Reps Urge Works Ministry To Review Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Realignment

The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Ministry of Works to review the proposed realignment of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and retain the project’s original concept.

The resolution followed a motion on the need to review the proposed realignment and its implications for coastal communities.

The lawmakers expressed concern that the proposed changes could undermine the highway’s original connectivity and economic development objectives if the engineering requirements, environmental consequences, socioeconomic implications and total lifecycle costs are not independently assessed.

They said any assessment of alternative routes should consider the full cost of construction, including additional road distance, bridges, ground improvement, environmental mitigation, compensation, flood resilience and long-term maintenance.

The House also noted that specialised engineering solutions, including soil stabilisation, geosynthetics, piled foundations, reinforced embankments and elevated viaducts, could provide options for addressing difficult terrain, subject to site-specific technical and environmental assessments.

The lawmakers further called for reinforced coastal feeder roads to reconnect isolated maritime and fishing communities to the highway where the main dual carriageway is diverted inland because of deep water pits and unstable terrain.

As part of its resolutions, the House asked the Ministry of Works to submit the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to the relevant committee for scrutiny.

The lawmakers said the assessment would help address concerns surrounding the proposed realignment and prevent a recurrence of similar issues, stressing that an EIA should precede construction work.

The resolution comes amid a dispute over proposed changes to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. Works Minister Dave Umahi had said the reconstruction of the East-West Road from Edo to Cross River was an additional project and would not affect the original alignment of the coastal highway.

However, the proposed route changes have raised concerns about connectivity and access for coastal communities.