Bunyala, Lusaka road roundabouts to be reopened - Kidero

Nairobi motorists will get a brief relief as Governor Evans Kidero backs down on replacing roundabouts with signalised junctions.

The governor has said the roundabouts at Bunyala Road and Lusaka Road will reopen on Wednesday for three days after motorists endured the worst traffic gridlocks in recent days.

Roundabouts on University Way, Kenyatta and Haile Selassie avenues and Westlands will, however, remain closed.

The governor blamed the closure of the Southern Bypass for the impossible traffic jams. He stated that 30 per cent of the vehicles on Uhuru Highway were trailers, which would be diverted to the bypass once it reopens.

He was speaking at City Hall with the acting Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia and said the Southern Bypass would reopen on Friday.

Mr Macharia said the contractor was working 14 hours to ensure gravelling of the bypass, which will cost Sh25 million, will be completed on time.

LASTING SOLUTION

He stated that the national government was committed to finding a lasting solution to the traffic crisis in the city but urged Kenyans to obey traffic rules if the signalised junctions are to work.

Dr Kidero stated that the grand plan that was released early this month to have five main roundabouts replaced with signalised intersections has not been abandoned.

“We are just reviewing strategy and tweaking plans, but the plan for decongestion has not been abandoned,” he said.

The Nairobi governor added that work on removing the roundabouts woud begin in 10 days and installations set up, a project that will cost Sh388 million in total.

This comes as Kenyans took to social media under the hashtag #SomeonetellKidero calling for the barriers blocking the roundabouts to be removed over what they called a failed attempt to deal with traffic.

@Ma3Route, who tweets about traffic in the city, wrote, “These Kidero drums don't work. Total gridlock on Msa Rd plus feeder roads in South C,” even as the (governor) called for patience to implement the system on his Twitter handle, ‏@KideroEvans.

Governor Kidero added that traffic marshals will be forced to work longer hours to oversee transition into the mechanised system but the traffic police will be maintained to monitor the junctions.

When the project is completed, 241 junctions will be run on synchronized lights under a centralized surveillance system.