By Michael Olatunji
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Sunday, assured that the contractor will hand over the Oshodi-Abule Egba BRT corridor in May.
Sanwo-Olu stated this after he inspected the BRT corridor.
The governor also warned residents to desist from throwing dirt into the drainage channels.
Addressing journalists after the inspection, Sanwo-Olu said the 13.68 kilometers corridor is about 70 percent completed. It has 14 stations.
The 14 stations has five bilateral stations facing both sides and 9 median stations.
He attributed the delay in some parts of the project along the corridor to residents, who throw waste into the drainage system.
He advised residents to desist from this act, as perpetrators would face the wrath of the law.
“The situation with drainage here is human-induced because of the lifestyle of our people. I am aware that this whole drainage was cleared couple of days ago and we can all see the amount of rubbish that are here now”.
On the BRT buses for the corridor, the Governor said: ” We are hoping to start with about a minimum of 200 buses, once we are satisfied of the traffic needs, we will scale up, we will increase up to 300 and 350 buses, based on the traffic that we see and the utilization of the corridor.
“Once this is completed, there is likelihood that we do a phase 2 of the project which will take us from here to the old toll plaza at Sango-Ota, Ogun State.
“We want to reduce the traffic gridlock from the whole neighborhood in Ogun State to Oshodi. Before the end May, we should complete the entire infrastructure along this road.”
He maintained that his government has continued to build on the infrastructural renewal projects which was started by the last administration.
According to Sanwo-Olu: “In the last seven months, work has not stopped on this corridor. In terms of mathematics, I cannot say it was at a particular percentage, but what I remember is that when I came here last it’s not what they look like.
“Essentially, we are pushing the contractors to ensure that all of infrastructure that is required to put this to use are achieved.
“The contractors has not been denied finances and we are going to ensure we work with them. We are going to ensure that the commissioning date is sacrosanct, we will commission it on the date we have set out for ourselves”
Sanwo-Olu emphasised that the phase 1 project will solve significantly the transportation and traffic problems on the entire corridor.
He warned motorists and residents of the state to desist from indiscriminate driving and ensure a cleaner environment.