The Soilo –Salgaa- Sachangwan – Kamara stretch along the Nakuru Eldoret highway experienced a heavy traffic snarl on the eve of Christmas day.
Travellers spent between two to three hours along the 45 minutes drive stretch as drivers were forced to move at a snail's speed following the increased number of vehicles heading towards the western side of Kenya.
A minor accident involving a private vehicle and a motorbike rider that occurred at Sobea complicated the situation after it caused a gridlock stretching about four Kilometres.
The rider was seriously injured and remained lying across the highway for about 30 minutes as the traffic officers manoeuvred their way through the gridlock to the scene of the accident.
He was rushed to the hospital as the officers cleared the road for the vehicles which had started meandering through the estates.
“Even though the jam is moving the speed at which we are moving has wasted much of our time. We are just hoping that no other accident or breakdown of the vehicles will happen ahead,” said one of the motorists.
However, the movement towards Nakuru town was swift as there were few vehicles heading towards the town as compared to those moving the opposite way.
However, there was also heavy traffic towards the entrance to Nakuru city as well as along the city’s main Kenyatta Avenue and other streets.
The Nakuru-Naivasha highway also experienced heavy traffic as Kenyans headed home to celebrate Christmas with their loved ones.
However, motorists complained that some of the public service vehicles were causing the jam by overlapping at dangerous spots.
Some of the students who had finished their KCSE were also caught up in the jam and spent hours as they waited for the traffic to flow.
“My son spend five hours between Gilgil and Nakuru a distance of about 45 kilometres and arrived home in the wee hours,” said Mr Benson Omwenga.
Meanwhile, in Nakuru City, there was a heavy gridlock as the number of shoppers increased.
“This is a beautiful Christmas and I am shopping for my children some shoes I don’t mind the heavy traffic because last year I could not buy them gifts due to the pandemic restrictions,” said Ms Naomi Njambi.
All supermarkets in the city recorded a booming business and some of the outlets have extended their working hours.
“The business is good we can't complain. We have stocked all the basic items like wheat flour and sugar and our customers are happy all the items are readily available,” said a shop attendant at one of the supermarkets.
