As part of measures to ease the traffic bottleneck that characterize some parts of Lagos Island, the state governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday commissioned the Falomo On-Ramp Bridge constructed at the cost of N2.5 billion.?
Speaking at the inauguration of the 115-metre bridge, the governor said the project was executed in conjunction with the private sector under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, using financing arranged entirely by a private investor.?
Fashola, who said the project was constructed by the Lekki Concession Company, added that the project was the first ever bridge structure of the magnitude and specification anywhere in the country constructed by a private investor under a PPP arrangement.?
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According to him, “This is a deliverable of the 30-year PPP in 2006, pursuant to which the company is already rehabilitating and upgrading approximately 50 kilometres of the Eti-Osa Lekki-Epe Expressway and will also construct approximately 20 kilometres of the Coastal Road. Of the N50 billion long-term financing raised by Lekki Concession Company to execute the ongoing works on the Eti-Osa Lekki-Epe Expressway, a substantial portion of which represents Foreign Direct Investment into Lagos State, N2.5 Billion has been used to construct the new Falomo On-Ramp that we will all be driving on soon.”?
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Fashola said the bridge would improve travel time for motorists travelling from Ikoyi from the West-bound lanes of Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue, noting that motorists by the construction would now be able to access Ozumba Mbadiwe and Adeyemo Alakija Street intercession.?
In his address, the Special Adviser and Director General Office of Public Private Partnership, Lagos State Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi, said the Falomo On-Ramp Bridge was one of the series of road works that constitute the state infrastructure projects meant to complement the ongoing contentious Eti-Osa Lekki-Epe Expressway rehabilitation and expansion.?
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‘’It is a clear testimony of the enormous benefits derivable from PPP where private sector resources and expertise are leveraged by government in accelerating the delivery of public infrastructure land service to the people. This is therefore just one of the many projects currently under procurement with others in the pipeline,” he added.?
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