The federal government has announced that the Enugu–Onitsha Expressway will be reopened for public useon or before March 31, Minister of Works David Umahi confirmed on Monday.
Umahi said the reopening would serve as an “Easter celebration” for South-East residents. “I have given the controller the authority. By the 31st or before, he should call the press to open this road. Call the people of South-East, let them know that this road is open for travel,” he said during an inspection exercise.
Once regarded as one of the most dangerous highways in the region, the expressway has long been plagued by tanker accidents and traffic gridlocks. Umahi said the Tinubu administration’s interventions have significantly improved safety along the route.
“Now, this route…every day people were talking about this road. There were a lot of tanker accidents, many lives lost…But my joy is that the whole thing is a past story, because the president has swung into action,” he added.
The 107-kilometre dual carriageway is being partially converted from asphalt to concrete to enhance durability. “About half of it is going to be concrete. I have no confidence in asphalt. By the time the asphalt fails, we will have 50 per cent of the road still intact. And if it fails within the second tenure of the president, rest assured we will fix it,” Umahi explained.
Sections in Anambra State, including the Head Bridge axis, are also being upgraded to concrete pavement. “We’re changing 39 kilometres to concrete so that we can have this coastal-road type of pavement there in Anambra and here in Enugu,” he said.
The project will also feature solar-powered street lighting and tree planting to improve safety and environmental standards. “Within the first week, we will have solar light up to this 1km, and we are also going to plant trees, which is very important,” Umahi noted.
Addressing project timelines and costs, Umahi said the works are part of broader national infrastructure efforts.
“I’m going around the six geopolitical zones assessing what is possibly to be commissioned before May 29 by the president. There are mega projects that the president will be available for before May 29, and we mean it,” he said.
“I’m not the final authority when it comes to the cost of a project. There are layers of approval, the Bureau of Public Procurement, their own stands, not mine. The same road architecture as the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway, so no discrimination. Everybody is the same.”
He continued by saying that despite significant budgetary obstacles, the administration was still dedicated to finishing road projects around the country.
He emphasized that as of May 2023, the administrationinherited extremely bad debt totaling more than N13 trillion and 2,068 projects.
