The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has moved to address design flaws on Nairobi's Outering Road after it was named one of the most dangerous roads in the world.
Transport Cabinet Secretary, James Macharia, told NTV on Saturday, July 16, that the government, in collaboration with other road agencies, is replicating some Nairobi Expressway designs to address challenges on Outering Road.
One of the measures is the erection of mesh trails that will prevent pedestrians from crossing the 13-kilometre road on undesignated points.
Macharia detailed that apart from mesh trails, the government will build new footbridges and carry out awareness campaigns to educate the public on the need to follow existing traffic rules.
The CS ruled out plans to redesign the road which cost north of Ksh8.5 billion.
"The solution to it, we shall put barriers where nobody can actually cross the road from an undesignated point. Pedestrians will have to save their lives by walking over 40 meters," Macharia explained.
"We will use the similar approach that was used after a video went viral of students of Muguga Green and Bohra primary schools dangerously crossing the Expressway, yet there was a footbridge 300 meters away."
Apart from erecting wire mesh, Macharia detailed that the government would start inspecting the status of every road in the country after every two years and recommend interventions where necessary.
The discussion on Outering Road started after the World Resources Institute (WRI) Director on Road Safety, Claudia Adriazola-Steil, highlighted the number of Kenyans who had lost their lives on the 13-kilometre road.
The busy road was benchmarked for the high pedestrians casualty rate.
"There was an investment in a highway, an urban highway named Outering in Nairobi. In the first nine months of 2021, it had been the most dangerous road in the city with very many fatalities. Ninety per cent of them were pedestrians," she stated.
Adriazola-Steil referenced data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) which indicated that 37 people lost their lives from January to October 2021 on Outering Road.
Outering Road was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2015 to address traffic congestion in Nairobi East.
