In what seems to be lack of understanding of the scheduled time of the closure of Third Mainland Bridge, the bridge was unusually free on Thursday morning, as many of its users diverted movement to alternative routes.
It will be recalled that the Lagos State Government had announced that it would temporarily close down the bridge for four days, starting from midnight of August 23 to midnight of August 26, 2018.
However, with the abandonment of the bridge by motorists on Thursday morning, people might have misunderstood the message, thinking the bridge would be closed by 12 a.m. of Thursday, instead of 12 a.m. of Friday.
This is caused by the apparent ambiguity in using midnight, as contained in the message by the Lagos State Government
Some analysts are of the opinion that the confusion could have been better managed, had the announcement simply read “12 a.m. of August 24 till 12 a.m. of August 27, 2018”, or “11:59 p.m. of August 23 till 11:59 p.m. of August 26,” or simply use the 24-hour clock.
It will also be recalled that the state government announced some alternative routes for motorists pending to the period of closure.
The routes include the Ikorodu Road; Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway/Agege Motor Road, and the Gbagada Expressway.
Motorists from Lagos, Abeokuta, Agege, Ogba and Ikeja to make use of Oshodi via Mushin Ojuelegba to connect Carter Bridge into Island, while those from Ikorodu, Maryland are to make use of Funsho Williams Avenue, formerly, Western Avenue via Yaba to Oyingbo and connect Eko Bridge into the Island.
Motorists from Okokomaiko, Festac, Oshodi-Apapa Expressway are enjoined to go through Ajegunle via Marina Bridge to Ijora to connect Carter Bridge to Apongbon into Lagos Island.
Also, motorists from the Island are expected to ply Eko Bridge and Carter Bridge into Mainland, while those in Lekki Ajah can also make use of Epe axis through Imota into Ikorodu.
