By Daniel Tyokua
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has begun the rehabilitation of 33 traffic light intersections out of the 172 in the city.
Inspecting the project at the weekend, the permanent secretary Mr. Adesola Olusade said the first intersections were selected according to the priority of usage.
He said the initiative was to pave way for smooth driving, and also address the continued challenges of grilock in the Federal Capital City.
The permanent secretary explained that the current upgrade which came with security features will connect all the traffic signals to a centra point where activities at the intersections will be monitored to bring about sanity on the roads.
According to him, the rehabilitation work was part of the approved FCT 2021 budget, with additional ones awaiting the approval of Bureau of Public Enterprise.
Olusade revealed that the administration had another China intervention support that would commence installation by June/July which will strengthen the traffic lights system.
This, according to him, will ultimately translate to tangible improvement in the installation, rehabilitation and maintenance of the lights across the territory.
Olusade started the inspection of the traffic lights project at Zakari Maimalara by Muhammadu Buhari way in the Central Business District, and ended at Kashim Ibrahim way/Anguiyi Ironsi street in Maitama District.
On its sustainability, the Mandate Secretary FCT Transportation Secretariat, Zakari Dobi said adequate measures will be put in place by the secretariat to safeguard the millions naira worth traffic lights infrastructure scheme.
“The project is going to be for one year, but with 2022 budget it can be extended to 3 years considering its importance” Dobi said.
However, the contractor Engr Adewale Ikatun explained that the project which is rehabilitation and reactivation of some intersections started in the last two weeks, and will last for three months in the first phase.
