If you are planning to drive around Ikoyi this weekend, brace yourself: Osborne Road is about to be partially off-limits.

The Lagos State Government has announced a temporary traffic diversion from Friday, August 15 to Sunday August 17, to connect new drainage works along Modupe Alakija Crescent to the underground channels running beneath Osborne Road.

According to Commissioner for Transportation Oluwaseun Osiyemi, the work involves constructing a cross culvert, which means cutting into a section of Osborne Road just before Foreshore Towers. “In line with efforts to improve the drainage system on Modupe Alakija Crescent and its environs, there is a need to connect the newly constructed drains, via a cross culvert, to the underground channel beneath the median along Osborne Road”, he explained. 

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The construction will require a counterflow arrangement along Osborne/Alfred Rewane Road, spanning roughly 100 metres from Modupe Alakija Crescent to the Alfred Rewane Road junction. Work will begin by 10 p.m. on Friday and is expected to wrap up just before midnight on Sunday.

Motorists travelling on Alfred Rewane Road to Osborne Road will be diverted into a contraflow lane, then back to their usual road, and those on Osborne Road will use the one lane. 

In case you would prefer to avoid the traffic jam, alternative roads are marked: the Osborne Road drivers going to Alfred Rewane should use Oba Adeyemi Oyekan Avenue, and continue to connect either through Glover Road, Lugard Avenue, or Cameron Road, the same way those moving in the opposite direction can use the inner streets.

Mr Osiyemi assured that the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) will be on hand to direct vehicles and reduce disruption. The road will be fully reopened on Monday, August 18 but, until then, drivers should plan for extra travel time and maybe a bit of patience

Anita Chinedu