City Hall, ministry defy order to remove Thika superhighway speed bumps
Nairobi City County and Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia are yet to remove speed bumps and rumble strips on Thika Road and the two months that they had been given to do so have elapsed.
The High Court had on February 7 ordered the speed bumps and rumble strips erected at the Survey of Kenya and at Homeland/Kenya Breweries removed within two months.
Justice George Odunga also ordered the two to ensure pedestrians use the footbridges that are on the highway.
The orders followed an application by Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko, who argued that motorists, especially public transport operators, were greatly inconvenienced by the speed bumps and rumble strips.
FOOTBRIDGES
Justice Odunga ruled that “there is no rational basis for erecting rumble strips and speed bumps when the authorities concerned have erected footbridges for the benefit of the pedestrians”.
He said it was the responsibility of the Executive to ensure thoroughfares and footbridges are used and are secure.
From the evidence tabled, said the judge, there was no public participation before the decision was made to decongest the city.
On a drive along the road on Thursday, Nation reporters found that the speed bumps and rumble strips were yet to be removed.
The scene is especially scary as some of the places the speed bumps have been erected are also zebra crossings despite being on a highway, for instance at Roosters, opposite Garden City Mall, and at Allsops.
TRAFFIC SNARL-UPS
Mr Samuel Mureithi, whose 14-seater matatu plies the route, said the speed bumps are the cause of traffic snarl-ups in the area.
But Mrs Mary Wambui said without the speed bumps, crossing the road on foot would be hard since the footbridges are far apart.
On Thursday evening, Transport CS said that the designs for the missing footbridges are now ready and the tendering process for their construction would start on June 7 “Procurement process and actual construction would be first tracked,’’ he said in a message to the Nation. Mr Macharia had said that the ministry has set aside Sh300 million for construction of footbridges on the road.
