Travellers were left stranded along the Nairobi - Nakuru Highway in a traffic snarlup witnessed at Mai Mahiu for over eight hours.
According to motorists, the snarlup began minutes before 10 pm on Thursday, December 14 and was yet to be cleared by 8 am on Friday.
Transport officials were yet to detail the cause of the snarl-up by the time of publishing this article. However, reports attributed the gridlock to overlapping motorists.
Some of the travellers also claimed that the absence of traffic officers on the highway compounded the situation as some of the matatus heading to Western Kenya also overlapped to beat the traffic.
Those seeking to use the route were advised to use alternative routes.
"Avoid Mai Mahiu road from Nairobi. The traffic is very bad starting from Kwa Governor to the Hilly Place. Use alternative roads," John Njoro stated.
"Avoid Mai Mahiu if travelling. I have been here since 9 pm yesterday and we are still stuck," Patrick Sigey added.
On the other hand, motorists called on the government to expand the road to avoid similar scenarios that are synonymous with the festivities.
Other motorists also called on the police to deploy traffic marshalls to clear the mess before the situation worsens.
Notably, a similar scenario was witnessed last year during the festivities on the same highway on December 3, 2022, with leaders calling on Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to fix the issues on the road.
Meanwhile, Murkomen indicated that the government would undertake the dualling of highways from Mombasa to Kisumu in due course.
Speaking during an interview in November, Murkomen intimated that the road construction would be done under a Private-Public Partnership (PPP) programme with toll stations installed.
The toll stations are set to be piloted along the Nairobi - Mombasa highway.
