By AZEEZ SANUSI

Commuters and motorists plying the Iyana-Ejigbo/Ikotun Road in the Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, LCDA, are like people travelling through the Biblical “valley of the shadow of death”. The traffic snarl is caused by the reconstruction of a drainage channel in the area.

The Lagos State Ministry of Environment, apparently heeding to calls for assistance from the Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, flagged off the reconstruction of the Iyana-Ejigbo/Ikotun drainage a couple of months ago. The reconstruction is meant to further deepen the water channel and facilitate free flow of rain water into the canal. This is being done in order to disallow overflow of water onto the main road.

Vanguard Metro learnt that the reconstruction is intended to alleviate the perennial sufferings of  commuters who are often trapped in the traffic jam for several hours. The Council’s spokesperson, Mr. Rabiu Hassan explained that the situation gets worse whenever there is a downpour. According to him, the over-flooding of the road and attendant traffic snarl were caused by the shallow drainage outlets.

Vanguard Metro learnt that the reconstruction is scheduled to last for four months,and should have been completed before the rainy season commenced. The delay in completing the project is compounding the traffic gridlock in the area.

Even the alternative routes are also in very poor conditions. Some of the inner roads have continued to deteriorate while others are simply not passable.

“Other roads in Ejigbo are bad; in fact, they are not motorable. By the time you use your car on other roads here, within one month you will have to visit the mechanic,” a resident who did not want to be identified said.

Some of the residents and pedestrians also expressed their gratitude to those in charge of the project but are quick to remind the government of their predicaments.

Mr.  Onyemachi Chinedu, a trader who has lived in the locality for the past seven years, recounted the ordeal they go through on a daily basis. “The difficulty I encounter on this road has to do with the traffic snarl. I spend between one and half hours to two hours to reach my house, a journey that should not have lasted more than 25 minutes,” he said. He therefore appealed to the government to hasten the construction to lessen the pains commuters go through on daily basis.