Nigeria Government to close 3rd Mainland Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway after Christmas

Nigeria Government on Tuesday announced a 72-hour total closure of the Third Mainland Bridge to cast concrete on the expansion joints.The Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Mr. Olukayode Popoola who stated this, said the shutdown will take effect from midnight on Saturday to midnight on Tuesday.Popoola added that construction works had reached the stage for casting concrete on additional three expansion joints.According to him, “there is going to be a total closure of Third Mainland Bridge in order to allow for the casting of three number expansion joints on the Island Bound lane“The effective date of the closure will be from 12:00 midnight on the 25th of December. So, people will be allowed to use the Third Mainland Bridge to celebrate Christmas.“By the time the Christmas is winding down which is 12:00 midnight, we are going to close it, so that we will be able to cast the concrete on Saturday the 26th and 27th.”And we need about 72 hours for this concrete to set. Therefore, the opening will be on December 28th midnight – that is 72-hour closure”.According to him, “This is to prevent vibration of the bridge. If we allow vehicles to be moving on one lane, there are going to be vibrations and the concrete will not set properly”.The controller said that all the alternative routes are in good condition and traffic regulatory agencies have been deployed to effectively divert and manage traffic to avert gridlock.He appealed to road users to cooperate with traffic regulatory agencies.Popoola also announced a 48-hour partial closure of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway from December 28 to December 29 to complete some work on a flyover bridge on the project.“The contractor, Messers Julius Berger wants to install cross beams at Kilometre 16, that is, around MFM.“That area will be cordoned off, there will be closure within that section from 12:00 pm on 28th of December and it will be opened to traffic by 5:00 am the following day.“200 meters to get to that particular location, we have diversion and another diversion 200 meters away from that place.“One lane will be opened to traffic, it is only one lane we are going to close to traffic at a time. The first lane that we are going to close is outward Lagos, which is the Ibadan bound carriageway, we will close it on the 28th.“Then the second day which is 29th, we are moving to the other lane which is inward Lagos. The same 12:00 pm to 5:00 am,” Popoola said.He appealed for patience and understanding of road users saying that the construction was part of the progress that the Federal Government had achieved on the project.“We regret all the inconvenience and hardship this might have created,” he said.He stated further that all the construction zones had been cleared and the highway had been opened to traffic for seamless movement on the road.