The Enugu State Government has announced that it will reopen one lane of the Enugu- Port Harcourt expressway collapsed bridge for use by December 24.
This was disclosed by Gerald Otiji, the Enugu State Commissioner for Works, while briefing newsmen after the State Executive Council meeting held at the Government House, Enugu on Friday.
In November reported that Gov. Peter Mbah announced that the Federal Government would commence reconstruction work on the collapsed Enugu-Port-Harcourt Expressway bridge on November 10.
The commissioner revealed that the reason why the Enugu State Government want to reopen one lane of the Enugu-Port-Harcourt Expressway bridge is to prevent trucks from driving through the state capital city.
- “With this, we can direct all the trucks to ply the road instead of coming into the state capital.
- “We are also having a traffic management team that will help to control traffic in the state,” the commissioner explained.
In September, a bridge between the New Artisan and New Triangle section of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway in Enugu collapsed.
Thereafter, lawmakers of the Enugu State House of Assembly called on the Federal Government to take action to work on the collapsed bridge to ease the difficulties of road users caused by the bridge collapse.
The Federal Government heeded the call and reconstruction work on the collapsed Enugu-Port-Harcourt Expressway bridge kicked off on Friday, November 10.
The governor had announced that the palliative work on the collapsed bridge would begin on one lane of the bridge that was still standing to ensure it was ready for use within 10 days of November 10.
Minister Umahi, who was present at the commencement of the reconstruction work of the bridge said funds for the project were covered in the 2023 Supplementary Budget.