Hope rises for East bound road users as the Federal Government announces that the Second Niger Bridge will be completed unfailingly by the second quarter of this year precisely in April while the commissioning will be in the third quarter of the year.
The Presidency through the Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari gave this assurance when he inspected the project from the Asaba end in Delta State to Anambra State in preparation for the commissioning between July and September this year. He was in the company of the Minister for Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and the Minister for Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige.
This is the first time since the commencement of construction work on the 1.6-kilometre Second Niger Bridge that movement was made from Asaba down to the Anambra end of the interchange sections that lead to Owerri from the right, back to Onitsha by the left while straight takes one to the Enugu Highway designed to discharge traffic associated with the present Niger Bridge.
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The bridge infrastructure is 83% completed while the road component of the project is 93% ready.
Professor Gambari says the project has so far improved the economy of the immediate environment and at the same time will save road users from stress associated with the gridlock when put in use.
Fashola during the inspection spoke of imminent temporary power disruption for the relocation of high tension electricity cables.
Although the duo is not specific on the concessionry status of the bridge but structures on ground show that it will be a toll facility while actual financier of the project according to the Minister is the Federal Government.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
