A model of the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge
The Lagos State Government has said that the construction of Fourth Mainland Bridge would still begin this year.
The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve
Ayorinde, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
The commissioner, however, did not mention any specific time of the year for the commencement of the project.
He told NAN that the state government was committed to the proposed
project. The construction of the bridge is accommodated in the state’s
2017 Budget and about N844 billion has been earmarked for it.
About 800 structures and shanties will be affected by the
construction of the bridge to be carried out under a Build, Operate and
Transfer (BOT) arrangement.
The construction of the bridge will be coming 50 years after the
state’s existence and 26 years after the delivery of the Third Mainland
Bridge by the ex-military President Ibrahim Babangida.
NAN reports that the idea of the 4th mainland bridge first came up
during the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, about 14 years ago.
In May 2015, Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with a consortium of firms and finance houses for the
construction of the bridge.
During its conception, the government had to stop several times,
when it realised that about 3,000 structures could be affected by the
bridge’s right of way. To continue the construction, a new alignment
design concept was produced to save about 2,200 houses from being
destroyed.
The project, when completed, will give birth to the longest of all the bridges connecting Lagos Island to the Mainland.
NAN reports that the bridge will pass through Lekki, Langbasa, and
Baiyeku towns – on the Lagoon estuaries – to Itamaga, in Ikorodu.
The bridge will serve as a complement to the Eko, Carter and Third Mainland Bridges and help to reduce traffic.
The bridge is expected to have a four-lane dual carriage way.
-NAN
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