Travellers spent a better part of Thursday morning stuck on Mai Mahiu Highway, most of whom were traveling upcountry.
Images of the snarl-up seen by Kenyans.co.ke showed that some motorists had been forced to seek alternative routes.
The traffic jam consisted of a mixture of heavy commercial vehicles and personal cars jam-packed along the Rift Valley Escarpments.
The cause of the traffic jam, which was still intense, was yet to be established by the time of publishing this article.
According to motorists plying the route, the gridlock extended to the Nairobi-Naivasha Highway at Soko Mjinga, forcing motorists to use the forest tracks as an alternative route.
Kenyans travelling on the road therefore cautioned other motorists citing minor accidents witnessed due to emergency brake application.
“Heavy traffic on Nairobi -Naivasha Road but definitely better than Mai Mahiu Road which we escaped earlier to use this route instead. Careful of minor accidents caused by emergency braking,” noted Makena Makena.
During this festive season, Kenyan motorists have been experiencing heavy traffic snarl-ups with the latest marking the third major incident witnessed in a span of two weeks.
A few hours before, motorists were stuck in traffic for more than 9 hours along the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway.
Kenyans.co.ke earlier reported that the gridlock occurred at Mtito Andei and Voi. Motorists plying the route were, therefore, forced to spend the night in their vehicles from 1:00 am
Motorists on the Mai Mahiu route had also experienced another traffic nightmare on Thursday last week, spending a night on the road.
Reports indicated that the gridlock began before 10 pm on Thursday, December 14, and was yet to be cleared by 8 am the next day.
These snarl-ups could be attributed to the increased travel activities by Kenyans around the festive season.