Thousands of residents and commuters who ply the roads in the Festac Town axis of Amuwo-Odofin LGA have lamented bitterly about the dilapidated state of the streets in the estate.
Major roads as seen in the community have been in a bad state with commuters complaining and groaning severely as to the crater-size potholes, eroded road surfaces and collapsed portions of some roads..
Roads such as 2nd Avenue Road which has been in bad shape for over a year and counting, and 4th Avenue Road too is a major road that has been difficult to ply in recent times.
One-Way Commuting
Most commuters have been seen to pass one way in order to avoid bad roads and bad spots within the community.
Last Month, there were more than three accidents on the 2nd Avenue road, especially at the road leading from Gtbank to 1st gate.
2nd Avenue
The popular 2nd avenue, an ever-busy road that serves as a major route linking various areas of the estate and serves as a thoroughfare from other parts of the community currently has the worst state of roads within the Festac Town estate as of this time of writing
The long stretch of road is popular for collecting traffic from Okota-Ago to Apple Junction, and parts of Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, through the Second Rainbow, and channeling them to the Mile 2-Badagry Expressway, via Alakija (Festac 3rd Gate), without going through Mile 2.
The 2nd Avenue road leading to Alakija was sort of worked on after a part of the road was blocked for repairs for years and in less than 6 months, the road is back to being unmotorable and getting worse as motorists have abandoned the bad portion and started driving against the traffic, putting serious pressure on that particular area that is motorable.
The 2nd Avenue road from 205 to 204 has been a disaster, many times vehicles have been seen to break down in the middle. There are major deep holes in the road leading to vehicles dodging those sections and sometimes causing traffic and sometimes accidents.
Other Roads
The 7th Avenue axis leading to Alakija also has been a pain to residents, 52 Road, 51 Road, 23 Road from Rockview as well as a road linking Temple Hill are not exempted.
The 32 Road axis also has a major bad spot that regularly causes traffic as commuters try to bypass the bad spot especially during rush hours.
The 41 Road axis linking 4th avenue has also been a major bad spot for commuting
Also a stretch of the 31 road was rehabilitated late last year, the FESTAC Town has never been in such a nasty state it has recently found itself, where all the infrastructures that made it what it is have completely broken down, especially with numerous impassable roads in all areas of the estate.
Some of the roads like the 7th Avenue, by Mountain of Fire Church, can only be passable due to the debris and rubble used to fill the gullies.
Speaking to a resident who lives at 322 Road, He complained about how he has to take his car to the mechanic regularly due to the state of the roads.
Businesses Lamenting
Businesses that are in significant bad spots in the estate have cried out several times about the impact of the bad roads which is adding to the decline of their customers.
A resident sharing his experience with Festaconline Team Bitterly said that he had to change the shock absorber of his car twice in 6 months, Another lamented that while commuting the road removed his front bumper and had to undergo unplanned expenses.
Any Good Roads?
As of this time of writing, residents of 22 Road and 1st Avenue have complained less about the state of the roads in their axis. Lately, a major bad part of 21 roads was fixed recently after the road was unmotorable which has eased commuting.
Jennifer Agu, A student said that she lives at 21 Road, C Close and most times finds it difficult to get public transport as most tricycles, busses and motorcycles stopped passing that axis. But after that major section was fixed commuting has been better.
Residents Groan
Mustapha, a roadside yam seller along the road complained to Festaconline Media: “The road here has affected our business, most of our customers have stopped coming to buy from us . Its worse when it rains, I pray the government would remember Festac and fix the roads. It’s no longer funny.”
Bayo Bolarinwa, car dealer, whose wasn’t happy talking to Festaconline Media when we visited, He narrated how deplorable road condition in Festac Town and how it has negatively impacted sales. He bemoaned:Car buyers are no longer coming to patronise us, because there is no road to pass to get to us. How long will this thing continue?”
Indeed, driving on the roads in Festac Town are a very bumpy and unpleasant expedition – no thanks to the various roads there that are replete with
Of recent, vehicles are usually stuck in the deep gully between 203 and 207 road. The gully is so deep that bold pebbles are being used to fill it through community effort.
It was gathered that many motorists, who wouldn’t risk losing their tyres and shock absorbers to the deep pothole, find alternative routes in the inner streets, while others who do not know how to meander their ways through feeder roads would be forced to drive through the gravel.
Any Way Forward?
Festaconline Media speaking to the Chief press secretary of the LG explained the currently ongoing local government, he said that there is a tripartite agreement by the FHA, Amuwo-Odofin local government and the Lagos state government on plans to fix the major roads in the Estate soonest. He also gave a glimpse of hope that very soon work would commence.
We are using this opportunity and medium to call out the appropraite authorities to hasten their decisions and commence fixing these roads to lessen commuting and living by residents and other commuters in the local government
Finally!! The terrible state of the roads is being talked about. But how far can this article go? It needs to get to the appropriate quarters.
Nice write up but I suggest someone from the FestacOnline media team to try plying the 1st avenue road from Mopheth pharmacy heading towards the 6th avenue bridge and see how bad both sides of the road is. Even the service lane from 1st avenue L close is terrible.
No part of Festac is exempted from bad roads. Now with the frequent rains and a total lack of good drainage system, the roads would only get worse. Even when they pretend to work on any road, they don’t see the need to include a drainage system or work on the existing one.
It’s a massive shame on the current local government administration.