Proposal for Uyo-Calabar Expressway
I have an idea which I think will be beneficial to the Sister states of Akwa Ibom and Cross-River State. It may sound far fetched but I think it is a project that will have long term benefits to the tourism and transport assets in both states. I am considering the possibility of building a new Express way that would link Calabar(via Tinapa FTZ) directly to Uyo( just South of the L'Meridein Ibom hotel and resort)across the Northern side of the Cross-River delta. This road should be built jointly by the two states and it could be run as toll road if need be and/or in conjunction with the Niger Delta Development Commission . This 34 km expressway(google earth measurements) will cut the distance for the trip between the two cities from 2 hours on the bad poorly maintained Itu-Calabar highway to just less than 30 minutes, presently Uyo-Itu-Calabar road is about 67km by road. This will bring about marked improvement in the movement of persons and cargo to and from both cities.
This road will open up the latent trade potentials of Tinapa and Cross-River's large agro market. Traders and leisure seekers from Abia State and Akwa-Ibom will readily want to use this road than go through the bad federal Itu-Calabar high way. It will thus make visiting Cross-River State more attractive to investors and tourist alike.
It would require 5 bridges in all across the Cross-River, three of which will be between 200 to 400 meters in length and two smaller bridges about 70 meters each.
