Finally, the long awaited Lekki-Ikoyi Link
Bridge was declared open by Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, on May 29,
2013. The cable-stayed link bridge was built by Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. and
has a total length of 1.358 km. The bridge is expected to decongest traffic in
Lekki area. The bridge is a study in architectural beauty and creativity. From
Admiralty Way in Lekki, Ikoyi is just about three minutes away by car while
it’s just a 10-minute walk from one end to the other. One major feature of the
newly inaugurated bridge is where it is suspended by cables. It is a beauty to
behold.
Julius Berger Nigeria Plc began the
construction of the bridge in October, 2008. The total length of the main bridge
is 466m. The length of cable bridge is 170m (the suspended section), the height
of Pyron is 87m from water level navigational requirement while the clearance
average 9m above high water level. Lagos State Commissioner for Works and
Infrastructure, Dr. Kadri Hamzat, at an interactive session with newsmen last
month put the cost of the bridge at around N29bn and affirmed that it is the
first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa because it is a suspension bridge.
At the opening of the link bridge on
Wednesday, Fashola said it would be tolled at between N100 and N500. The toll
rates are N250 for saloon cars; N300 for mini vans, Sport Utility Vehicles and
light pick-up trucks; N400 for non-commercial buses with a maximum sitting
capacity of 26 persons; N100 for motorcycles with 200 engine capacity and
above. The proposal by the Lagos State government to charge toll rates ranging
from N100 to N400 on the link bridge was earlier in the week faulted by
lawmakers in the state.
About 20 lawmakers present at
the plenary questioned why the state government should concession and collect
tolls on a bridge built with taxpayers’ money and fully paid by the government.
Besides, they also found it improper for the state to present a voluminous
document on terms and conditions of concession agreement and tolling to them
for approval, some days before the commissioning of the project.
“Why are they tolling every road they
build? It means that if they were the people who built the Third Mainland
Bridge, they would have made the bridge for the exclusive use of the rich
alone. And mind you, the Third Mainland Bridge is one of the longest in Africa.
“I live around the Mobil House and
work at Falomo. Now apart from paying the toll of N250 if I’m to ply this link
bridge, I will have to pay N120 at the Lekki Toll Plaza on one trip. And when
I’m coming back, I will pay the same amount.
“As a salary earner, paying N740 five
times a week amounts to N3700. Definitely, I’m deprived from using the bridge
because there is no way I can afford the toll, together with fuelling the car.
From my house to my place of work at Falomo, it is about 15 minutes but because
of toll, see the distance I have to travel. I don’t think the government is fair
to me as a taxpayer.”
Credit: Punch
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