The Federal Government has given motorists and other road users on the Lagos section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway two weeks to comply with safety regulations or risk the closure of the route.
The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Olufemi Dare, issued the warning on Monday during an inspection of the highway, citing persistent safety violations, vandalism, illegal activities and recurring accidents.
Dare said the directive followed a mandate from the Minister of Works, David Umahi, stressing that the government would have no choice but to shut the highway if there was no significant improvement within two weeks.
“Within two weeks, if there’s no improvement on all these issues, then we have no option than to come back and shut down this road,” he said.
He explained that the coastal highway remained a construction site and should not ordinarily have been opened to motorists before the completion of its bridges.
According to him, traffic would be redirected to the Lekki-Epe Expressway if the coastal road is closed.
The Lagos section of the project is divided into two sections covering about 103 kilometres. Section 1 is approximately 47 kilometres, while Section 2 covers about 56 kilometres.
Dare said the two sections have 20 major bridges, with 10 bridges in each section, several of which are still under construction.
He expressed concern over motorists exceeding the prescribed 30km per hour speed limit despite ongoing construction activities.
“We have said your speed on the coastal road must not be more than 30 kilometres per hour,” he said.
The controller said accidents had continued to occur on the route, warning that the government could no longer tolerate the loss of lives.
He also directed articulated vehicle operators to stop using the highway as a parking area, saying trucks and trailers had been parked along sections of the road.
On security, Dare said the government had reached an agreement with the Lagos State Police Command to increase the number of personnel deployed along the highway.
He said the arrangement followed meetings between Umahi and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani.
“We don’t want Okada motorcycles, tricycles. We don’t want them on the coastal road,” Dare said.
He added that the government would remove shanties and other illegal structures erected along the highway.
Dare also raised concerns over the vandalism of safety infrastructure, disclosing that vandals had removed at least five kilometres of ClearVu fencing installed to separate surrounding communities from the highway.
He said about 18 kilometres of concrete covers had also been vandalised and carted away.
“They come in the night, they remove the ClearVu fence that was used to barricade the communities from the coastal highway,” he said.
Dare said the government was considering replacing the steel fencing with concrete barriers in areas considered particularly vulnerable to vandalism.
“We have to change the strategy,” he said, noting that sections protected with block work had not experienced similar vandalism.
He further disclosed that the coastal guards would be reorganised and trained under the supervision of the Lagos State Police Command, while additional personnel would be recruited for Section 2.
Dare said some of the previously engaged coastal guards had been attacked by suspected vandals, making closer coordination with security agencies necessary.