Some Lagos State workers were forced to return home on Wednesday after the gridlock on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway took a turn for the worse.
The gridlock, which affected the two lanes of the road, led to a standstill of vehicular movement for many hours.
Some commuters, who became frustrated with the situation, disembarked from commercial vehicles and trekked to their destinations.
Others, however, returned home. Punch Metro gathered that several breakdowns of trucks at various sections of the expressway and a truck accident at the Kara end of the road compounded the gridlock.
The lone accident, which happened around 6.30am, was reportedly caused by a yet-to-be-identified driver, who lost control of the truck while at top speed.
The truck was said to have crashed into a barricade at the point where the road was diverted due to ongoing construction works.
It was learnt that the gridlock that resulted from the accident stretched from Berger to the Asese end of the expressway for motorists inbound Lagos, while vehicles en route to Ibadan, Oyo State, experienced gridlock from Berger to the Kara end of the road.
A civil servant, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she was forced to go back home when she noticed that the journey was not making any progress.
She said, “I got to Magboro bus stop around 7am and boarded a bus going to the Lagos secretariat for N500. I did not get to Arepo until around 9.30am. When I discovered the pace at which the vehicle was moving, I felt discouraged because I knew I won’t get to work until afternoon. So, I decided to disembark and return home.”
A motorist, who identified himself simply as Mr Adesuwa, said he wasted productive hours in the gridlock, urging the Federal Government to hasten contractors working on the road.
He said, “I left my house around Ago-Igbala, Ibafo, for Victoria Island around 5am, but I did not get to the Long Bridge at Warewa until around 12.35pm.
“I have wasted the day inside this traffic and I don’t even know when I will get to the office. I cannot even turn back if I want to do so because everywhere is blocked.
“We want the Federal Government to hasten Julius Berger to finish this construction in time. We are suffering on this road and it’s not good for our health.”
Another worker, Mr Adeola Aderibigbe, said he aborted his journey after confirming through a phone application, Google Map, that there was gridlock on the expressway.
A trader, Toyosi Omoboriowo, said, “When I saw that time had gone, I had to disembark from the bus and return home because I did not know the time I would get to Idumota to buy my goods. A day cannot go by without gridlock on this road. The government should pity people living on this axis because this gridlock is getting too much for us.”
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