The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, last Thursday, said the construction of the long-awaited Fourth Mainland Bridge would begin in the first quarter of this year, “by the end of March or April.”
The governor, who disclosed this in his keynote address during the Lagos West Senatorial District Town Hall Meeting held at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Sheraton, Ikeja, noted that the bridge will be constructed in phases while promising that landlords and tenants of structures demolished during the construction will be duly compensated.
Lagosian must take cognizance of the following facts:
1. The Fourth Mainland Bridge is a 38km-long bridge project by the Lagos State Government, connecting Lagos Island through Langbasa and Baiyeku in Ikorodu across the Lagos Lagoon to Itamaga, in Ikorodu.
2. The bridge is a 2 x 4 lane carriageway cross-sectional road with permission for Bus Rapid Transit Lane and future road contraction.
3. The construction of the bridge was initially slated for 2017 and was scheduled to be completed in 2019, with approximately N844 billion set aside for it then. However, the project did not commence at the set date.
4. The construction of the bridge will come 57 years after the state’s creation on May 27, 1967, and 34 years after the delivery of the Third Mainland Bridge in 1990.
5. In December 2022, Lagos State through the Office of Public Private Partnership announced CCECC-CRCCIG CONSORTIUM as the preferred bidder for the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge project. The preferred bidder will execute the project according to plans presented by the state government.
6. In 2021, it was said that the project, estimated to cost about $2.5 billion, would be delivered through public-private partnership initiative and tolled for two years.
7. In 2022, it was disclosed that the Fourth Mainland Bridge, upon commencement, was projected to be completed in 2027.
8. Eight roads, including the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, and Igbogbo-Lagos, would be aligned with the Fourth Mainland Bridge.
9. The bridge will serve as a complement to the Eko, Carter, and Third Mainland Bridges and help to reduce traffic.
10. The fourth mainland bridge, when completed, would become the second longest in Africa with three toll plazas, nine interchanges, a 4.5-kilometre Lagoon Bridge and an eco-friendly environment.
The project will also give birth to the longest of all the bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland.
