Motorists plying the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway,
have sent a “save-our-souls” message to President Muhammadu Buhari, to put adequate measures in place to ease the gridlock on the ever-busy Expressway, while the construction works on the Berger-Opic axis of last.
Motorists and commuters now spend between six and eight hours in the gridlock daily, a situation which is having an adverse effect on the health of road users and the economy as movement of goods and services are completely paralysed.
The motorists who spoke to our correspondents on Thursday, lamented the health hazards associated with sitting for long hours, such as blood clotting and other heart related diseases.
According to some of the residents spoken to, besides the adverse effects on the economy, there have been instances where deaths occurred because people who were ill and needed urgent medical attention, could not access the hospitals due to the gridlock.
They passionately appealed to President Buhari to urgently come to their rescue and to also direct the contractors handling the project to expedite the construction works.
They also appealed to security agencies and traffic management officials to create more than one diversions to ease flow of traffic.
The Berger construction company is conducting repairs on various parts of the road, a development which has worsened the traffic congestion on the ever-busy road.
The supervisor of the Lagos-Sagamu section of the expressway, Wale Adebote, had blamed the rain and broken down vehicles for the gridlock, while others blame bad driving and impatience on the part of drivers.
Despite the joint operation by the Federal Road Safety Corps, LASTMA and the police, the gridlock gets worse by the day.