FEATURE: Five-Hour Gridlock: How Mararaba Flyover Construction Disrupts Traffic, Businesses

By 4:30am, Gabriel Diko is already on the road.

The civil servant leaves his home in One Man Village, Nasarawa State, at that hour in the hope of reaching his workplace in Abuja before the morning rush becomes unbearable.

But even leaving before dawn no longer guarantees a smooth journey.

On some days, Diko still meets traffic while most of the city is asleep, and by the time he gets to work, the journey that should take less than an hour has consumed several hours.

For residents, traders and commuters along the Abuja-Nasarawa corridor, the problem is no longer simply traffic.

It is lost working hours, lost income, difficult access to businesses, exhausting journeys and, in some cases, anxiety over whether a sick person trapped in the gridlock will make it to hospital on time.

The disruption has intensified around the Mararaba axis, where the ongoing construction of the 2.6-kilometre Mararaba-Nyanya flyover and adjoining road project has narrowed the space available to commuters.

The project, being handled by Triacta Nigeria Limited, was flagged off by the Nasarawa State Government in December 2025 at a reported cost of N39 billion. The government said the project comprises two flyover bridges, an elevated road and pedestrian bridges and is intended to ease congestion along the Mararaba-Nyanya corridor.

But while the eventual project is expected to improve movement, people who depend on the road every day are currently bearing the consequences of its construction.

THE WHISTLER visited the corridor on a Wednesday morning and found traffic tightly packed around the construction area.

The available lanes have been narrowed to accommodate the construction, forcing motorists moving in both directions to navigate limited space around the work zone.

The pressure is particularly visible around Mararaba Market, a commercial hub known for its heavy daily influx of traders, customers and vehicles.

But the market did not look as busy as expected.

Several shops were shut despite the early morning trading period, while traders who opened their businesses had to contend with the condition of the road outside their shops.

When it rains, the situation becomes worse.

Sections of the available road become muddy and waterlogged, leaving motorists struggling to manoeuvre and pedestrians searching for ways through the flooded portions.

Vehicles sometimes become stuck in the mud, further slowing movement and adding to an already difficult traffic situation.

For commuters, a journey that previously took about 30 minutes to an hour can stretch beyond five hours when heavy rainfall coincides with the gridlock.

Some travellers have resorted to sleeping in their vehicles after spending hours trapped on the road.

‘We have lost a significant number of wholesale customers’ Ndubuisi, a trader at Mararaba Market told THE WHISTLER that the construction has affected his business at almost every level.

“My name is Ndubuisi, and this road construction is seriously affecting us at every level. If it rains, no customers come to the shop again because everything will be flooded and muddy” he bemoaned.

He said the congestion also creates difficulties for traders receiving goods, noting that the biggest loss has been the disappearance of wholesale customers who previously drove into the market to buy goods.

“The road is so congested that people and motorists struggle to navigate. And when goods arrive, there is no space to offload.

“Now walk-in customers who are wholesalers have left this market, they can’t drive into the market, and the stress of navigating the road has made it difficult for them. So, they source goods elsewhere.

“We have lost a significant number of wholesale customers,” he said.

The effect extends beyond the market itself.

With the road serving as a major connection between Abuja and communities in Nasarawa State, its condition has made ordinary movement difficult for people travelling in either direction.

During THE WHISTLER’s visit, some of the routes available to motorists were already muddy, while water accumulated in damaged portions of the road after rainfall.

The road from the Abuja Building Materials Market towards Mararaba has become particularly difficult to navigate, with no temporary diversion or alternative route readily available to take pressure off the main corridor.

During the rainy season, commuters are forced through muddy and damaged portions, while the dry season brings thick dust.A Triacta Nigeria Limited signboard at the ongoing Mararaba-Nyanya flyover construction site along the Abuja-Keffi Road/THE WHISTLER

For workers who leave home early to beat the traffic, the consequence is often the same: hours lost before the working day properly begins.

Some arrive at work exhausted and covered in dust or mud.

‘The worst-case scenario is the rainfall’ another trader who identified himself simply as Alhaji Isa recounted that the rainy season presents the most difficult conditions, although the dry season comes with its own problems.

He said the construction company should have done more to make the temporary road usable.

“And when it’s not raining, the place becomes dusty, but the worst-case scenario is the rainfall.”

“The construction company should have fixed this road, so the muddy part of it wouldn’t be here. And also the alternate part of the road.”

The disruption has also affected his sales.

Isa said that even when rainfall is absent, the dust generated around the construction makes it difficult for traders to keep their shops open.

As a result, some traders depend largely on old customers and orders rather than regular walk-in patronage.

He said his daily sales had fallen by more than 50 per cent compared with what he previously earned.

Yet the effect of the construction has not been the same for everyone.

Roadside traders find unexpected customers

While established shop owners described falling patronage, some petty traders operating closer to the road said the disruption has brought more customers their way.

Jane, who sells by the roadside, said she has experienced increased sales since the construction began and some established shops became difficult to access.

For her, customers displaced by the disruption have become an unexpected source of business.

She said she still has to deal with muddy water, splashes from passing vehicles and tax collectors, but described the period as favourable for her trade.

Unlike traders operating from permanent shops, Jane said she does not pay conventional shop rent, but pays for the space she occupies by the roadside.

The contrast shows how the construction has reshaped commercial activity around the market: while some established businesses have lost customers and wholesalers, roadside traders positioned closer to commuters have found new patronage.

But the economic cost is only one part of the disruption.

‘People have jobs to go to’

For Diko, the biggest problem is time. He leaves home between 4am and 4:30am to stand a chance of reaching his office in Abuja on time, yet sometimes still encounters traffic at that early hour.

Diko said commuters should have been provided with alternative routes for the period of the construction.

He argued that where a completely new diversion was not possible, existing roads should have been properly filled and made passable to take some pressure off the main corridor.

The situation, he said, has made ordinary daily activities increasingly difficult.

“Constructing a bridge is supposed to improve transportation and make movement easier, but what happens to the people who use that road every single day while the construction is ongoing?”

His concern is shared by other road users who say the project should not leave commuters carrying the entire burden of construction.

‘We had to start administering medication’

For Dominic, the consequences became more frightening when a sick relative travelling from Nasarawa State to Abuja became trapped in the traffic.

He said the vehicle carrying the relative spent more than five hours in the congestion.

“My sister’s condition requires intensive care and medication, my family had to begin administering medication while they remained stuck on the road” He recounted.

Dominic said they had additional medication and treatment available, but he feared what could have happened if the supply had run out before they reached Abuja.

The incident was particularly worrying because it happened on a Sunday, when traffic on the corridor would ordinarily be expected to ease.

He said the experience showed how the congestion could become more than an inconvenience when people travelling on the road require urgent medical attention.

He continued, “We understand that construction takes time, but commuters should not have to bear the full burden of the construction without any effort to provide a safer and more accessible alternative.

“Can a temporary diversion, properly graded access road, or another practical traffic management solution be provided until the bridge construction is completed?”

“People have jobs to go to. Children have schools to attend. Businesses depend on daily movement. Five or more hours in traffic every day is not a small inconvenience it is a serious burden on people’s lives and livelihoods.

“Development should make life better, not leave people stranded in the process.”

Why there is no alternative route

THE WHISTLER spoke to an official working with Triacta who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the project.

According to him, the construction involves two bridges, one around the Abacha Road axis and another at Mararaba.

He said providing a completely separate alternative route for commuters would present its own challenges because the proposed route linking Mararaba users towards Karu and Nyanya would pass through areas where buildings have been constructed along the right of way.

According to the official, “creating such a route could require the demolition of structures, potentially triggering protests from affected residents and creating another layer of delay.”

He said some structures had already been removed along the expressway, but the process had encountered several bottlenecks.

The official also said he could not speak in detail about the financial implications of creating another route, but said the issue was among the factors considered before the construction began.

On the duration of the project, he said “Work is ongoing but could continue until the middle of next year.”

That timeline differs from the publicly announced completion target of December 2026.

In August, the Nasarawa State Government said the 2.6-kilometre Mararaba-Nyanya flyover and adjoining road project was expected to be completed by December 2026.

The government had earlier said the project would ease congestion and improve connectivity between Nasarawa State and the Federal Capital Territory.

For the people currently living and working around the corridor, however, the eventual benefit remains a promise for the future while the disruption is an everyday reality.

THE WHISTLER contacted Triacta Nigeria Limited through the contact details provided on the company’s website for its response to the concerns raised by commuters and traders.

Calls made as of the time of filing this report were diverted and the company could not be reached for comment.