Residents of the estates on the New Oniru Market road in the Lekki Phase 1 area of Lagos State have been subjected to inconvenience because of the construction of the road with no median U-turn intersections.

The state government is funding the construction of the road. Its construction was stalled for a few years until sometime in April when engineers returned to complete the infrastructure.

The road stretches from the bus-stop in front of Maroko Police Station, off Lekki-Epe expressway, to Dangote Street. Except the roundabout at the bus-stop, the road is almost completed.

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During a visit to the area on Thursday, EQ observed that the road is made of interlocking concrete block pavement. With a median and streetlights fixed in the middle, it is a one-way access road.

A view of the road at Banex Shopping Complex in front of Maroko Police State. Photo Credit: Sodeeq Atanda/EQ

Driving on the road has been made difficult for residents and visitors alike as the contractors from the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure have failed to create median intersections for U-turn purposes.

“The road corridor is good and long, but not having U-turn spaces for the most part of it is concerning to us. Everybody is uncomfortable driving on the road as it is a one-way. If I leave my estate, it will take me about 5 minutes drive down the street before being able to change my direction,” a resident, who asked to be simply identified as Idowu, her first name, told EQ on Thursday.

“I am not saying that they should create as many turning points as possible, but they should consider giving us two or three to make our movements easy. If there was a turning point nearby, it would reduce stress and unwarranted waste of time that we are made to go through each time we go out and return home. If one thinks of the stress alone, one would be discouraged from going out with a car.

“Imagine there’s a fire accident or any other emergency situation, rescue personnel would have a hard time meandering their way around here. Individuals could also have an emergency issue to deal with and this lack of turning point could cause be devastating.”

EQ learned that it took a complaint from the leadership of the police station before a turning point could be created in front of the station. Nevertheless, the police blocked the space to prevent the general public from using it.

From the station, the next turning point is at Dangote Estate, which takes about approximately 25 minutes of moderate walking speed and is about 1.7 kilometres long.

For both private and commercial vehicle drivers, the design of the road has brought varying levels of discomfort.

Olamilekan Tajudeen, a taxi driver at the New Oniru Market, which is usually clumsy, explained that he could have been arrested for a traffic offence when he had an urgent need to deliver petrol to a fellow driver down the street recently.

A view of the road after the Oniru Place. Photo Credit: Sodeeq Atanda/EQ.

“A few weeks back, one of my friends who is also a driver needed me to assist him with some petrol because he had exhausted his petrol and was unable to make a turn-around,” Tajudeen said.

“Because of the urgency of the situation and he was not too far from the park, I was contemplating taking a one-way to where there was a turning point, but I followed my instinct not to attempt it. Surprisingly, I saw task force officers arresting drivers. I could have been arrested that day.”

EQ learned that police and traffic officers frequently arrest motorists who choose to drive against the traffic to get to the only turning point at Dangote Estate, and extort money from or ticket them.

Two labourers and one site engineer told EQ on Thursday that the construction followed the design given to them by the works ministry and they could not alter it based on residents’ pleas; they said only a directive came from the ministry could change that.

Although the site supervisor refused to mention his name, EQ reliably gathered that his name is Femi Yemi.

Another view of the road close to Toscana Hotel at Dangote Estate area. Photo Credit: Sodeeq Atanda/EQ.

“I know about the complaints from the people. The situation also affects us, too. Let them keep writing and pleading to the ministry for an alteration to be made to the design,” Yemi said.

“Their pleas could change the status of the road someday. But for now, that is the design from the ministry. If that was not the ministry’s design, they would have fired us for going against their instructions.”

YET-TO-BE-HOUNRED REQUEST BY ONIRU

Before now, the palace of Oba Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, the Oniru of Iru Kingdom, had written to the ministry for two turning points to be opened up in front of the palace. However, this effort had yielded no result as there was no turning point there when EQ visited the area.

Oniru Estate main gate. Photo Credit: Sodeeq Atanda/EQ.

In a letter seen by EQ, the king asked the the permanent secretary of the ministry to facilitate the creation of median openings in front of the Oniru Palace Street Gate and Lawani Odunloye Gate to provide a more direct route to the Oniru Market.

“I am writing to bring to your attention an issue regarding the ongoing road development along Oniru New Market, specifically near the Oniru Palace road Gate,” the letter, dated August 28 and directed to the permeant secretary of the ministry, stated.

“The current road configuration necessitates that vehicles travel a significant distance before being able to make a U-turn, which has unfortunately resulted in considerable inconvenience and time loss.

“In light of this, I respectfully request that a U-turn be installed in front of the Oniru Palace Street Gate and Lawani Odunloye Gate to provide a more direct route to the Oniru Market.

“This adjustment would greatly enhance accessibility for residents and visitors alike, while also reducing unnecessary travel time. I trust that you will give this request your kind consideration and look forward to a favorable response. Please accept the assurance of my highest regards.”

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When contacted on Sunday, Femi Daramola, whose number was displayed on the ministry’s website as a contact person, told EQ that the designing of roads fell within the purview of the Ministry of Transportation. He therefore urged the residents to channel their request to the appropriate authorities.

“It is the Ministry of Transport that designs roads and they put enough considerations into the process. But what I would say is that if their complaints are right and they channel appropriately to us, we will take it up,” Daramola said.
The post Road Without Median U-Turns Constructed by Lagos Gov’t Leaves Oniru Residents Groaning in Pains appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.