Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, weekend, assured the people of the state that the 14.7km Ijebu-Ode-Epe Expressway would be ready for use by Christmas.
Abiodun made this known while on an on-the-pot assessment tour of the road, noting that about eight to nine kilometres of one lane of the road would be completed in the next ten days.
“The entire stretch going all the way from Epe to Ijebu-Ode would be completed by Christmas”, the governor said.
He added that the award of the interchange flyover which would be in the form of a loop was done to ensure that accidents did not occur on the road as witnessed in other interchanges or other intersections in the past.
“The contractors have assured me that they will intensify work on this road. I have insisted because we have Christmas approaching. I have insisted that they must complete one segment of this road, one lane of this road all the way to Ijebu-Ode.
“They, in turn assured me that in the next ten days, they would have completed about eight to nine kilometres of one lane and have promised to ensure that by Christmas, the entire stretch going all the way from Epe to Ijebu-Ode would be completed.
“We have just awarded the interchange flyover contract that will allow for ease of flow of traffic from this road into Ijebu-Ode and onto the expressway, so that we do not have a situation where people are speeding on this road and they run onto the Sagamu-Ore expressway.
“We begin to have accidents like we’ve seen in other interchanges or other intersections, it is going to be a loop that has been awarded, the contractor has started to mobilise and getting ready to begin that loop,” he said.
Abiodun further disclosed that the opening of the road would further open up the corridor for more industrial activity, adding that the road when completed would also increase the efficiency of travel and longevity of the road.
Abiodun stressed that the road, when completed, would not only connect the state to Lagos State, but connect the mid-western states of the country to the eastern part of the country.
He said that the road would also help to reduce the burden of traffic on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
“This road connects not just Ogun State to Lagos State, it connects the rest of the mid-western Nigeria to the eastern part of the country. By doing this road, we are increasing the efficiency of travel, longevity of the road itself.
“This stretch will now be open to more industrial activity as you will know that Lagos is expanding along the Lekki corridor, this is where you have the free trade zone, Dangote Refinery, industrial expansion is in this area, we are also opening up this road to increase economic activity,” he said.
Abiodun said his administration had awarded the construction of the Molipa expressway and that construction work would soon commence as the contractors had been mobilised.
In their separate remarks, Mr. Oluwaseun Odumade and Mrs. Oluwatoyin Omotayo while appreciating the Governor and his administration for the quality and network of roads construction in Ijebu-Ode-Epe, Imowo-Ibadan and the Awujale Palace-Stadium road, noted that the roads when completed would aid the economic development of the Ijebu Ode in particular and the state in general.