RSG Plans Six New Flyovers …Awards Six Lane Road Contract In Mile 3

L-R: Minister of Housing, Ms Ama Pepple , Administrator, Greater Port Harcourt Development Authority, Dame Aleruchi Cookey-Gam, Managing Director, Federal Housing Authority, Arch. Terver Gemade, Surveyor Noel Elenwo and Secretary, GPHCDA, Dr. Silva Opusunju, when the minister visited the authority’s office in Port Harcourt, recently.

About  six new flyovers are now envisaged in Port Harcourt metropolis as the State Government commences plan to construct M1trunk Road that would stretch from UTC Junction in Port Harcourt to the Airport at Omagwa, Ikwerre Local Government Area.

Making the disclosure while declaring open a three-day retreat organised by the State House of Assembly for its members at the Tinapa Resort, Calabar in Cross River State on Tuesday, Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi said the flyovers would help reduce the gridlocks experienced on the city’s roads.

He blamed the swelling traffic in Port Harcourt on overstretched facilities and poor planning by previous administrations to foresee the future.

However, he assured that his administration would avoid such pitfalls by ensuring that all projects were enduring to contain future challenges.

In the words of Governor Amaechi,”we will build our projects so that in the next 50 to 60 years, there will be less to tackle in the future”

Further commenting on how the flyovers would be constructed, the Governor explained that each intersection of the road would have a flyover numbering about six.

He added,” the plan is to put another flyover on top of the flyover at Obiri-Ikwerre”.

The road, according to Amaechi, would cost the State about N200billion to construct as designs had commenced.

Rt Hon.Amaechi promised that his administration was poised to achieve the feat, maintaining that the state was buoyed by the N250 billion loan approved by the State Assembly to complete all ongoing projects.

The Governor tasked the Assembly to place emphasis on what he described as ‘economic governance’, which he stressed was the basis of people-oriented legislation.

He also thanked the state legislature for supporting the executive and promised never to betray its trust.

Meanwhile, the  State Government has awarded a fresh contract to dualise the road between Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) junction and Agip flyover.

The State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi gave the hint during an unscheduled visit and inspection of ongoing projects within the city of Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

Against this backdrop, he disclosed that some of the building materials markets, and other properties along the stretch would be demolished to pave way for the road expansion.

Governor Amaechi who gave the reason for the project said, “you cannot finish expanding a six lane road at Mile 3 to empty into a four lane flyover,, so we are expanding from UST junction to Agip flyover.”

Rt Hon Amaechi who observed that the new road would help reduce the gridlocks along the route, further disclosed that the Olu-Obasnjo Road would be expanded to six lane as well.

In a similar vein, the state government says it is acquiring  land in the Mile 3 area for the building of a health centre and the Economic Support Initiative(ESI) nursery school.

The Governor explained that the health centre would be located close to the market, pointing out that, “we want to ensure that the market women and the population around there  have access to primary health facilities.”

Amaechi who took a tour of the Agip fly over, Prof Kelsey Harrison Hospital in Diobu, and Dental Hospital at Garrison told reporters that some of the projects would be ready before the end of November.

For instance, he remarked that with the ongoing furnishing and equipping of the two medi-care facilities, the public would begin to use them by latest February once they were commissioned by the President next year.

The Rivers State Governor maintained that his administration was poised to complete all ongoing projects even though it was contending with paucity of funds.