For almost a week now, Nairobi motorists using Mombasa Road have been spending hours on the road due to a notorious traffic jam on the road.
Thursday January 20 night, however, saw one of the worst traffic jams on the busy highway connecting Nairobi central business district (CBD) and Machakos County.
Videos and photos shared online show irritated drivers stuck on the highway calling for government’s intervention as the pain and struggle of using the road continues.
The traffic, being blamed on the ongoing construction of the Sh72 billion Nairobi Expressway, has been mostly affecting the stretch between Imara Daima and Mlolongo through General Motors and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
On Thursday, the contractor on the Expressway was raising a beam near Mlolongo and had to close a section of the highway, forcing a three-way road to be scaled down to one.
The contractor and the Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) have found themselves on the receiving end of criticisms for failing to implement effective traffic management plans.
The construction on the expressway, expected to be completed in the next two months, has left motorists venting on social media, with some telling horror stories of arriving home at 5am after being stuck in traffic for more than seven hours.
The new road, which is expected to reduce travel time between JKIA and Nairobi’s Westlands, will open in March, according to Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia.
In April last year, the CS said what users are experiencing is only a “very short-term pain.”
“In the meantime, I know there are a lot of inconveniences as people are spending longer hours in traffic but the reason we are constructing the Nairobi Expressway is to solve the traffic jam that was there before,” he said.
Through a public notice, Kenha cautioned commuters, motorists, and other road users to brace for snarl-ups and congestion.
“As interventions are being made to clear the troubled section, we urge motorists to exercise patience and lane discipline for a smooth flow of traffic.”
The 27km road is being financed and constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). The firm will operate the highway under a public-private partnership for 30 years.
