The Lagos State Government is to construct toll gate on the main carriageway of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway which is under construction.
The road is being expanded to 10 lanes to accommodate a BRT lane and a light rail system and the project is being undertaken by the state government directly.
Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Kadri Hamzat disclosed in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, at an interactive session that government would toll the main carriageway in order to recoup what it spent on constructing the road.
He said the service lanes would not be tolled and would be left for those who did not want to pay toll.
“Let us look at it this way. As to how to get back what we spent, it is a 10-lane road with service lanes. And then in the middle, there is a light rail. We have two BRT lanes. The two middle lanes will be tolled. But the service lanes will be there for those who do not want to pay toll,” he said.
According to him, it was the Lagos State Government that built the Lagos-Badagry Road before the Federal Government took over the road in 1977.
“ If you look at the map of Africa, the road links some West African countries. From Lagos, you can actually drive and the road is going up to the Gambia. A lot of people on that route speak French, even up to Morocco.
“That population is about 280 million, and the majority of them spend the same currency. Technically, if we can open up that road, Lagos economy will blossom. It is strategic for us to take up the road,” he stated.
On plans by some African countries to link up with the light rail system on the road, Hamzat said it was the Vice President of Ghana who approached Governor Babatunde Fashola on the issue.
“What happened was that the Vice President of Ghana spoke to Governor Fashola on the possibility. He demanded to see the design of the project. This is to enable him see if it is possible to link up with the project.
“It is a talk, and that has been done. That shows you the possibility. If you take a train from London to France, even up to Germany, there is no reason we can’t do the same thing in this part of the world.
“We just need to link ourselves together like they did in Western Europe. One is happy that our leader is thinking in that line too. It will be a dream if it can happen. At least, that is true, and it is being pursued,” he said.
On proposal by the state government to take over all federal roads, the commissioner said there was a communique to that effect, saying that “we were supposed to have a meeting at the Federal Ministry of Works about two weeks ago.
“Unfortunately, a senator died and the meeting could not hold. This is one of the things we wanted to discuss. You are right. It will be a good day for us if they can cede them. But the challenge is that if you are giving us these responsibilities, then the budget of the Federal Ministry of Works must come down and be redistributed to all the states and let the state take the responsibility for these roads,” he added.
