Port Harcourt Ring Road: George-Kelly Charges Julius Berger To Gear Up For Task Ahead

The Rivers State Commissioner for Works, Dr. Alabo Dakorinama George-Kelly has called on Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, a leading construction company, to gear up for the tasks ahead in the construction of the ‘snaky’ Port Harcourt Ring Road Project.

Speaking at a press conference in Port Harcourt on Friday, the commissioner underscored the importance of the project for the state’s development, stressing that once completed, would significantly enhance connectivity and economic growth in the city.

Stressing that the Port Harcourt Ring Road project is estimated to take approximately three years to complete, George Kelly said that to achieve this, the company would have to divide itself into six teams working concurrently on six locations.

The commissioner disclosed that the road would span a total of 50.15 kilometers with 45 kilometers as dual carriage way, adding that the project would have been of 100 kilometers if it had been a single carriage way.

He revealed that the Ring Road would have six flyovers and a river crossing bridge, which would bring the total of flyovers to seven, adding that the flyovers would be having a total length of 4.8 kilometers with the river crossing bridge, 200 meters.

“The project is subdivided into two loops – the Northern Loop and the Southern Loop. The starting point of the project would be the Southern Loop and the point which we would start would be the UTC Junction

“Now instead of going through Njemanze Street, we are going to veer into what looks like a valley towards Kidney Island and then take like a quadrant curve and get to where we call Rumuwoji Street (formerly Abakaliki Street).  Then, we go left again to Uruala Street, meaning that all of these roads would now be dual carriage way.

“And then we move on to Iloabuchi Street, and at the end of Iloabuchi Street, we go left towards Eagle Island behind the Agip Oil Company.  We are going to hit the bridge across the river there to Ngbodoya Community.  From Ngbodoya Community, we are going to go straight to hit Aka Road.

“From Aka Road, we are going to go right and hit the Olumeni Epirikom Road.  On that road at the point where you have St. John’s Junction, we are going to have another fly over there, and then move towards Ogbogoro.  At Ogbogoro where you have the African Church, that junction we will move on to the Ogbogoro Ozuoba Road, and at the Ozuoba Road by the NTA Choba Road, at that intersection, we are going to throw in another flyover there.  It will be slightly snaky in nature because it’s going to move all the way into Rumuosi by the Choba/NTA Road.

We will move from Rumuosi to East West Road.  We will throw another flyover across from Rumuosi across East West Road to Rumuekini.  That is actually the end of the Southern Loop”, he said.

The commissioner disclosed that the Northern Loop would begin from the Rumuekini Community and move on to Mgbodo Aluu in Ikwerre Local Government Area.

“ From Mgbodo Aluu, we move right and hit the Airport Road.  At the Airport Road junction by Mgbodo Aluu, we are going to have a Roundabout. Still on that road, we will veer right and get to Elikpokodu Community where we have Jesuit Memorial College.  We will move on that road until we get to Elikpokodu by Ikwerre Road.  We move and throw in another flyover from there to get to Rukpokwu.

“We move into the Rukpokwu Eneka Road which will now be dualized and we get to Eneka Roundabout.  At Eneka Roundabout, because of the huge traffic situation, we are going to have another flyover, and we hit the Igbo-Etche Road.  At about triage 2+450, on the Eneka Igboo-Etche Road, we are going to veer right and hit the Igbo Etche Community.

“At Igbo-Etche Community, we have another rotary intersection, and then we go straight through the vegetation and some buildings there, and we will hit Aba Road by Iriebe Community where we used to have the Toll Gate.  At that point, we have another Roundabout and another flyover.  Then we move in through the vegetation and go behind the rear part of Elelenwo Community and get to Agbonchia Eleme.

“About 75 meters from the Indorama back fence, we will have another rotary intersection, and then we veer right and get to Alesa Refinery Road and have our final flyover and a Roundabout there.

“Now you can see that this project cut across several communities, and so the socioeconomic benefits cannot be overemphasized”, he commissioner said.

Dr. George-Kelly who described the Port Harcourt Ring Road as an ambitious endeavour, said the project is aimed creating a seamless circular road network that will connect various parts of the city with many communities, improving transportation links and reducing travel time for residents.

“One, lots of Rivers men and women will be employed in all the six segments of the project. The problem of traffic in Port Harcourt will be eliminated.  A strategic importance of this project is the fact that movement from NPA Wharf for instance, to East West Road is easy and in minutes.

“Movement from wherever you are to hit the airport through this route will be in a few minutes.  Movement to Onne Port will be in a few minutes, and movement to the Refinery, in a few minutes.