It is not yet Uhuru for motorists plying the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, especially at the Toyota Bus Stop axis, as they continue to witness traffic logjams caused by auto spare part traders who have converted a part of the road to mechanic workshop, and a confectionery company branch of Olam International, which has also converted a portion of the road to truck park.
The Guardian had, on June 8, reported the activities of Ladipo traders on the road and that of OK Foods, but the parent company of OK Foods, Olam International, has failed to make a move to stop trucks from parking on the service lane.
Despite the gradual ease of the lockdown as announced by the state government, which mandated markets to alternate days of opening between food marts and non-food marts, it has been a daily tale of agony in the route on weekdays.
Currently, the auto spare part market opens on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but on all days of the week, activities go on, spilling over to the access route where container-laden trucks are parked along the road waiting for their contents to be offloaded.
This usually leads to traffic snarls and a backlog extending beyond Iyana-Isolo, as road users are stranded, trying to navigate through to the Airport Road or Oshodi, while construction work continues on the main carriageway.
The gridlock does not only affect those going towards those locations; road users trying to access offices along the route like The Guardian, SCOA Motors, and NAFDAC are also stranded, spending nearly an hour in a passage that should not take five minutes.
The bad situation is worsened by OK Foods, whose factory is beside the market at Toyota Bus Stop, as articulated vehicles going in and out of the company are parked indiscriminately on the service lane, days and nights. (Guardian)