Calabar-Itu Highway Rehabilitation Brings Long-Awaited Relief to Commuters and Businesses

Calabar-Itu Highway Rehabilitation Brings Long-Awaited Relief to Commuters and Businesses

For over a decade, the Calabar-Itu Federal Highway served as a grueling endurance test for travelers, but ongoing Federal Government rehabilitation is finally breathing new life into the vital corridor linking Cross River and Akwa Ibom states. — CALABAR, Nigeria, Sept. 11, 2026

In interviews and details made available to Shemnews on Friday, regular commuters and commercial drivers expressed cautious optimism as heavily degraded sections of the highway undergo substantial improvements. Previously notorious for deep potholes, flooded portions, and stalled vehicles, the route often stretched a simple 90-minute trip into an unpredictable six-hour ordeal.

“You could leave Calabar at 7 a.m., thinking you would arrive before 9 a.m., but sometimes you would still be on the road at noon,” regular commuter Umoh John explained. For years, the road's deplorable condition forced desperate travelers to seek expensive alternative routes, including taking boats or ferries through Oron, while severely impacting regional trade.

As the road's narrative shifts from frustration to progress, stakeholders are highlighting the widespread benefits of the ongoing reconstruction:

* Lowering Transportation Costs: Commercial drivers report that smoother road sections are drastically reducing the daily wear and tear on their vehicles. By cutting down on expensive repairs for suspensions and tires, transport operators can work more days and eventually pass cost savings on to passengers.

* Boosting Agricultural Trade: Farmers and traders transporting perishable goods, such as vegetables and fruits, are experiencing much faster delivery times. This efficiency prevents produce from spoiling in transit, securing livelihoods and helping to stabilize market prices.

* Restoring Economic Ties: The highway serves as a crucial economic artery. Business owners note that a more reliable transportation corridor will facilitate faster movement of manufactured goods, fewer delivery delays, and strengthened regional integration between Cross River and Akwa Ibom. While the visible improvements are widely celebrated, road users have one overriding demand for the authorities: finish the work and maintain it. Motorists have specifically urged contractors to ensure that culverts and drainage infrastructure are properly executed, warning that the region's heavy rainfall could easily destroy the road again if water is not adequately channeled.

For the communities along the corridor, the ongoing rehabilitation represents much more than fresh asphalt. It is an opportunity to reclaim lost hours, reduce the cost of doing business, make journeys safer, and restore a vital economic lifeline that had been left to deteriorate for far too long. By Ehigimetor Igbaugba | Shemnews