Motorists were held for several hours yesterday as gridlock grounded vehicular movements on the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The hold-up forced some commuters to abandon their vehicles and trek for several kilometres.

Those who could not leave their vehicles groaned in traffic for several hours because of the traffic diversion on Kara Bridge by the construction firm, Julius Berger, handling the rehabilitation of the expressway.

As early as 6a.m., motorists and commuters moving in and out of the state were stranded as their vehicles got stuck in the traffic jam for several hours. Many of those heading to Lagos found the slow pace of vehicular movement from Ibafo which run through the entire stretch of Long Bridge frustrating while those moving out of Lagos experienced the traffic from Iyana-Oworo end of the 3rd Mainland Bridge.

It was learnt that the gridlock was worsened by a trailer which lost control and rammed into the concrete barricade used for road diversion at the diversion point. It crossed the two lanes reserved for the movement of vehicles on both sides.

Consequently, the accident rendered vehicles stationary and halted vehicular movement in and out of the state. The development forced many passengers to forgo their transport fares and disembark from the vehicles. They had to embark on a long trek to circumvent the trouble portion of the road. (New Telegraph)