KeNHA To Close Part Of Waiyaki Way At Kangemi For Over A Month Ahead Of Festive Season

The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has announced that motorists using the busy Nairobi-Nakuru Highway particularly to travel upcountry for the festive period will have to contend with a significant traffic disruption from mid-December to mid-January 2025.

This is because a section of the Waiyaki Way at the Kangemi Interchange will be closed temporarily to build a bridge at the intersection of Loresho, Muthanga, and Hinga roads.

"The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) would like to inform the public of a temporary traffic disruption at Kangemi Interchange on A8 Highway (Waiyaki Way). This is due to the scheduled construction works of Kangemi Bridge, from Wednesday, December 11, 202,4 to Friday, January 17, 2025," stated KeNHA in part.

Outline of road closures along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway. /KENHA

During the 37-day closure, the construction period will be carried out in two phases, the first targeting motorists heading to Nairobi. This is scheduled to start next Wednesday and will go on until Monday, December 26.

According to the notice, during this period, KeNHA will completely close the Nairobi-bound lanes of Waiyaki Way, forcing motorists to the outbound lane.

The second phase of the bridge construction will start on Saturday, December 28, to January 17 next year. During this period, KeNHA will close the outbound lanes, that is cars heading to Nakuru and beyond.

The notice adds that vehicles will be diverted to the inbound lane. This means both vehicles heading in and out of the capital will share the three lanes for this stretch of the road.

"This will be done in two construction phases. Phase I: Nairobi bound traffic (LHS) will first be diverted to the (RHS) from Wednesday, December 11, 202,4 to Monday, December 26, 2024. Phase II: Nakuru/Rironi bound traffic (RHS) will be diverted to the (LHS) from Saturday, December 28, 2024, to Friday, January 17, 2025," added KeNHA.

The Nairobi-Nakuru Highway is notorious for prolonged traffic jams, especially near areas like Kimende and Rironi, with some drivers stranded for hours or even overnight.

On December 15, 2023, travellers were left stranded along the highway in a traffic snarl-up at Mai Mahiu that lasted more than eight hours. Motorists had lamented that the snarlup began minutes before 10 pm on December 14 and had run into the morning hours on December 15.

Reports had largely blamed the gridlock on the overlapping of motorists with some travellers expressing dissent at the absence of the traffic officers on the highway which worsened the situation as some of the matatus heading to Western Kenya also overlapped to beat the traffic.

In this notice, KeNHA is advising motorists to follow the proposed traffic management plan and cooperate with the police and traffic marshals on site.

Vehicles stuck on the Nakuru - Nairobi highway on August 3, 2019. /NAIROBI NEWS