The Federal Government on March 1 reopened the entire Kara Bridge inbound and outbound sections on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to traffic after completing reconstruction works on the bridge.
Reports say that site preparation toward the total reopening began on Saturday with a final inspection of the project by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola.
When NAN visited the site on March 1, a heavy deployment of Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) officials were noticed, to give support to construction workers removing diversion barriers.
The workmen removed demarcations on various sections of the 600 metres outbound Lagos carriageway where traffic was diverted between Kara Bridge and the Isheri Junction intersection.
All debris and construction materials were cleaned up before FRSC at exactly 1:40 pm led a motorcade that led motorists outbound Lagos into the newly completed 600 metres stretch.
Motorists inbound Lagos felt eased as gridlock on the lane disappeared as each lane totaling 1.2km was opened to traffic without merging at any point.
Some elated road users, who spoke to newsmen, called for speedy completion of the entire Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Reports say the diversion of traffic on the first section began with the partial closure of the inbound Lagos portion on the Kara Bridge on September 2, 2019.
On December 1, 2019, construction on the inbound Lagos was completed but work on the outbound Lagos was suspended due to the Yuletide, hence, the opening of the entire highway to traffic.
Work resumed on January 14, 2020, with the partial closure of the outbound Lagos portion on the Kara Bridge, resulting in another traffic diversion that compounded gridlock on the axis.
However, the construction of the portion was completed on February 29 leading to site preparation toward the total reopening of both the 600 metres outbound and 600 metres inbound carriageways.
