By Henry Ojelu, LAGOS
Residents of Ikotun, Ejigbo, Isheri, Bucknor, and Jakande areas of Lagos were stranded for over five hours on Tuesday morning following the total closure of the Isolo Bridge for emergency repair works.
The unexpected closure caused severe traffic congestion across adjoining routes, leaving thousands of commuters trekking long distances to their workplaces.
Vehicular movement from Jakande towards Isolo was completely halted, while the opposite lane from Isolo to Jakande was also blocked after several motorists driving against traffic worsened the gridlock.
As of 8:00 a.m., only a handful of traffic officers were seen controlling the situation, while angry residents and motorists expressed frustration over what they described as poor traffic management by state authorities.
One of the construction workers on site told Vanguard that the team had initially planned to execute the bridge repair overnight but were delayed when their equipment broke down.
“We wanted to do the repair work at night, but our equipment developed a fault,” the worker explained. “We only managed to fix it this morning, and since the materials for the job had already been prepared, we had to proceed immediately. If we delay, the materials will be damaged.”
Efforts by stranded commuters to persuade the engineers to open one lane for movement were rebuffed. A site engineer reportedly insisted that the newly laid asphalt would require at least three hours to dry before vehicles could pass.
Our correspondent observed that several commuters trekking through the blocked section rained curses on the workers as tempers flared in the scorching morning sun.
However, relief came later in the morning when a team of police officers from the Idimu Division arrived and persuaded the construction crew to create a single lane on the bridge to ease the gridlock.
As at the time of filing this report, traffic had begun to move slowly across the Isolo Bridge, though several adjoining roads remained congested.
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