By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
Lives are being lost almost daily on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to reckless speeding, prompting the Federal Government to threaten shutting down the Lagos section of the road within two weeks if motorists and other road users fail to comply with safety directives.
The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Olufemi Dare, disclosed this recently during a press briefing on the persistent safety and security challenges plaguing the highway.
He explained that the Minister of Works, David Umahi, had directed the ministry to return and shut the road if there was no significant improvement within two weeks.
“In another two weeks, if there’s no improvement, His Excellency has directed that we are coming back to shut down the road,” he said.
Dare disclosed that motorists were driving at speeds as high as 120km/h on sections where construction remained ongoing, despite a clearly displayed 30km/h speed limit along the highway, a violation he said had directly contributed to the fatalities recorded on the road.
“We have said your speed on the coastal road must not be more than 30km/h. It is well written everywhere. But people will come here and go at 100km/h. This cannot continue,” he said.
“Lives are being lost on the coastal road. Almost every other day,” he added.
Beyond overspeeding, the controller said the government could no longer tolerate illegal parking by trucks and articulated vehicles, illegal U-turns, motorcycles and tricycles plying the road, roadside trading and other activities capable of endangering road users and damaging infrastructure.
He explained that the Lagos section of the coastal highway comprises two sections measuring 47.474km and 56km, totalling about 103km within the state, with construction still ongoing, particularly on bridges, with 10 major bridges planned for each section.
“Ordinarily, we ought not to have opened it until all the bridges are completed,” he said.
Dare disclosed that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani, had commenced increased police deployment along the highway following meetings with Umahi.
He warned that trucks and articulated vehicles parked on the highway would be towed away, while illegal U-turns would be removed and offenders prosecuted, adding that motorcycles, tricycles and similar vehicles had already been banned from the highway, with more than 100 Okada riders arrested on the road the previous week.
On infrastructure vandalism, the controller disclosed that about five kilometres of clear-view fencing had been removed along the highway, while concrete drainage covers spanning about 18km had also been vandalised and carted away.
“For the clear-field fence, the report I got, we have not less than five kilometres of that that has been removed. And for Maruwa covers, we have not less than 18 kilometres of the covers that were packed away,” he said.
He explained that the perpetrators often operated at night despite police patrols, noting that directional signs and other installations had also been vandalised, and disclosed that the ministry was considering replacing the clear-view fencing with block walls in areas where vandalism persisted.
“You install it today, in less than one week it’s gone. It means we have to change the strategy,” he said.
The controller further announced a crackdown on illegal settlements, hawking and animal grazing along the highway, disclosing that no fewer than 10 illegal settlements had been identified for removal, while CCTV cameras were being considered to strengthen surveillance.
He disclosed that the government had approved 40 coastal guards for the first section of the highway, to be nominated by communities along the route and to work alongside the police, with recruitment and deployment expected to be completed within two weeks.
Dare also warned truck operators using the Gypsy Port area as a parking space that the government would deploy a joint task force to clear the vehicles within the week, disclosing that the ministry had already met with operators in the area to warn them against turning the road into a permanent parking facility.
“We don’t want that place to be turned into another apartment. We are going there this week with the task force and flush all those trucks away,” he said.
The controller disclosed that the road itself was 100 per cent completed in the first section, with bridge construction still ongoing, adding that the project remained within its three-year contract period and expressing confidence that outstanding works would be completed on schedule.
“It’s not going to be business as usual,” he said, urging Lagos residents, motorists and other highway users to comply with the new directives, while warning that the government would intensify enforcement.
In January, Umahi had told Channels Television that the Federal Government might shut down the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway if safety issues were not addressed, disclosing that a construction worker had died on Section One of the highway.
He revealed that the ministry had earlier considered closing the road in December but was directed by President Bola Tinubu to keep it open to ease traffic flow.
“We were tempted to close the coastal highway in December, but the president directed that we should not,” Umahi had said.
