Assessing the effects of illegal motor parks at Sango Ota roads intersection, Sango Ota, Ogun State

Abstract

The assessment of the effects of illegal motor parks in the study area is necessitated due the manifestation of various environmental menaces. Two (2) areas of the illegal parking were Sango Ota road intersection – Abeokuta corridor (Motor Park A), and Sango Ota road intersection – Owode corridor (Motor Park B). A purposive sampling method was adopted, and a total of 60 transport operators, 75 commuters and 30 pedestrians were selected. Car has the highest number of vehicle plying the corridors with forty one (41%), while an average of 9 vehicle is parked in Motor Park A within one hour with a parking concentration of an average of 77m² , and for Motor Park B, 64 vehicle was recorded with a parking concentration of an average of 194m² . Mini bus has the highest number of patronage in the two motor parks with a daily average of 319 commuters representing sixty two (62%) out of 514 commuters in Motor Park A, and 7061 commuters fifty nine (59%) out of 11908 commuters in Motor Park B, while fifty six (56%) of the commuters ( the highest) in Motor Park A attributed closeness and cheaper rate to the reason for the choice of the motor park, and fifty one (51%) of the commuters (the highest) in Motor Park B attributed only closeness for their reason for the choice. An average of 16 minutes is added to the travel time during the peak period of a working day, while an average of 24 minutes is added during the peak period on Saturday. Forty seven percent of the pedestrians of Motor Park A have experienced major conflict with vehicle, while sixty three 63% of the pedestrians of Motor Park B have experienced major conflict with vehicle and hawking leading to indiscriminating dumping of waste is identified as a resultant effect. Necessary recommendations were made towards the elimination of the illegal motor parks.