Lagos State Government,r Babajide Sanwo-Olu has assured residents that the long-awaited Agege Pen-Cinema overhead Bridge will fully open to vehicular movement in about eight weeks, precisely February 2021.
Sanwo-Olu who said the project is presently at 90 per cent completion, added that all civil works had already been completed on the bridge.
The overpass ascends from Oba Ogunji Road and drops at Oke Koto axis of Agege. The bridge also opens to the old Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway through Abule Egba.
The infrastructure is expected to eliminate the discomfort currently being experienced by motorists plying Agege-Abule Egba.
Sanwo-Olu, in the company of his Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, and members of the State’s cabinet, went on an unscheduled inspection of the 1.7 kilometre-long bridge project site on Wednesday, assessed the level of work done so far.
Speaking to newsmen during the tour of the project site, Sanwo-Olu expressed satisfaction on the quality of work done, assuring that the bridge would be fully opened for public use next February.
He said the only work left on the bridge was turning intersection improvements at the descending part of the bridge and signalisation for ease of traffic movement.
According to the governor, “We have just finished an inspection and a walkthrough of the Agege Pen-Cinema Bridge. The level of completion of the project is around 90 per cent. All the major brickwork has been done and we are left with two major deliverables, which include cleaning up the intersection and signalisation.
“There is four synchronised signalisation we are expecting to have and each must work together with the other. We are expecting that all these will be done early next year. This is in fulfillment of the promise we made that we will complete all projects abandoned. We are giving the contractor handling this project a maximum of eight weeks to attend to little snags in the project.
“By the second week in January, vehicles can move on the bridge but we may need additional four weeks to complete the signalisation, road painting, and demarcation. We are looking forward to fully hand over this project sometime in February next year.”
Sanwo-Olu said the State Government had started to consider other complementary road construction to be done on the axis to further improve traffic for commuters in the area.
The Governor said the state was in talks with the Federal Road Maintainance Agency (FERMA) to take on adjoining arterial roads, with the objective to ease the flow of traffic from the bridge down to other areas.
Addressing an ecstatic crowd of residents at the site, Sanwo-Olu urged them to be patient while the contractor puts final touches on the project
He said his administration embarked on the completion of the bridge initiated by his predecessor, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, given its strategic importance to easing gridlock and improving economic activities in Agege and adjoining communities.
Vanguard