OPULENT WASTE: KETU LAYBY AND KETU PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE LITERALLY UNUSED
by Oki Samson and Abayomi Oyelami
Late last year year, the Ketu Layby aimed at easing traffic flow on the Ketu axis of the Ikorodu road was opened. It was meant to serve as a replacement to the old garage at that same spot. The project executed by the Fountain Construction Company Limited under the supervision of Ministry of Transportation for a duration of 12 months was constructed alongside a marketplace. The market stalls were constructed in order to heed the clamour of the marketmen and women in the area who pleaded with the government not to eject them from the garage.
About a year later, the situation leaves little to be desired. The Ketu Layby is literally underutilized. People who ply this route will find that only few vehicles park and drop passengers at the beautifully constructed and approved location while the yellow commercial buses and private car owners have resorted to the old system of parking along the road and expressway for passengers to highlight or carry people. Also, the market stalls constructed within the layby are visibly deserted. Traders and hawkers are back on the road!
INDISCRIMINATE CROSSING ON THE ROAD
Still in Ketu, it would be noticed that the passers-by have deserted the pedestrian bridge created to save lives and ease traffic of pedestrians on the axis. This is a far cry from what is obtainable on the Berger pedestrian bridge where orderliness and cleanliness is strictly maintained. Passers-by indiscriminately move across the highway while the bridge has been taken over by beggars and the homeless who use it for relaxation. Officers of the Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps (LNSC) were found chasing destitute away from the bridge but they soon return there.
Right under the pedestrian bridge and other location along the expressway, the iron barriers intended to prevent people from crossing the road by foot has been destroyed. It should be noted that the barricades are largely intact through the long stretch of Ikorodu road in many parts of Lagos but the story is different in Ketu. Of course, this leads to attendant gridlock as hundreds of people take advantage of the fallen barriers to desert the pedestrian bridge to cross the road.
A traffic policeman who spoke with Trek Africa on the condition of anonymity stated that the iron bars was allegedly destroyed by a rushing vehicle a while ago and people packed the iron material to the sidewalk to prevent it from damaging cars. On why people are not using the pedestrian bridge, he said: ‘you know our people with their attitude, they do not care about their safety, what if there is a brake failure from these heavy duty trucks? Their standing here (expressway) is even obstructing traffic and making our work difficult.’ A passer-by, who claimed he is not trying to justify the people crossing, opined: ‘there are two factors that can necessitate their action – time factor, wanting to save time to cross the bridge and pain factor, the pain to the legs especially while ascending the bridge.’
Just a few metres away from the pedestrian bridge is Owode Oyelaja Drive, opposite this road is another spot that pedestrians have adopted to cross the highway freely without restraint. Although, the iron bars at this spot was intentionally left open by the traffic authority to allow BRT bus passengers cross from the bus station to the other side, the activities of drivers, riders, hawkers and wheelbarrow pushers have ensured that the place is no longer safe.
WHEELBARROW PUSHERS BESIEGE HIGHWAY
Wheelbarrow pushers have resorted to using that spot to move their wares to and fro the road. The manner in which they move onto the highway in utter disregard of vehicles is unacceptable. They do not seem bothered about the huge number of vehicles on the road nor the safety of people trekking, all they care about is to be on the road like ‘kings of the road’.
In the same vein, bike riders have also taken advantage of the abnormal situation in Ketu to make brisk business by riding directly on the BRT lane on one-way from Ojota to Ketu and vice versa. When they find a BRT bus is coming, they suddenly mount the adjoining culverts to escape.
Despite the fact that passengers of public transport can find their way to adjoining streets when they alight at the approved Ketu layby, the bus drivers always make them alight at same Owode Oyelaja Drive, thereby compounding the situation.
When a woman who tried crossing the road was asked about the spot, she noted that it is currently posing hazard to safety. ‘It is not convenient and it is not safe. It is better the government block this place with the iron barrier and redirect people to the pedestrian bridge. It is encouraging buses to park here, and it is not a recognised bus-stop. The main bus-stop is the layby. The pressure is here, and the bridge is abandoned.’
Hawkers also line the road with their wares doing brisk business to the detriment of free flow of traffic. No one seems to be able to control their excesses. A union member who was found chasing the hawkers from the road said: ‘we consistently chase these hawkers off the road but they go back. I am just praying that God will avert evil occurrence for us here.’
TRAFFIC GRIDLOCK
The current state is that between the few metres of road between Ketu pedestrian bridge and Owode Oyelaja Drive, you may spend 10 to 30 minutes in heavy traffic gridlock depending on the time of day you are plying the road no matter your direction of travel. This is really unacceptable going by the investment that has gone into the area.
Apart from the Ketu layby and the pedestrian bridge which has gulped a large capital outlay from the Lagos State Government, Trek Africa observed that another layby and garage is currently ongoing on the site of the former Igunwa Ketu/Ikosi-Isheri garage on the other side of the road. This is expected to be a mega-facility which will consist state-of-the-art features. This is proof positive to the commitment of the Lagos State Government under Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to meet the transportation needs of millions of Lagosians irrespective of the part of the city they are dwelling.
It is hoped that this investment will not go the way of previous facilities in the area that are so far underutilized.
