Outering road is among the top 10 deadliest roads in Nairobi for pedestrians.
Of course the road is called Outer Ring and not Outering, but we agreed as Kenyans that we shall emove one ‘r’ from the name.
In a study completed in 2020 and funded by United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), Mombasa Road, Thika Superhighway and Waiyaki Way formed the top three deadliest roads.
The study was focused on the Non-Motorised Transport or NMT.
NMT means looking at pedestrian traffic.
“Many streets and roads in Nairobi lack pedestrian walkways”, – UNEP Study
‘The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) and Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) continue to invest in billions of shillings in the construction of bypasses, missing links, and flyovers in Nairobi and other urban areas. These projects often come at the expense of NMT users, as the new roads are
hard to cross and lack accessible walkways. In many cases this contributes to a high rate of traffic fatalities, as is the experience on Thika Superhighway and Outer Ring Rd,’ the study observed.
The lack of footpaths and cycle tracks expose pedestrians to ‘fast, aggressive motor vehicle traffic,
resulting in a high rate of traffic crashes”.
Outering road was most deadly between Donholm Interchange and Dandora Interchange. Most often, near the Junction with the now closed Sonko Road, many accidents happened because of high speed and the sudden entry of vehicles from Buruburu into Outering Road. Since the closure of Sonko Road, accidents have reduced.
The UNEP study which was also supported by Institute of Transportatior and Development Policy (UTDP), FiA Foundation and Share the Road, recommended that holding regular public forums, and political commitment to fasttract NMT would go a long way to make better roads for both motorist and pedestrians.
“Increase parking fees to discourage the use of private vehicles and prevent vehicle parking on NMT facilities”, was also suggested.
As things stand, there’s a damning conclusion on Thika Superhiway and Outering Road.
The study says, “Projects such as Outer Ring Rd and Thika Superhighway provided minimal NMT facilities and no provisions for public transport’.
KURA and KeNHA should style up.
New Study
Finding from a newly released study by Nairobi Metropolitan Services looks the same.
The Nairobi Metropolitan Services released The Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) study report on Wednesday, revealing the deadliest roads in Nairobi’s transport corridors.
Waiyaki Way and Thika Superhighway completed the top three list of roads where one is likely to be an accident victim.
The report indicated that a majority of road accident fatalities affected pedestrians, who accounted for an average of 64.5% of traffic deaths from 2015-2019.
Mombasa Road is the deadliest road in Nairobi, the new report indicates.
Outering Road, Eastern Bypass, Jogoo Road, Kangundo Road, Juja Road, Airport North Road, and Langata Road closed the top 10 list of deadliest roads in the city.
The transport corridors accounted for 55.5% of all road fatalities in the city.
The report also established that reckless driving and careless pedestrian crossing were the most common cause of road fatalities.
Private cars, followed by Public Service Vehicles (PSVs), are the leading causes of accidents.
According to the report, most fatalities occur on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, making these the most dangerous days of the week to be on the road.
