Circular road corridor will accommodate industrial parks, other amenities
Commissioner for Public works and Transport, Professor Daud Sangodoyin in an interview with Soji Ajibola opens up on the plans of Governor Seyi Makinde for 110km Circular road.
In life, everybody aspires for development.
We were born here 63 years ago and the level of development as at 2019 in ibadanland was too slow compared to cities like Cairo, Johannesburg and others. Cairo, in the 60s used to be at par with Ibadan in terms of infrastructural development, same thing with Johannesburg in South Africa. Governor Seyi Makinde led administration is looking for a situation when Ibadan will be at par with developed cities across the globe in terms of development. The Circular road will contribute immensely to the development of Ibadanland and possibly take us to the level that even foreign countries, United Kingdom, Canada will be envious of Ibadanland when completed.
What will the setback on the circular road be used for?
It will be converted to Industrial Parks while other amenities of accrued benefits would be sited there. If you have been to Johannesburg and you travel to Pretoria which is 56km road, I have video of that road, there is a particular building on that road. The building is 2km from the road. Other buildings are Industrial Parks up to Pretoria. It is lovely. That is what Seyi Makinde wants to replicate on Circular road. We are also starting the 36km from Badeku to Alarere, that is Moniya end. In the next six months, we will start clearing… We want to make sure that we have access and connection with the Train station. By the time we open the second leg of the South East and North east segment, you will find out that Ibadan would have become one of the developed cities in the world.
How many bridges do we have on Circular road?
We have six bridges and two interchanges already completed. From the Technical University to Jagun area, that is the first part, we have three underpasses and one overpass and some culvets. The culvets are the one helping us to channel the rivers. The other ends have five underpasses and one overpass, that is Badeku to Jagun that is the only area that people are shouting that we have been demolishing houses. The one from Jagun to Tech U has only one building on our pavement now. The owner of the affected building has actually left because he knew actually that he was not supposed to be there. The one under contention is the one from Badeku to Jagun that has many illegal buildings on the pavement. Works are progressing. We have paid off the contractors. The inflation is going up. If they are unable to access the road, the contractors will leave. That is why the ministry of Lands is assisting us to bulldoze illegal buildings on the pavement of 150 metres to the right and left.
What is the level of works at Olodo Bridge and Olorunsogo-Akanran expressway?
Olodo bridge, by the special grace of God will be opened to the traffic by the 30th of April 2024. As I speak now, we have completed the casting of the beam. I was there on an inspection last Sunday. We are doing what we call approaches. By the end of March, all the slabs and what we have casted would have been fixed. After this, we will do approaches in terms of the asphalt and by mid-April, we will do a test run on that bridge. By God’s grace, 30th of April, the road will be opened to human and vehicular movements. On Olorunsogo-Akanran expressway, we have finished laying of asphalt. There are two levels of asphalt laying; the first level is called binder course, after binder course, you will leave it for natural compartment. Let me go back to Olodo bridge again, Olodo bridge construction is not an artwork that you can say in two, three days, I will finish this artwork and give it out. There are so many factors that will look at weather condition is number one while the second one is soil test. The project is affected by the weather condition even the soil itself, when you do soil test, you must be sure that the soil can actually take up the piling. There may be one or two adjustments. What delayed that one was the issue of weather, issue of some equipment. Like I mentioned in one of the interviews granted that we came with four equipments for us to lift the slab but two of them were faulty when we started the process. We have to look for another one. These are the machines that must operate at the same time because one will lift it from where we did the slab while another will drop it, unto the piling, then another one will check that it is properly done. This is not something that we can say in two or three hours the works will be carried out. But thank God, we have broken the bar of that because as I am speaking we have casted the entire slabs. We are doing the approaches. For the Amuloko road. I was there on Thursday. What happened was that over the last two, three weeks, we have been doing the binders course. The binders couse means ceiling the soil base and the stone base. What we did was the wearing course. Wearing course means final course asphalt layer that we are going to do. The issue about the drainage on the other part is what we are focusing on. If you get there now, you will see that our men are working on the drainage. If we have not finished the drainage, we cannot go to the hardwork on the pavement because drainage must be completed before we do the soil base, the stone base, the binder course and the real course.
What is the stage of work at Agara and Odo-ona Elewe bridges?
They have promised us that the work will be completed by April ending. As I speak, work is tremendously going on on that bridge.