Time To Tame Gridlock On Lagos Roads

Once again, traffic gridlock on Lagos roads are making living in the state such a nightmare. And with the rains having come, the situation has indeed worsened. We are of the view that something has to be done to ease the pain caused by avoidable traffic jams that are slowly killing Lagosians.

An urgent intervention becomes necessary because traffic snarls negatively impact on workers’ productivity. Workers and other road users go through hell daily in traffic jams while going to their destinations. Everyday, Lagosians living in places like Badagry, Ikorodu, Epe, Obalende, Ijora, Lagos Island Oshodi, Agbado, Agege, Iyana-Ipaja, Ikotun, Egbe, Abaranje, Ogba, Ikeja, Okokomaiko, Mile 2, Ojota, Mile 12 face hell on the way to their destinations.

Those living in Sango and its environs, Lagos Badagry Expressway, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Orile Iganmu, Okokomaiko, Festac, Agege, Iyana Ipaja, Alagbado and working on Lagos Island, due to traffic bottlenecks, spend an average of two hours or more on the road for a journey that should not take more than forty minutes.

To underscore the dimension the traffic gridlock in Lagos has assumed, an elderly woman came to a local branch of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, MFM, in Sango last Sunday to speak about her harrowing experience in Lagos traffic at the weekend.

According to her, she left Lagos Mainland around 10.30 a.m. on Saturday for a marriage reception at Sango. By the time she got to Sango at 4.30 p.m., the reception was over. She said she spent five hours on the road between Onike-Iwaya and the reception venue in Sango due to traffic gridlock on the road.

It is our contention that the traffic situation in Lagos is not unmanageable. What is required is deft management and focus by those in charge of transportation in the state. We have written about this before, that the agency charged with traffic management in Lagos, LASTMA, should be reorganised for effective performance. We have had occasions in the past to suggest that the agency’s personnel be increased for effective control of Lagos traffic.

We think that shifts should be introduced to make personnel of the agency work round the clock to control the unwieldy Lagos traffic. We see no reason why LASTMA men should not be at their duty posts early in the morning by 6 a.m. and remain at work till 10 p.m.

There is also the need to check the indiscipline by some Lagos commuter bus drivers who park in the middle of the road to pick and discharge passengers. In fact, indiscipline is a major cause of the gridlock on our roads.

We also recommend that the state government provide more resources for personnel of the state’s Public Works Corporation to carry out minor repairs on some of the roads which have been identified as the cause of gridlock in a particular area.

It is our belief that these measures will go a long way in reducing the number of hours spent on the road by Lagosians.

We also acknowledge the efforts of the state government in trying to alleviate the suffering of Lagosians on the road by providing 60 ferries to reduce their dependence on road transportation. This is a commendable step. Everything must be done to reduce the stress road users go through to get to their destinations.