NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 14 – The Nairobi County government on Tuesday temporarily re-opened the Lusaka and Bunyala roundabouts following traffic chaos in the city.
The Director of Communications in Governor Evans Kidero’s office, Walter Mongare said they were working on completing the southern by-pass which should be done within three days time.
The section under construction is between Ole Sereni Hotel and Langata Road.
Once the by-pass is complete, Kidero explained that all trucks will be forced to use the by-pass from 5am to 10pm, joining the Nakuru highway at Kikuyu.
Lusaka roundabout connects Mombasa Road to Langata Road whereas Bunyala roundabout connects Mombasa Road to Bunyala Road.
The two roundabouts were partially blocked together with the Westlands roundabout last week.
Other smaller roads were also closed or diverted in efforts to increase flow of cars in the city.
Whereas sections of road users in Westlands were happy with the decision to block the roundabouts partially, most of other road users on Langata Road, Mombasa Road and Jogoo Road complained that the idea had backfired.
Some said they were spending more than three hours to get to their destinations.
READ: Confusion as new city traffic measures take effect
Kidero’s plan came in the wake of public outcry by Nairobians spending many hours on traffic especially along Uhuru Highway, Mombasa Road and Waiyaki Way which are the main roads in the city.
The Transport Ministry and the Nairobi County Government have been urged to work together on several occasions to design ways and plans in which Nairobi City can be decongested.
In January this year, Kidero appointed an eight-member team to work on ways in which he could decongest the city.
In the same month, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the construction of the Outering Road and the Nairobi Eastern Missing Link Road in a bid to ease traffic in the city.
READ: Projects to decongest Nairobi roads begin
The Outer Ring road was supposed to have two-lane passages on each side of the road and a nine-metre Bus Rapid Transit Corridor.