By Ozioruva Aliu
BENIN CITY — Motorists and commuters were stranded for more than three hours on Sunday evening along the Benin-Lagos Expressway as the dilapidated Ovia River Bridge and other traffic bottlenecks triggered a severe gridlock.
The gridlock, which stretched from Ovia Bridge to Okada Junction in Edo State, turned a journey that ordinarily takes less than 40 minutes into hours of frustration for travellers.
Most of the vehicles caught in the traffic were articulated trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles that had expected to leave Benin early and reach their destinations on time.
It was gathered that some smaller vehicles broke down amid the gridlock, while an accident along the route further compounded the traffic situation.
Some motorists blamed the congestion on impatience among drivers, the parking of vehicles along the roadside and the poor condition of sections of the road.
They also identified a bad spot near the Tipper Garage along the Okada axis as a recurring source of traffic congestion.
One of the drivers, who identified himself as Chukwu, said he had heard about a traffic jam on the Ovia Bridge as early as 2am on Sunday and decided to sleep at a bypass near Oluku to avoid being caught in the congestion.
However, he said he was surprised to encounter another gridlock after passing through the Ovia Bridge traffic without difficulty.
Chukwu called on the Federal Government to intervene in the deteriorating condition of the bridge and urged the Edo State Government to repair the bad section of the road to improve vehicular and pedestrian movement.
When contacted on the absence of traffic control personnel in the area, the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Preyel Bedford, said his men were not permanently stationed along the affected stretch but were deployed periodically.
“Though my men are not permanently positioned in that axis, I do send them to that particular spot every two days,” Bedford said.
He explained that FRSC personnel stationed near Owosu and other locations were expected to respond when notified of vehicle breakdowns or accidents that could disrupt traffic.
According to him, officers are deployed to the affected areas upon receiving reports of such incidents to help restore the free flow of traffic.
He advised motorists to exercise patience and obey traffic regulations to reduce congestion and prevent further disruptions along the busy expressway.
The post Commuters stranded for hours over dilapidated Ovia bridge appeared first on Vanguard News.