Outering Road Named Among World's Most Dangerous Highways

Outering Road accounted for 44 of the 371 deaths recorded last year.

Outering Road Named Among World's Most Dangerous Highways
An aerial view of Outering Road. /CONSTRUCTION KENYA

Outering Road, which runs between Thika Road at Allsops matatu stage and the Embakasi residential area, has been described as one of the most unsafe highways in the world.

Speaking during the just-concluded United Nations (UN) high-level meeting, Urban Mobility expert Claudia Adriazola-Steil used the 13-kilometre road as an example of highways worldwide that have been responsible for road accidents.

She described to the UN how the road was termed the most dangerous in Nairobi in the first nine months of 2021, with pedestrians making up for the majority of fatalities.

An image of Allsops footbridge along Outering Road. /MARVIN CHEGE.VIRALTEAKE

“An example from Kenya, which is not the only example, around the world this happens over and over again. But there was an investment in a highway, an urban highway named Outering in Nairobi.

"That, in the first nine months of 2021 it had been the most dangerous road in the city with very (many) fatalities. Ninety percent of them were pedestrians," she revealed to the UN.

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) revealed in a March survey that one is more likely to die on the road, as compared to any other in the city.

Outering Road accounted for 44 of the 371 deaths recorded last year. It was followed closely by Waiyaki Way, which claimed 38 lives, and Mombasa Road with 29 deaths. The data did not, however, indicate who among drivers, passengers, pedestrians, motorcyclists and pedal cyclists accounted for the most fatalities. 

Other high-risk roads included the Northern bypass, Southern bypass and Eastern bypass which accounted for 29,28 and 27 deaths respectively.

Thika Superhighway came in as the seventh most dangerous having claimed 25 lives. It was followed by Kangundo Road where 23 lives were lost while Ngong Road claimed 22 lives.

All other roads, including North Airport road which was once marked as the most dangerous, had less than 20 fatalities in 2021. Jogoo and Juja roads all had 14 deaths each, Lang'ata and North Airport roads 13 deaths each while Kiambu road had six.

Back in October 2021, more than 300 pedestrians were arrested by authorities along the Outering road for crossing it instead of using the footbridges already in place.

They were bundled into police vehicles and presented before the City Court where they were fined between Ksh500 and Ksh3,000.

Police officers along Outering Road on October 2021. /DAILY NATION