lagos State Police Command to increase personnel deployed along the highway.

He said the decision followed meetings between Umahi and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani.

“Beginning from this morning, we’ve started to see the improvement in deployment of police. And we are going to have more,” he said.

Dare also warned motorists against making illegal U-turns along the highway, saying offenders would be arrested and prosecuted.

He said motorcycles, tricycles, roadside trading and animal grazing had also been prohibited on the route.

“We don’t want Okada motorcycles, tricycles. We don’t want them on the coastal road,” he said.

The government, he added, would also remove shanties and other illegal structures erected along the highway.

Vandalism of safety infrastructure was another concern raised by the controller.

Dare said vandals had removed at least five kilometres of ClearVu fencing installed to separate surrounding communities from the highway, while about 18 kilometres of concrete covers had also been vandalised and carted away.

“They come in the night, they remove the ClearVu fence that was used to barricade the communities from the coastal highway,” he said.

He said the government was considering replacing the steel fencing with concrete barriers in locations considered vulnerable to vandalism.

“We have to change the strategy,” Dare said, noting that areas protected with block work had not experienced similar problems.

He added that CCTV cameras were also being considered to strengthen surveillance along the highway.

As part of the security measures, Dare said the government had approved the recruitment of 40 coastal guards for the first section of the highway, with four expected to be selected from each community along the route.

The guards would work with the police and provide community-level surveillance, while more personnel would be recruited for Section 2.

Dare said some previously engaged coastal guards had been attacked by suspected vandals, making closer coordination with security agencies necessary.

He added that the guards would be reorganised and trained under the supervision of the Lagos State Police Command.