Hundreds of motorists and passengers were on Friday trapped in a huge traffic snarl-up on the busy Kisumu-Nairobi highway for over 12 hours.
The gridlock, which started building at 3pm at the incomplete Ahero interchange, stretched 20km to Awasi towards Nairobi and a similar distance towards the lakeside city of Kisumu.
The mishap greatly affected and inconvenienced people who were forced to spend more time on the stretch that has become notorious with traffic jam as you approach River Nyando bridge.
The situation was made worse by motorists who attempted to overlap as both sides of the road were jammed for hours on end.
While it was a double tragedy for those who got stuck in the mud as they attempted to overlap, the young men made a killing by saving those who were caught up in the ensuing melee for a fee.
Mr Charles Orwa who had planned to take at least five hours from the capital city of Nairobi to Kisumu was forced to spend 12 more hours to get to his final destination.
“I spent five hours from Nairobi to Ahero Interchange only to spend more than double the time at the jam,” he told Nation.
“It is a tragedy that my milk got spoilt. This has ruined my plans for Christmas and New Year holiday as I hoped to cash in on the rush for shopping,” she said.
A number of Form Four candidates who had cleared the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams were also caught up in the confusion that saw them spend the night on the road.
Hawkers, food vendors and boda boda riders also took advantage of the situation to make extra cash in the wee hours of the night.
A few motorists who could manage to get an alternative route went back through Awasi, Muhoroni, Miwani to get to Kisumu through Mamboleo.
The lockdown took place a few hours after Nyanza regional commander Karanja Muiruri launched a massive crackdown to clear unroadworthy vehicles from the roads.
The exercise to be conducted until January 2 is being conducted by a multiagency team included the Immigration Department, the National Government Administration Officers, Kenya Revenue Authority and Anti-Counterfeit Authority.
“I am appealing to members of the public to cooperate with us in order to ensure that we don’t witness unnecessary accidents that could lead to loss of lives,” he said.
The traffic jam which started easing at 5am on Saturday saw a huge number of passengers stranded at various stages as they waited for Public Service Vehicles to take them to different destinations.
