…Confronting monstrous traffic

 Fred Itua

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), is taking steps to confront the gridlock in Abuja. This led to the setting up of Special Ministerial Task Team on Traffic (SMTTT), headed by chairman, FCT Press Corps, Attah Ikharo.

Since the setting up of the team, Nyanya-Maraba Road, which was hitherto a nightmare is gradually regaining its sanity. Kubwa, Abuja’s biggest satellite town has been cured of its traffic madness. Dutse Alhaji Road, linking Bwari, is getting the needed attention. The horrible traffic tsunami in Zuba has been cleaned up.

Within the city, traffic flash points have received the needed attention and sanity is being restored to areas that were hitherto considered untouchable. More areas are expected to join the net in the coming days.

The FCTA last week flagged off the one-way directional road traffic, on the Southern Park Way in the city. Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammad Bello, said: “This is one particular project on which we have spent enormous amount of time and resources because without completing this project, the northern and southern sectors of Abuja would not be connected.

“We have allowed traffic movement for the last few months just to allow construction to continue. But we have reached a certain milestone where we will now start enforcing the one-way traffic system.” He explained that in the last few years, the FCTA had spent a lot of time and resources towards the completion of major arterial roads within the city, while expressing joy that most of them have reached a level of completion and could now be opened to the public:

“I am so pleased to say that the partnership between the FCDA and SETRACO Nigeria Limited has been very beneficial to the city because I am sure all of you know that the twin bridges were concluded about the same time and you can see how these bridges were able to link the northern and the southern parts of the city.

“For us, this is a very important project. The way Nigeria is growing and cities like Abuja are growing, if we do not complete major infrastructure projects, it will affect our economic development.”

He charged residents to use the infrastructure properly. He commended the Senate for approving the portion of the federal government foreign loans that affect the FCT: “They approved two very important projects- the continuation of the phase two of the Abuja Light Rail project as well as the widening of the Greater Abuja Water Works.  These are all very fundamental legacy projects, the benefits of which we will see in many years to come.”

The Southern Park Way, which is the cultural spine of Abuja, is a road complex traversing four key roads in the city’s main business districts of Garki and Central Business District with a complex network of access ways connecting Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA).