FG threatens Lagos-Calabar highway shutdown over safety

…Gives motorists two weeks to comply with rules

LAGOS — The Federal Government has given motorists and other road users on the Lagos section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway two weeks to comply with safety regulations or face a shutdown of the route.

The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Olufemi Dare, issued the ultimatum on Monday during an inspection of the highway, citing dangerous speeding, vandalism, illegal parking and other activities threatening safety along the route.

Dare said the directive followed concerns raised by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, over persistent breaches of safety measures on the highway.

“Within two weeks, if there’s no improvement on all these issues, then we have no option than to come back and shut down this road,” he said.

The controller said the government had the Lekki-Epe Expressway as an alternative route, stressing that the coastal highway remained under construction and should ordinarily not have been opened to traffic before the completion of its bridges.

The Lagos section of the highway spans about 103 kilometres and consists of two sections — Section 1, covering approximately 47km, and Section 2, about 56km.

According to Dare, the two sections have 20 major bridges, 10 in each section, with several still under construction.

He expressed concern over motorists exceeding the prescribed 30km/h speed limit, particularly on sections where construction work is ongoing.

“People who come to coastal road and get to a speed of 120 kilometres per hour on the coastal road, and where constructions are going on, bridges, construction are going on,” Dare said.

“We have said your speed on the coastal road must not be more than 30 kilometres per hour.”

Dare said the government was concerned about reports of deaths on the highway, warning that it could no longer allow unsafe practices to continue.

He also warned articulated vehicle operators against parking trucks and trailers along the highway, saying the practice posed additional risks to motorists.

On security, Dare disclosed that the government had reached an agreement with the Lagos State Police Command to increase police deployment along the route.

He said the decision followed meetings between Umahi and the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani.

“Beginning from this morning, we’ve started to see the improvement in deployment of police. And we are going to have more,” he said.

The controller also warned against illegal U-turns along the highway, saying anyone arrested for creating or using such points would be prosecuted.

He said commercial motorcycles, tricycles, hawking and animal grazing had also been prohibited along the route.

“We don’t want Okada motorcycles, tricycles. We don’t want them on the coastal road,” Dare said.

He added that authorities would also remove shanties and other illegal structures along the highway.

Dare identified vandalism of safety infrastructure as another major challenge, disclosing that about five kilometres of ClearVu fencing had been removed, while approximately 18 kilometres of concrete covers had been vandalised and taken away.

“They come in the night, they remove the ClearVu fence that was used to barricade the communities from the coastal highway,” he said.

He said the government was considering replacing the steel ClearVu fencing with concrete barriers in vulnerable areas because the existing fencing could be easily removed.

“We have to change the strategy. In areas where we have block work today, we do not have any problem with them,” he said.

Dare further disclosed that plans were underway to deploy CCTV cameras to improve surveillance along the highway.

He said the government had approved the recruitment of 40 coastal guards for Section 1, with four to be drawn from each community along the route.

The guards, he explained, would work with the police to provide community-level surveillance, while additional personnel would be recruited for Section 2.

Dare said some previously engaged coastal guards had been attacked by vandals, underscoring the need for stronger police protection.

He added that the government planned to reorganise and train the coastal guards under the direct supervision of the Lagos State Police Command.

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