Marcus Nkire

After series of stop-gap attempts to enhance the capacity of the Galadimawa roundabout had failed in the past , there now seems to be serious work going on in the area.

Frequently plagued by traffic jam as a result of its narrowness, navigating  Galadimawa,  Jabi- Airport road , Lokogoma-Kabusa way, Area 1-Games village road axis, has always been a challenge. But the reconstruction of the roundabout has brought about a renewed sense of optimism among residents in the area.

That is not to say there have not been ups and downs up on till this point. Prior to the ongoing construction, an incident which occurred last month  forced the hand of the government to call on the China Geo-Engineering company,(CGC) the company contracted to construct a bridge in the area, to hasten completion of the project.

On one fateful morning, activities and movement ground to a halt with traffic jam covering the entire Galadimawa road. Word had spread that the gridlock was caused by a church conducting their weekly fellowship. Surely, it was not the first time they held a fellowship. So why now?  As it was evident that the traffic was not going to abate, motorists began to make a u-turn, commuters and parents taking their children to school sought alternative routes.

For more than half of the day, the gridlock persisted and this forced the government to instruct the contractor and persuaded him to open a lane through the middle of the roundabout in order to free up space for people trying to access the many housing estates in the Kabusa /Lokogoma district.

Related News

After successfully expanding the four exit curves of the roundabout, the lanes cut through the middle were blocked off but this time road users had enough space to pass through easing the gridlock.

There are still fears from the locals that the government would once again abandon the project, leaving them to suffer now that the challenge seems to have been temporarily alleviated.

Speaking with Daily Sun, Bisi a road side black market petrol seller, narrated how difficult it has been for residents and business owners as a result of the traffic jam.

“ It has not been easy for us but most times, we have to adjust because of the traffic. Thank God that it is better now because sometimes, parents who are going for school run stay here for 2-3 hours before they can get their kids to school. But the advantage for me is that whenever there is traffic, I make more sales. Even car owners who do not usually buy fuel from black market sellers are forced to patronise us because they may have burned up their fuel in traffic,” she said.

One would only hope that construction of the bridge gets done and dusted this time around. Joshua, a middle aged man who resides in Aldenco estate, Galadimawa doubts the government’s ability to finish the job on time

“I sincerely hope they keep to their word this time. If I am to be honest, I think they will leave it like the last time, it is not a new thing they have been doing it since,” he said.