Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State yesterday declared the Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge and Admiralty Lekki toll-free today, saying motorists should not pay for six hours during peak periods.
This came as the governor hinted that the collection in the toll plazas might go cashless by October. With the declaration, motorists plying the routes are not expected to pay toll for three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening to enable government to appraise traffic congestion in the axis.
Briefing journalists after a tour of the Victoria Island-Lekki-Ajah axis over gridlock and flooding issues, Sanwo-Olu said that the move was necessary to enable his administration to observe the pattern the gridlock “takes during the peak hours”.
According to the governor, the plazas will be open for free passage to vehicles between 6.30a.m. and 9.30a.m. as well as 4.30p.m. and 8p.m. According to him, the purpose is to study the traffic situation in the area with a view to finding lasting solutions to the issue of gridlock in the area.
He said: “The objective is that we want to do a real simulation of traffic study, when you open the toll plaza where does the traffic get into, does it disperse and go completely away or do we transfer it somewhere else.
It is only when we do this at the peak hour that we would be able to understand and appreciate what would be the effect of it. “We just want to do a study and also appreciate Lagosians that we are not unmindful of the challenges we have with the two plazas, but our government wants to bring about a different journey time and the way we want to do it is to have online real time study of what all the issues are.”
After the study, the governor explained that his administration would be able to analyse the challenges and the solutions to the problem. Meanwhile, it was learnt that government would pay the Lekki Concession Company Limited for the period it declared toll free on the expressway.
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