Traffic came to a standstill on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway after a container-laden trailer fell at Kara Bridge, trapping motorists for over 14 hours. The incident compounded an already fragile situation on the busy highway, where repair crews are replacing deteriorating expansion joints on the bridge.
A multiple-vehicle crash involving seven vehicles occurred around the Kara Bridge area, blocking movement and adding to the congestion caused by the construction activity. The fallen container truck then sealed off the remaining lanes, leaving hundreds of motorists with nowhere to go. Stranded drivers spent the night on the road, with the gridlock stretching from the bridge through Long Bridge, Magboro and Berger.
The congestion affected commuters heading in and out of Lagos. Some drivers resorted to driving against traffic to escape the jam, a move that complicated traffic management efforts for the officials on the ground. Operatives from the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), along with emergency responders and other agencies, were deployed to the area to clear the obstructions and restore movement along the corridor.
The Kara Bridge section of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has seen repeated traffic problems during the rehabilitation work. The Federal Government is replacing the bridge’s expansion joints, a process that has narrowed the carriageway and forced traffic into single lanes at various points. The high volume of vehicles using the route, from commercial buses and tankers to private cars and long-distance travellers, has made any disruption on this stretch a major event.
The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is one of Nigeria’s busiest highways. It connects Lagos with Ogun State and serves as the main artery for commuters, commercial vehicles and travellers moving between the country’s commercial capital and the southwestern states. A blockage at Kara Bridge, located on the edge of Lagos, effectively cuts the city off from the mainland routes that feed into Ogun State and beyond.
Authorities had previously advised motorists to plan their journeys and expect delays while the rehabilitation work continues. That advice proved cold comfort for those caught in the overnight jam, with some drivers reporting they had not moved for hours. The combination of a fallen container, a seven-vehicle pileup and ongoing roadworks created a bottleneck that took more than half a day to resolve.
The incident follows a pattern of disruptions on the Kara Bridge axis. Repair activities on the bridge have repeatedly caused slowdowns, and the sheer volume of traffic using the route means even minor incidents escalate quickly. The fallen trailer, which spilled its load across the carriageway, required heavy equipment to remove, further delaying the reopening of the road.
Traffic officials worked through the night to manage the situation. LASTMA operatives directed vehicles around the obstruction where possible, but the narrow lanes left by the construction work limited their options. Emergency responders attended to the crash site, though the source material does not specify the number of casualties or whether anyone was injured in the seven-vehicle collision.
The gridlock eventually cleared, but not before hundreds of motorists had spent more than 12 hours trapped on the highway. Some drivers abandoned their vehicles and walked to nearby areas, while others waited in their cars, uncertain how long the disruption would last. The frustration was audible, with motorists expressing anger over the long hours spent in traffic and the seeming lack of preparation for such incidents on a road already under repair.
The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway rehabilitation project is a long-running effort to upgrade one of Nigeria’s most travelled roads. The Kara Bridge section, in particular, has been a bottleneck throughout the works, with its expansion joints being replaced in stages. Until the project is complete, the road remains vulnerable to the kind of logjam that unfolded, where a single fallen container and a multi-vehicle crash turned a routine commute into an overnight ordeal.
According to Pulse.ng.
