Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Governor of Lagos State, has announced that the second-largest bridge in Africa, the 38-km-long-awaited Fourth Mainland Bridge construction, will commence in the first quarter of 2024.
The governor stated this on Thursday in an address at the Lagos West Senatorial District Town Hall Meeting, held at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Sheraton, Ikeja, the state capital.
“By the end of March or April, construction will kickstart,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu said the construction will be in phases, and landlords and tenants affected by demolition during construction will be duly compensated.
He said: “We have done extensive work on the bridge, but we are at the crossroads of where to get real financing for that kind of project. We need to be very creative, but thank God that we have reached the last point of the construction
“Our commitment is that within this first quarter, meaning that by the end of March or April, we should break grounds to start the construction of the Fourth Mainland Bridge.
“It is going to be built in phases; phase one will be from the junction at Abraham Adesanya all the way to the Waterfront that we have at Badore.
“I am using this opportunity to say that we have done extensive study, so we cannot get a new road without having to do a little bit of discomfort, but we will ensure that we will compensate everybody that their properties or businesses will be disturbed by this construction.
“So, it is going to be along the existing corridors, and a few buildings will be touched.”
Persecondnews reports that the Fourth Mainland Bridge will be connecting Lagos Island by way of Langbasa (Lekki) and Baiyeku (Ikorodu) across the Lagos Lagoon to Itamaga in Ikorodu.
The bridge is a 2 x 4 lane carriageway cross-sectional road with permission for BRT Lane and future road construction.
It is expected to become the second-longest bridge in Africa, featuring three toll plazas, 9 interchanges, 4.5 km Lagoon Bridge, and an eco-friendly environment, among other added features.
The idea was conceptualized by the government of Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State.
Construction was planned to commence in 2017, 50 years after the state’s establishment and 26 years after the completion of the Third Mainland Bridge by the ex-military President Ibrahim Babangida.
The Fourth Mainland Bridge project is expected to be completed in four years, according to the Lagos State Government.
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