LAGOS residents on Sunday expressed worries about what would be their fate today as the traffic situation in the city is expected to worsen as a result of the partial closure of the Third Mainland Bridge.
Some of the people who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune expressed the fear that they might spend a whole day on the way to work or spend the whole night returning to their homes.
The Federal Ministry of Works had announced the partial closure of the bridge starting from Saturday, August 2, to give room for repair works on it.
On Saturday, when the partial closure started, the city witnessed unparalleled gridlock as vehicles stayed motionless on the same spot for hours, despite the deployment of about 7,000 traffic police officers to the area to control traffic.
With the statement credited to Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) that the situation on Saturday would be easy compared with what would happen today, many Lagosians who either work on the island or transact businesses there have been worried about what would be their fate in traffic as from today.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that some bank executives and other top officers in some private companies who live on the Mainland have moved to hotels on the Island to avoid getting caught in traffic.
Nigerian Tribune reliably gathered on Sunday that most hotels on the Island were fully booked, an unusual situation on a Sunday. Nigerian Tribune also gathered that residents of Ikorodu who have business transactions on Victoria Island have resorted to taking ferry to the island.
According to one of them, �there is the opportunity of taking a ferry from Bayeku, a community near Ikorodu, to Victoria Island. Before now, people were not interested in it because of the safety issue, but given the situation of the closure of the Third Mainland Bridge, we don�t have a choice. We have to go to Lagos through the ferry.�
Mr. Adeniyi Adeyemi, a furniture maker whose workshop is on the Island, said, �I am afraid of going to shop tomorrow (today) for fear of getting caught in traffic. Those who went out on Saturday had a sorry tale to tell. One can just imagine what the situation will be like on Monday. But then, if I don�t go out, how do I feed my family?�
The fear of Adeyemi is similar to that of Mr. Ismaila Ayodele, a civil servant with the Lagos State government whose office is on the Island. According to him, �I have to leave home unusually early tomorrow (today). But that is not a guarantee that I will get to the office early. I only hope that my bosses in the office will understand. Even getting out of the island will be a serious problem.�
The partial closure of the bridge is sequel to a report of some experts from Denmark about the deplorable state of 39 bridges in Lagos State. This propelled the Federal Ministry of Works to make a move to effect repairs on the bridges starting with the Third Mainland Bridge. Repair works on the bridge is expected to last 60 days.