The Lagos State Government has resumed the construction of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway which was abandoned several years ago.

The road project started in March 2009, and 10 years into the project, Eric-Moore to Mile-2 and Mile-2 to Agboju has been completed, while Agboju to Trade Fair is being flagged off for completion.

Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, on Tuesday, flagged-off the continuation of the reconstruction of the road at the International Trade Fair Complex in Lagos.

He urged residents to cooperate with road contractors and help monitor the continuation of the reconstruction of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

The Deputy Governor, who supervised the road project while he was Works and Infrastructure Commissioner under the Babatunde Fashola’s administration, said that the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration had recognised the importance of the project and promised to ease the inconvenience being faced by citizens on the road.

“You will recall that on June 2, just three days after the inauguration of the Gov.  Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, we were here to show Lagos residents that this s a critical road for us, and that work will start again on this road. We are here today to fulfill that promise.

“As you recall,  it’s a massive road project, from four lanes to 10 lanes. It’s a 60km lane from Eric-Moore all through to Okokomaiko.

“This is to say that we will again begin work on this road, and by the grace of God, the road from Agboju to the Lagos International Trade Fair will be completed by the end of this year, from four to 10 lanes.

“Then, palliative measures will be put in place from Trade Fair to Okokomaiko to make the road motorable for our people while construction will be going on,” he said.

Hamzat said that the state government was working with the Federal Government to make the road accessible to Seme border crossing.

“As at today, the Federal Roads Maintenance  Agency, which is in charge of road maintenance, has awarded the rehabilitation of the four lanes from Igbo-Elerin to Agbara.

“This is because on that axis,  you have pipelines and various infrastructure that need to be preserved, but at least, it will be motorable for residents and there will be no bottlenecks.

“The Federal Ministry of Works has also awarded from Agbara to Seme border. That will be six lanes.  So, this will make it easier for residents to move around without obstructions, ” he said.

Hamzat urged residents and road users to maintain orderliness, obey traffic laws and cooperate with the contractors handling the project.

“It is important to note that on our way here, we saw a lot of vehicles facing one-way. In the process, we stopped some of them and their excuse was that “there is no road’.

“Unfortunately, on that same road, we saw a young man that was hit by an ‘Okada’ who was driving against traffic.

“That young man can be somebody’s brother, son or cousin. So, we cannot say because the road is in bad shape, we will now break the law.

“In the course of this project, there will be diversions, and we are appealing to citizens to be patient and cooperate with the contractors so that people will not get injured, because machines will be moved in here.

“We need to cooperate to make the work easier for quick delivery and for the benefit of residents. Help the government to monitor the reconstruction project and the pace of work, send SMS to us so we can take action,” he said.