By Oluwakayode Banjo
In its effort to ease movement and transportation around the Apata-Odo Ona-Challenge axis, the Oyo State Government has assured road users of the axis that the ongoing 12.5-kilometre road construction will be completed by next Monday.
The work on the road has reached about 90 per cent, remaining the median, walkway, streetlight, and some areas to cover with asphalt.
The Commissioner for Public Works and Transport, Professor Kehinde Sangodoyin revealed this during an inspection of ongoing projects in Ibadan embarked upon by the Inspection Team of the Ministry.
According to the Commissioner, the inspection was focused on the work done so far since the last inspection in October, this year, and to reconcile what has been discussed with the contractor, and the engineers on site, the quality of the job, and the time of delivery.
He said,“We normally have a fixed time for the delivery of projects. When we came here in October, the contractor assured us that everything would be finished up on the carriageway by December, all things being equal”
“As it is now, they are going to make the delivery time on the carriageway in the third week of December. Some other road furniture that will be worked on are the street lights, traffic lights, and the removal of rubbles. We are going to make sure that the Ministry of Energy and the contractor will finalize the installation of the street lights.”
“The contractor has done a good job. Where we are standing now is called Lay-by, and our projection is to accommodate the commuters; so that the vision for the road construction will not be derailed. This is what we are trying to do, that is to put it into use for commuters and passers-by.
Assuring the road users around the axis of the relief the road will bring after the completion, Professor Sangodoyin said they should express their appreciation to the governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, for the speedy work.
“We have broken the back of the project; it just remains the finishing part of it. It will relieve the commuters going from the Apata end to Challenge; they don’t need to go through Benbo or 110 area. It will also add to property value here, and contribute to the ease of flow for traffic from one end to the other.”
On the commissioning, Professor Sangodoyin explained that the time will be fixed after the scope of the work is completed.
“For us, as of today November 16th, we have chosen the area which I called the ‘lay-by’ for us to use because it will be able to accommodate those that will be coming to felicitate with His Excellency when it is time to commission this road, which will be decided by Him.”
While explaining that the construction work has reached about 90 per cent, the project manager of the construction company handling the road, Anitomie Khainallah said the remaining asphalt will be laid within the next three days.
Khainallah added that the walkway and median will be completed in no time, with the assurance that the time frame for completion would be realized if everything goes as planned.
First phase of Iwo-Road-Olodo-Odo-Oba Dual Carriage Bridge on course – Commissioner
Also, the state government has decided to finish one side of the Dual Carriage Bridge along the Iwo-Road-Olodo-Odo-Oba road in order to alleviate the difficulties the motorists and road users encounter while plying the road.
Professor Dahud Sangodoyin made this known while inspecting the progress of work in continuation of the Scheduled Inspection of the ongoing projects in Ibadan.
In his explanation, the commissioner revealed that with the speed of work of the bridge, the first lane would be completed in the next five months and open for use, after which the work of the second lane would commence immediately.
According to Professor Sangodoyin, the measurement used for the construction of the Bridge will allow it to accommodate present and future flood occurrences, adding that the government is working on a quality job that will conform with the international bridge construction standards.
He said, “The work of the piling which is the critical aspect of the bridge is almost done. After the piling, all other things will follow: the columns, the decking, and others.”
“We thought that if we continued with the two lanes, the work may not finish on time, so with the advice from our consultant, we decided to complete the first phase of the bridge to ease the movement of our people, and then continue with the second one.”
“The work is not slow at all; it is good to verify information. People should come to the site to confirm the speed at which the work is going. What should take twenty-one days to dry can’t be stopped when it is ten days. This is engineering; there are processes to be followed. It should be done correctly so that it will give the desired result: this is a bridge”.
The commissioner implored everyone plying the road to be a little patient as the government is working assiduously to put a lasting solution to the flood problem in the area adding that the ongoing project is the beginning of good things to be experienced in the area.
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