Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke speaking at the launching of the beams for the construction of the first Calabar multi-million naira flyover has disclosed that the flyover will add to the aesthetics of the city which has witnessed significant growth in the last decade as well as serve as an interchange to link the newly constructed 6 kilometres dual carriage Margaret Ekpo Int’l Airport bypass and Parliamentary extension road networks.
He further revealed that the project which is of tremendous economic value to the state is a deliberate effort by government to upgrade and provide the desired infrastructure needed to match the phenomenal growth of the city.
While commending SERMATECH, the construction firm, for exhibiting high professional competence in executing the project and for remaining focused despite the challenging swampy terrain, Imoke however, urged them to work hard at meeting the project deadline.
Commissioner for Works, Mr. Legor Idagbor, at the occasion, stated that the project was conceived to decongest traffic in the city centre as well as open up the eastern flank of Calabar for residential and other developmental purposes. It was his view that the flyover will reduce the driving distance to and from the Margaret Ekpo Int’l Airport, cater to the easy movement needs of those living on the outskirts of Calabar as well as visitors to the state.
Speaking to calitown.com, Udoh Elenad, Project Manager, informed that the bridge has about “four other roads linked to it, two lanes diverting down, and another two lanes, underpass”. He added that, “according to the schedule we are working with, we are looking at the end of next year, to commission the project”. On the quality of work to be delivered, Elenad was particular in saying, “we sought all the man power within and outside the scope of this country to get the best men to deliver this project, even though we discovered a lot of design difficulties in the design but our experience had to be applied to correct the mistake so we can be able to deliver on the project”.
Long overdue, the last I was in Calabar, trafiic chaos in the buildup to Christmas just drove me mad. It was unbelievable, long overdue I will say, the many things we would remember Imoke by.