The federal government is considering a plan to stop heavy-duty trucks and trailers from using the First Niger Bridge due to persistent traffic congestion on the route.
The government is looking at redirecting the vehicles to the Second Niger Bridge as part of efforts to ease movement and prevent motorists from spending several hours in traffic.
The Anambra State Federal Controller of Works, Timothy Emenike, disclosed this during an interview with journalists on Tuesday.
He disclosed that the government was considering placing barriers at both entrances of the First Niger Bridge to prevent heavy-duty vehicles from accessing it.
He said, “A vehicle does not just develop problem on the road, before problem occurs, it doesn’t just stop the vehicle automatically. If a vehicle is in motion and problem happens, at least the driver can narrowly clear the vehicle properly to allow other vehicles move without blocking them. But our people don’t clear off the road whenever they noticed fault on their vehicle while driving.
“Those road demarcations were done to ensure ease of movement and before we did them, we tested and ensured that two vehicles could pass at a time. The problem is that some drivers park intentionally and obstruct others’ movement whenever their vehicle broke down.
“We know that a heavy-duty truck and a small vehicle can pass on one lane of the First Niger Bridge at the same time. But two heavy-duty vehicles cannot pass at the same time on the bridge.
“That is why the ministry is considering diverting the heavy-duty trucks to the Second Niger Bridge that is wide enough to contain them.
“So, for now, we are carrying out a lot of measures and one of the things we are considering is to divert heavy-duty trucks to the Second Niger Bridge which is wide enough to contain as many vehicles as possible.
“The Second Niger Bridge is wide enough to contain all of them, but we don’t know why that place is underutilized.”
