For decades, the Oyemekun–Oba Adesida Road corridor has been the economic spine of Akure. It links markets, banks, schools, places of worship and densely populated neighbourhoods. It is also where residents experience traffic and long commute times.
Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa moved to change that narrative, flagging off the construction of a 2.38-kilometre, 94-span flyover designed to lift a significant portion of traffic above one of the capital’s most congested axis.
The case for the flyover is rooted in data.
According to the Commissioner for Infrastructure, Lands and Housing, Abiola Olawoye, the Ojaoba–Adesida Road was originally constructed as a major township road in 1974, converted to a dual carriageway in 1978 and later expanded from 7.3 metres to 9.3 metres in 2001. Since then, no major reconstruction had been carried out, even as traffic volumes surged.
Faced with an overburdened corridor, the government considered several options, including extensive demolition of properties to widen the road. It ultimately settled on a flyover as the most practical and least disruptive.
For the Ondo state government, the project is about more than engineering. It is a statement about the kind of city Akure is meant to be.
The flyover is expected to ease congestion around Adegbola, Oba Adesida and Alagbaka, reduce travel time and vehicle operating costs, cut air pollution caused by prolonged idling in traffic, strengthen Akure’s position as a competitive, investor-friendly capital.
The flyover however is not an isolated project. It sits within a wider urban renewal and infrastructure development agenda that has seen numerous roads in Akure completed or rehabilitated in recent years.
Commissioner Olawoye listed completed projects including Ajegunle Road; Odopetun–Oke Padi–Lao Road; Gbangbalogun–Odole–Odi Olowo Road; Bye-pass–Gbogi Street; UBA Road–The Stream in Alagbaka; Oja Oshodi Road; SK Bright Road; Ayeloro Road; Akosile Road; Maronu Road; Plaza Road; Bishop Court–Civil Service Commission Road; Site–Government House–CBN Road; Igoba Road; and selected roads in Ajipowo and Afunbiowo estates, among others.
Ongoing works in the Central Senatorial District include the 15.5km Imafon–Danjuma Road, 10km Oke Aro–Idanre dual carriageway, 7.7km Akure–Ijare Road, and several other access and internal roads across Ondo West, Ondo East and Akure South.
The flyover, in this context, is both a response to immediate congestion and a signal that Akure is being repositioned for higher levels of economic activity.
