Trucks Banned From Accessing Specific Mombasa Roads Until 2024

Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir has announced a ban on heavy trucks using major roads within the city's Central Business District (CBD) until February 18, 2024.

In a Kenya Gazette Notice dated Friday, December 8, Nassir's administration revealed that heavy commercial vehicles exceeding 10 tonnes would be banned from accessing some sections of the city in specific hours.

"By virtue of the Fourth Schedule part 2 section 5 of the Constitution of Kenya and in exercise of the powers conferred by section 26 (1) (c) of the Mombasa County Roads Act, 2016, the Executive Committee Member responsible for matters relating to Transport and Infrastructure, County Government of Mombasa gazettes the temporary restriction of the usage of the Northern Mainland Roads of Mombasa County by heavy commercial vehicles above ten (10) tons from the 20th November 2023 to 18th February, 2024," the notice read in part.

An image of trucks in Mombasa. /FILE

The Mombasa Department of Transport and Infrastructure indicated that such vehicles would not be allowed to access the Northern Mainland Roads from 6.00 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. and from 3.30 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.

The roads include the Nyali Bridge, Fidel Odinga Road, Links Road, New Malindi Road and Old Malindi Road.

While announcing the directive in August, Nassir explained that the move aims to reduce traffic congestion during peak hours in the Coastal city.

Mombasa has been notorious for traffic snarl-ups which have traversed county administrations. In February 2022, former Governor Hassan Joho's leadership rolled out a new traffic system aimed at addressing the traffic jams frequently experienced on the island.

The changes were unveiled in conjunction with traffic police in the form of a model that ignited confusion amongst the motorists of the second-largest city in the country.

The new traffic model was known as “Double 2 Double” and had seen some of the streets converted into one-way roads. This was a replacement for the “Happy Hour” which was unveiled in 2019.

“We are converting all our streets into a one-way system on the island. That means as you come from the Nyali bridge, all vehicles will be required to turn left onto Sheikh Abdallah Farsy Road as opposed to going straight to Saba Saba. There will be no one going to Saba Saba directly,” Transport executive Tawfiq Balala told the media.

The move was however suspended following uproar from the city's motorists who cited issues such as the disruption of traffic, massive congestion and entities such as the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) who opposed the move.

Notably, in 2015, Nairobi County banned trucks from accessing the Central Business District (CBD) during the day. The then Governor Evans Kidero directed that trucks would only be allowed to enter the city between 10 pm and 5 am.