Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said that the long-awaited commencement of the construction of the Fourth Mainland Bridge will begin in the first quarter of 2024.
Sanwo-Olu disclosed this during the Lagos West Senatorial District Town Hall Meeting at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Sheraton, Ikeja.
Emphasising a gradual construction approach, the Governor assured that tenants and landlords affected by building demolitions in the process will receive fair compensation.
Here are thirteen things to know about the Fourth Mainland Bridge:
1. The bridge, when completed, would become the second longest in Africa with three toll plazas, nine interchanges, a 4.5-kilometre Lagoon Bridge and an eco-friendly environment. The project will also give birth to the longest of all the bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland.
2. The Fourth Mainland Bridge is a 38km-long bridge project by the Lagos State Government, connecting Lagos Island through Langbasa and Baiyeku in Ikorodu across the Lagos Lagoon to Itamaga, in Ikorodu.
3. The construction of the bridge was initially slated for 2017 and was scheduled to be completed in 2019 with approximately N844 billion set aside for it then. However, the project did not commence at the set date.
4. The bridge is a 2 x 4 lane carriageway cross-sectional road with permission for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Lane and future road contraction.
5. The idea of the bridge was conceptualised by the government of former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
6. In December 2022, Lagos State through the Office of Public Private Partnership announced CCECC-CRCCIG CONSORTIUM as the preferred bidder for the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge project. The preferred bidder will execute the project according to plans presented by the state government.
7. The construction of the bridge will come 57 years after the state’s creation on May 27, 1967, and 34 years after the delivery of the Third Mainland Bridge in 1990.
8. The bridge was initially expected to be completed by 2019 but that never happened, Gov Sanwo-Olu has vowed however that construction will begin by the end of the first quarter of 2024.
9. In 2021, it was said that the project, estimated to cost about $2.5 billion, would be delivered through public-private partnership initiative and tolled for two years.
10. In 2022, it was disclosed that the Fourth Mainland Bridge, upon commencement, was projected to be completed in 2027.
11. Eight roads, including the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Igbogbo-Lagos, would be aligned with the Fourth Mainland Bridge.
12. The bridge will serve as a complement to the Eko, Carter, and Third Mainland Bridges and help to reduce traffic.
13. It is expected to span about 37 kilometers, starting from Abraham Adesanya in Ajah, on the Eti-Osa-Lekki-Epe corridor and traversing the North West towards the Lagoon shoreline of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway via Owutu/Isawo in Ikorodu.
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