By Nifemi Adefemi
Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso at the weekend listed some iconic projects that will shape the face of commuting in Lagos State in the Year 2024.
Some of the projects, according to him, include the Red Line Rail, the Opebi-Ojota Link Bridge and the completion of 15 Ferry Jetties as well as the deployment of additional 12 ferries to the existing ones to ease commuting across the state
Omotoso while speaking with journalists in his office at the Secretariat, Alausa, said the Opebi Link Bridge will ease traffic on Ikorodu Road and make access to the Airport from Ojota a lot easier.
The Red Line, he noted, will reduce the about three-hour travel time by road from Iddo to Agbado to about 35 minutes while the Water Transportation will receive a boost with the completion of about 15 new jetties and the addition of 12 boats to the existing 21. He recalled that, at inception, the Sanwo-Olu-led government inherited seven ferry boats and increased the number to 14 and then 21.
Speaking further on the legacy projects of the present administration, the Commissioner hinted that more developmental projects such as the Fourth Mainland Bridge, Massey Street Hospital, 500-Bed Mental Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre, Ketu-Ejinrin, the Lekki International Airport, Food and Logistics Hub, Omu Creek project, the Coastal Road project, Leather Hub at Mushin and General Hospitals, will receive the attention of the State Government this year.
While noting that the projects were geared towards creating jobs for the teeming population of the State, Omotoso opined that the Fourth Mainland Bridge is capable of creating 10,000 jobs and exposing young engineers to practical knowledge about building such gigantic projects
Asked to shed more light on the Fourth Mainland Bridge and the Red Line, the Commissioner disclosed that the preferred bidder for the Bridge, a consortium of construction companies and financiers, has been selected. The financial commitments are being worked out and physical work is expected to commence soon. He said the Red Line was about 90% complete as the last of the overdrive located in Mushin would be commissioned soon.
***Additional reports from THENEWS