THE APAPA GRIDLOCK; A NEED FOR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT IN LAGOS STATE

The traffic situation in Apapa which started few months ago has now taken another dimension, it has become more than a nightmare for commuters. It is not only affecting the revenue that both the State and Federal government ought to generate but also affecting private business owners across the country. The poor state of road conditions , the unprofessional conducts of some security officials, especially those of the Nigerian navy, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the police drafted to control traffic on major roads in Apapa, and lack of truck parking yards are some of the factors responsible for the resurgence of gridlock in the area.

The gridlock assumed a worrisome dimension on Wednesday morning as traffic on major routes in and out of the port city came to a standstill. The stretch of traffic extended from the Tin Can Island Port end to Mile 2 with all the lanes on the ever-busy Apapa-Oshodi expressway blocked by trucks and tankers. The Ijora Wharf end did not fare any better as trucks and tankers occupied a major chunk of the road with the queue stretching to as far as Obanikoro on Ikorodu road. Many motorists had to abandon their vehicles to trek long distances to get to their destinations as reported by various online news and print medias.

The question(s) to ask if we will be seeing the end of this gridlock along the Apapa corridor considering the low pace of construction work going on the road, lack of coordination of truck users and law enforcement officers. Let us not forget that the Federal government is also considering a repair/ maintenance work on the Third Mainland Bridge starting by 12pm on the 27th July, 2018 for 3 days.

The effect of closing the 3rd Mainland bridge on the traffic situation of Lagos State will be “extremely terrible” (i don’t want to imagine it) not just for Apapa but the entire State and if the government do not do something about it and start to put mechanisms in place now it will find herself to blame.

However, to solve the traffic gridlock caused by trucks within Lagos by the government, there is need for a collaboration between the Ogun State and Lagos State government on the establishment of trailer/truck parks along the Lagos-Ibadan express way (Shagamu interchange to be specific). Read to better appreciate why the government needs to go into such partnership now.

I am glad that the Lagos State government has set up a task force to begin the removal of trucks from Lagos roads starting today 20th of July, 2018 just to reduce the traffic situations on the State’s roads. However those measures are mere palliatives, the Lagos State Government and indeed the Federal government needs to:

1. Revamp the railway system to begin to cargo containers and petroleum products via rail tracks so as to reduce pressure caused by tankers and trucks on the roads
2. There is need to encourage other modes of transportation like water transportation, Non-motorized transportation etc to reduce the over-dependence on motorized transport
3. There is need to begin to re-define and expand public transportation so that it becomes attractive to private car users within Lagos State
4. There is need to start considering tel-conferencing or other internet based services for business transactions without necessarily going on the road for business transactions
5. Heavy levy on private cars usage (either through parking) will have to be considered so that it can be discouraged
6. Businesses needs to be de-centralized so that the push and pull effect can be evenly distributed

Apart from those measures listed, there are other measures that could be applied so that the traffic situations within Lagos State can better be managed.

For those of us who are wondering how you will cope with the traffic situation once the 3rd Mainland Bridge is closed please follow @9jaTrafficSigns on twitter and read suggestion on that subject matter with the #3rdMBClosure Cheers!