The Cross River State Government  has urged the Federal Government to turn all roads leading into the state to dual carriageways to check the regular heavy traffic on the roads.

The Commissioner for Works, Mr Legor Idagbo, who made the call in an interview with The Tide in Calabar, said federal roads in the state had long outlived the life span of their design.

He specifically named Calabar-Odukpani-Itu, Calabar-Ugep-Ikom-Ogoja-Gakem Ikom-Obudu-Ranch and Obudu-Ogoja highways as those that needed to be rehabilitated.

Idagbo said that the roads were in deplorable condition after being in use for many decades without maintenance or reconstruction.

He said that the poor state of Calabar-Odukpani-Itu highway had been causing gridlock on the road and had almost cut off the state from other parts of the country.

The commissioner disclosed that the state government had, in the past seven years, committed several billions of Naira to rehabilitating federal roads in the state.

“These interventions have continued to exert financial pressure on the resources of the state without reimbursement from the Federal Government.

“These roads connect the seaports, airports and other economic points to the hinterland and it will not be good for the Federal Government to continue to neglect full rehabilitation of the roads,’’ Idagbo said.

He, however, gave the assurance that the state government would rehabilitate the roads to ease the burden on people who use the highways regularly.