- All trailers entering Nakuru use the road
- It is located along the escarpment
Image: GEORGE MURAGE
The perennial jams along the Limuru-Mai Mahiu escarpment road have adversely affected operations at the recently opened Inland container depot (ICD) in Mai Mahiu.
Trailer drivers collecting and delivering cargo to the center are spending tens of hours on the narrow road which was constructed back in 1940 and has never been expanded.
Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui and his Narok counterpart Samuel Tunai have challenged the government to give the road a priority and expand it as the current condition was affecting businesses.
In the last couple of months, traffic snarl-ups lasting for over 15 hours have become the norm along the road which is also the main gateway to the Great Rift Valley.
Speaking after a closed door meeting in Lake Naivasha Resort, Kinyanjui said that road users had complained over the current status of the road.
He noted that tens of man-hours were lost on the road by drivers every week due to the current condition which made it impossible to maneuver through.
“We are asking the government to move with haste and expand the Mai Mahiu-Limuru road which is very shallow so that it can serve its purpose,” he said.
The governor noted the county had already gazetted all land around the industrial park so as to avoid the mushrooming of informal settlements.
Kinyajui praised the Head of State for his initiative which saw the county receive 50 acres around the industrial park for use by small scale traders.
“The industrial park is critical to the economy of this country and the neighboring countries and we are keen as a county to make it successful,” he said.
On his part, Tunai noted that hundreds of tourists heading to the Maasai Mara were getting stranded on the road on a weekly basis.
The Narok Governor added that others had missed their flights due to the snarl-ups noting that the only solution lay in expanding the road or seeking an alternative route.
“There is a road that passes through Ngong to Suswa town and this can be rehabilitated for use by those heading to the Mara,” he said.
Tunai added that the closure of the Mai Mahiu-Narok road by the herders protesting the killing of the livestock by motorists was eroding investor confidence.
“We have agreed that the issues of land disputes, closure of road and sand business can be resolved away from the streets,” he said.