Kura upgrades Kajiado town roads at Sh588 million

The Kenya Urban Roads Authority has embarked on a Sh588.5 million project to upgrade seven kilometers of major roads linking Kajiado town.

The main work comprises of construction of single carriageway roads upgraded to bitumen standard, currently at 29 per cent completion.

Some of the roads targeted by Kura include Majengo, Saina, Enterprise-Jua Kali-stadium road, Shepashina and Outering estate roads.

Residents have often complained over the dilapidated state of most roads around Kajiado town. The Central Business District was the only area with tarmac.

In February, residents of Kajiado East and North constituencies threatened to move to court over the poor state of their roads, which they claimed was the result of deliberate neglect by road agencies.

Car owners said they incurred huge maintenance costs while boda boda operators said their motorcycles were often damaged by the roads and they spent a lot of money on repairs.

Pedestrians are covered with dust during the dry season and struggle to walk through the roads filled with mud and potholes when it rains.

“As residents living in this town for many years, we have suffered due to the poor state of roads. The dust has also led us to having sicknesses and when it rains movement becomes impossible due to potholes and mud. It's high time we have a change in times of road network and upgrade," Johnson Melita said.

Robert Lemaiyan said Kajiado's urban infrastructure has for a long time been neglected but the project gives them hope that with the construction of the roads, the town will position itself to attract investments for growth.

“We welcome the move by the government to implement this project as it will uplift the town from economic neglect by attracting investors and raising the value of properties due to improved access," he said.

Boda boda operators also welcomed the project, noting that upgrading the roads would boost their business as they will end up covering more areas without having to worry about breakdown of their machines.

Speaking during an inspection tour of works on Tuesday, Kura engineer Viviane Nyamwalo said support from various stakeholders had seen the project implementation move smoothly. The county government of Kajiado had addressed issues of encroachment within the roads corridor.

The urban roads authority has encountered several challenges while implementing the project.

Some of the challenges include an inadequate road reserve in some of the identified roads and lack of an adequate storm water management system within Kajiado town.

Kura has pointed out that the town is prone to poor drainage as the area lacks an adequate storm water management system.

Storm water management is the effort to reduce runoff of rainwater into the streets and improvement of water quality.

“To address the issue of waste management, the authority is currently working on a programme that seeks to advocate for proper waste management by the communities within the project area,” Kura said.

The authority has also asked the county to consider developing and implementing a storm water management master plan.

In addition, Kura is planning for a second phase of the project that will enhance the urban road network of the town to improve mobility of both motorised and non-motorised traffic in the town.

There is also a plea to the authority to consider other strategic roads that have not been programmed for development within the ongoing project to help Kajiado catch up with neighbouring towns such as Ngong, Rongai and Kiserian.