Socio-Economic Impacts of Road Infrastructure Development During- and Post-Construction in a Fast-Growing City in Nigeria

Abstract

Road infrastructure is vital to the development of any human settlement and thus it remains an integral part of the municipalities' annual budget. Despite the numerous benefits road infrastructure development (RID) offers, its development imposes negative impacts. While literature is replete with studies on socio-economic impacts of RID at post-construction stage, attention has not been paid to impacts during construction. Consequently, this study aims at analysing the socio-economic impacts of RID during- and post-construction in Abeokuta city in Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was utilised in sample selection for the study. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were adopted for data analysis with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings from the descriptive analysis indicated that residents were adversely impacted during construction in areas such as business activities, travel rate, property value, vehicle condition and community health. Regression analysis revealed road development statistically impact on socio-economic activities during construction with three out of nine predictors: transport fare (p=0.009), business activities (p=0.015), and community health (0.031) exerting the major influence. Also, at post-construction stage, regression analysis revealed road development statistically impact the socio-economic activities with four of the nine predictors: transport fare (p=0.042), business activities (p=0.009), community health (p=0.035), and property value (p=0.003) exerting the most significant influence. Student t-test results showed that statistical difference existed between 'during construction' and 'post-construction' impacts regarding property value, business activities, community health and transport fare. Finally, the study suggested ways to mitigate problems associated with RID, particularly during construction.