The Corps Commander, Corridor 1 of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Oseni Hamzat, has lamented the conduct of certain motorists, including commercial drivers and motorcades, plying the traffic-laden Lagos-Ibadan Expressway amid ongoing repairs.
Speaking during a television programme on Wednesday, Hamzat attributed much of the bottlenecks that worsen the traffic situation to errant drivers on the wrong side of the road, driving in lanes facing oncoming traffic.
“We have lots of vehicles plying along that road and choking into that and to worsen situations. There are some vehicles, especially these yellow buses and people who think they are high and mighty, driving against the flow of traffic,” he said.
“How do you relate with somebody who is carrying one moneybag and having armed men and they come in convoys, hitting both road safety, LASTMA, even the deployed police at different points?
“They are driving recklessly, they are ready to hit anybody, knock anybody down. And they would go forward to go and block other vehicles coming either in or out.”
The corps commander noted that the traffic congestion is not entirely about poor traffic management, but due to the attitude exhibited by road users.
He admitted that the bottlenecks are expected due to the ongoing construction, adding that patience was imperative for drivers to navigate certain portions of the road.
The corps commander noted that the FRSC and other sister agencies were making efforts to carry out “route lining” to ensure commercial drivers do not stop indiscriminately and obstruct the movement of traffic.
According to him, the road agencies had a meeting on Tuesday with the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos and Julius Berger to restrategise on how best the menace can be curbed.
The FRSC on Sunday announced a fresh traffic diversion on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway due to ongoing reconstruction work.
The Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, in a statement, said the traffic had been diverted from linking the expressway at the New Garage axis of the road.
The traffic from Isheri Olowora passing through River Valley Estate to link the expressway going into Lagos was also diverted to pass through Babcock College, opposite Enyo filling station to link the expressway and drive into Lagos.
According to the Corps spokesman, motorists could pass through Ojodu and make a U-turn in front of FRSC Ojodu to link the expressways at BRT Bus Stop.
