Commissioned about six years ago, users of the Owerri/Onitsha Expressway ought to have been familiar with its usage by now. But this is not happening as many road users have continued to lose their lives in avoidable road accidents.
The double lane highway has provisions on both sides for parking lanes in case one has to break his journey close to one hour or so. The parking lanes are mainly for breakdown vehicles until they are put in order and become toad worthy again.
There are also small spaces in between the long slabs demarcating the two lanes for pedestrians wishing to cross the express way from one end to the other. With no road markings to warn vehicles about the crossing points, the facilities are flagrantly abused because there are no security operatives to enforce law and order or compliance with traffic code.
Although there are provisions for “U” turns at intervals, smaller vehicles, keke tricycles and motor cyclists prefer the short cut by driving long distances on the wrong direction to get to their destinations.
This wrong use of the expressway has recorded a number of avoidable casualties merely because about to cross the highway, pedestrians normally scan for incoming traffic on the right direction whereas a car, keke or cyclist is speeding along the wrong direction.
Even in the process and a pedestrian is knocked down, he continues to speed along provided the vehicle or machine is a little road worthy. Nearly all the vehicles are on high seed despite the fact that they are not supposed to do so along residential areas otherwise known as “ built up areas”. The traffic code specifically insisted on this to avoid the young, the elderly and the sick being knocked down by speeding vehicles.
For communities whose land areas are cut into two by expressways, the need must arise from time to time to cross the highway for social or economic reasons. Because there are no warning signs for incoming traffic to slow down coupled with the absence of law enforcement officers, the Owerri /Onitsha expressway constitutes a dead trap for its numerous users.
Often, it takes days to address obstructions caused by accident vehicles on the highway. Such obstructions cause fresh road accidents as there are no road signs to warn speeding vehicles about the temporary bottle neck until they get to the accident spots.
Unbelievably, the use of speed lanes are hardly obeyed. Generally, heavy trucks and fuel tankers occupy the speed lanes slowing down the movement of traffic particularly vehicles wishing to overtake the slower ones. The federal ministry of works along Owerri/PortHarcourt Road which is supposed to ensure safe driving along the expressway is virtually doing nothing to bring this about.
Even the removal of debris obstructing free flow of traffic and sometimes causing flooding appears to be outside the ministry’s job description.
These abnormal conditions abound at Irete end of the expressway where the tar is giving way in places. Flood water has caused deep pot holes to develop along the Control Post area of Owerri narrowing the road and causing congestion.
The headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Works should include the maintenance of the expressway in the job description of the federal ministry of works in Owerri. One can not be in water and have soap suds assail his eyes.
