A truck driver has been hospitalised following an accident that left motorists plying the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway stranded for several hours on Wednesday.
PUNCH Metro correspondents, who monitored activities around the area, gathered that the accident occurred when two trucks whose drivers were contesting the right of way, collided at the Otedola Bridge section of the expressway.
The impact of the collision caused one of the trucks, which was loaded with wheat, to spill its contents on the road, obstructing traffic and leaving several motorists stranded.
Our correspondent observed that the resultant gridlock, which lasted for about seven hours, stretched from Otedola Bridge towards the Iyana-Oworo section of the expressway.
A motorist who identified himself simply as Wale lamented the frequent accidents along the corridor, adding that the sloping nature of that section of the expressway might have been a contributing factor.
“I think because this road is sloping, there are recurring accidents here, as most drivers do not often control their speed whenever they are approaching this place. It is motorists who suffer from the gridlock. I spent about two hours from Iyana-Oworo to the Secretariat Bus Stop,” Wale said.
Our correspondents also observed that the gridlock spread towards the stretch of the Secretariat bus-stop, CMD road and Dr Nurudeen Olowopopo Avenue.
A team of police operatives and LASTMA officials was also seen controlling the traffic at the scene of the accident.
One of the officials who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, as he was not permitted to speak, said the influx of vehicles connecting the Berger end compounded the traffic.
“Aside from the accident, a combination of vehicles moving into Berger on the expressway and the ones connecting the expressway from the Otedola Bridge under the bridge has further compounded the traffic. That is why we had to stay here to stay at this point to control how they alternate their movement into Berger,” the official said.
A motorist who identified himself simply as Ajose lamented that the traffic disrupted his plans.
