Rift Valley MPs want the SGR extended to Malaba border through Eldoret to reduce cargo and
passenger transport by road.
This will also reduce the number of accidents between Eldoret and Nairobi,
Moiben MP Sila Tiren and Kapseret's Oscar Sudi.
Tiren and Sudi added the government should take measures to curb road crashed without causing the public and the economy to suffer.
They spoke to the Star in Eldoret on Wednesday, hours after passengers were stranded due to higher fares as a result of the night travel ban.
Muslim preachers and imams led by Abubakar Bini supported the suggestion and said the ban should have come with permission for PSVs to operate for more hours in a day.
Meanwhile, Uasin Gishu
Governor Jackson Mandago has announced that construction of the Sh5.1 billion southern
bypass begin this month to reduce congestion.
He said today that contractors were on site and that they would start work in the second week of the month.
“This is a long-awaited project ... we are happy it will be done soon so we can decongest Eldoret town."
President Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto commissioned the project on August 1, 2017 during election campaigns in the region.
The road will run from Ngeria along Eldoret-Nairobi road and through the southern parts of the town near Eldoret International Airport, before rejoining Eldoret-Bungom Highway at Jua Kali.
There has been heavy traffic in Eldoret because of long distance trucks which go through the CBD. The lorries will use the bypass once it is completed.
Mandago said several other key roads in the region, including Kiplombe-Soy, were being tarmacked for use by motorists heading to Kitale.
He noted the county will not allow the grabbing of land set aside for roads and other public projects.
“We have also put up walkways for pedestrians along all key highways. Motorists and riders should not be found using these walkways."
Mandago said several owners of buildings on road reserves had been given vacation notices and that they will be forced out if they don't leave.
“We give such notices early enough. They should not ignore them and then blame the county when we force them out."
The county chief has promised to repossess hundreds of grabbed public plots in the county for schools and hospitals.
He has also
asked residents to resists efforts by powerful people to grab more public property in urban areas.
Mandago has also warned that he will not permit the mushrooming of illegal structures and buildings.