LAMATA makes 45% progess on Mile 12-Ikorodu BRT project

The ongoing Mile 12 to Ikorodu BRT remodelling project being handled by the Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction Companies (CCECC), is on course and will be delivered as scheduled towards the end of 2014 as planned according to authorities at the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority’s (LAMATA).

Conducting transport journalists during work-in-progress assessment tour along the corridor with an estimated distance of 12.5 kilometres, Femi Fayombo, project manager, Ikorodu-Mile 12 BRT Project, accompanied by Abidemi Atobatele, assistant project manager and Kola Ojelabi, external relations specialists revealed that so far, the N30billion project has attained 45 percent in terms of work carried out.

According to Fayombo, “The bus stations will be located at Aruna, Majidun, Irawo, Mile 12, Ogolonto, Owode-Onirin and Agric. We have provisions for concrete side drains and extension of pipe and box culverts. New bridges will be constructed at about 10 locations single and double lane bridges.

“There will be provision of lay-byes for other public transport services with U-turns on not less than 10 locations on the alternate lanes.”

The modernisation work is divided into three phases comprising of Mile 12-Ajegunle as Urban 1 incorporating the Wetland community, Ajegunle-Majidun which is mainly rural in terms of community setting that are swampy and finally the urban two dry area made up of Majidun all through to Ikorodu town.

In the course of the project, LAMATA has been confronted with the challenges of buildings being erected on natural water drainages and high electrical high tension and illegal trading activities along the corridor during the day and night. All these most times have contributed to traffic gridlock along the route.

Newsmen were also shown locations where drainage basements constructed by LAMATA is lacking discharge channels to other natural discharge points due to indiscriminate construction of structures, a development which the team said is slowing down the progress of work.

The corridor which covers a distance of about 13.5 kilometres is designed to have adjacent bus station configurations at the median linked to pedestrian bridges for access to classes of road users including the physically challenged.

The project with N30billion seed money from the World Bank and French Development Agency (FDA) upon completion next year will extend BRT network all the way from Ikorodu to CMS with a total of 36km distance.

Operations of the BRT scheme will feature off board electronic ticketing system, use of high capacity modern bus fleet; high frequency operation; effective monitoring and enforcement of BRT regulations; safe and secure public transport system.

Not only will the motoring public experience at least 20 minutes reduction in waiting time, the project will create no less than 2,000 direct jobs and 5,000 indirect jobs and a reduction in Co2 and 50 percent reduction in accidents.