Lagos To Commence 4th Mainland Bridge Project In 2017 – Commissioner

By Victor Ernest With Agency Report.

The Lagos State commissioner for information and strategy, Steve Ayorinde, affirmed on Tuesday that the Lagos state government was still committed to the construction of the 38km Fourth Mainland Bridge.

Although he said the project would commence this year, he however did not state a specific time of the year the project would be flagged off.

According to NAN reports, the construction of the bridge is accommodated in the state’s 2017 Budget with about N844 billion earmarked for it in the budget.

From the proposed design of the bridge, the construction would affect about 800 structures and shanties which would be carried out under a Build, Operate and Transfer arrangement.

The construction of the bridge will be coming 50 years after the state’s existence and 26 years after the delivery of the Third Mainland Bridge by the ex-military President Ibrahim Babangida.

The idea of the 4th mainland bridge first came up during the Bola Tinubu administration, about 14 years ago.

In May 2015, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a consortium of firms and finance houses for the construction of the bridge.

During its conception, the government had to stop several times, when it realised that about 3,000 structures could be affected as a result of the construction of the bridge.

To continue the construction, a new alignment design concept was produced to save about 2,200 houses from being destroyed.

The project, when completed, will give birth to the longest of all the bridges connecting Lagos Island to the Mainland.

The bridge which is expected to have a four-lane dual carriageway will pass through Lekki, Langbasa, and Baiyeku towns – on the Lagoon gulf – to Itamaga, in Ikorodu.

It will serve as a complement to the Eko, Carter and Third Mainland Bridges and help to reduce traffic.