*Says 400km Of East-West Road From Edo Additional Route Alongside Coastal Highway
THE Federal Government dismissed reports of a realignment of the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, insisting that “at no time did Mr. President directed that the 750km dualised Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway be discontinued to East-West road from Edo State.“
A statement on Tuesday, October 13, from the Federal Ministry of Works, clarified that “rather, 400km of East-West road from Edo to Cross River State is an additional route to be reconstructed along side with the 750km dualised Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.“
The statement noted that “this additional project, which is the reconstruction of East-West road, is presently below flood level due to climate change and whose pavement is badly damaged will not affect the the complete construction of the entire 750 km dualised Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as initially proposed.
“Work is ongoing within the 750km of the Coastal Highway within Niger Delta region in five sections, namely: 3a and 3b (Cross River and Akwa-Ibom- 75km dualised); 4a and 4b (Ogun and Ondo – 65km dualised); and Section 5 (Akwa-Ibom – 62km dualised).
“The surveying and designing of the remaining sections of the 750km of the Coastal Highway are ongoing from the end of Ondo section to Edo, Delta, Baylsea, Rivers to join Section 5 at Akwa-Ibom.
“The East-West reconstruction is an additional project, just like the 410km Mr. President approved as additional route (Wukari/Langtan) on the 4th Legacy project of Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Biu -Maiduguri, which has increased the project from 700km dualised to 1100km dualised.
“All sections of the legacy projects are ongoing, as proposed, and the additional projects will not affect the performances of the original alignment nor will it change it.
“As soon as the survey and design of the remaining sections of the 750km of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway are completed, procurement and construction will commence, starting from the end of Ondo axis.”
The statement urged the public to ignore any misinformation on the committed efforts of President Bola Tinubu to deliver these projects as planned.
