Motorists using the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway were on Friday 2nd September and Saturday 3rd September 2022 stranded after being caught up in a huge traffic snarl-up caused by an accident near the Gilgil weighbridge. This caught the attention of the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA) who gave the reason for the congestion and advised motorists on the alternative routes to use.
The Statement posted on their official Twitter handle, read as follows, “KeNHA wishes to notify the public that a section of the Northern Corridor, between Naivasha and Nakuru is currently experiencing congestion due to a traffic incident near the rail over road bridge between Gilgil turn-off and the weighbridge. Police are currently on site and working on the situation to restore normalcy. Motorists are advised to exercise lane discipline and avoid overlapping as they approach this section in order to avoid further congestion.”
KENHA later released a further statement via their Facebook page that read “Further to our earlier advisory, motorists planning to travel between Nairobi and Nakuru are advised to use Flyover-Njabini-Olkalou-Lanet or Naivasha-Olkalou-Lanet routes. Trucks are advised to delay their travels until the situation eases at Gilgil. Every effort is being made to enable traffic to start flowing.”
As the saying goes, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. As many motorists and passengers were in agony over the said standstill, others saw a business opportunity. A section of traders made a kill selling foodstuff to the stranded motorists some most of whom spent Friday night in the snarl-up. Crafty traders sold their items for up to four times the normal retail price.
On Twitter, some netizens tried to analyze the situation with others saying that dualling of the road should be a top priority for the next government. Others said that even with the dualling of the road, Kenyan drivers lack lane discipline and the same snarl up would still be experienced.
Here are some tweets of the incident courtesy of @ma3route and @LeeRussian
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