The jam along thika road is mainly due to the constriction in pangani. Consider water flowing in 1 foot diameter pipe and all of a sudden the pipe develops a constriction of only a 1/4 foot. The water will either move at a higher speed after the constriction to maintain the same flow or move at a much lower speed and the pressure accumulates along the pipeline before the constriction upto the bursting point. Increase the pipe diameter and more water will flow,but if the constriction is not taken care of then back to square 'A'. I view thika road that way. When the construction works are finished,after an year or so the jams will reach Safari Park. I stand to be corrected.


There are two types of people in the world...those who run the risks and those who always have the rope round their necks...

@ Segemia,cme slowly.
@ Sub0,i blv tha additional lanes may nt solely be as effective bt they r meant 2work together with tha by passes,elimination of raondas,etc 2reduce traffic. So look at tha bigger picture.

There are set criteria on sizing of roads during design. You count the number of cars passing per hour. You also take into account what the population will be in say 15 years which is referred to as the design period. Before you say it is not justifiable give us the figures for both and prove your point. It was stated that the road handles 30% of the countries traffic.

Fundamentals + Sentiments = Position

I find it odd that three major roads in the City are being put up on one side of the city while this could have been spread out. Eastern,Northern,Thika road. Eastern bypass and Thika Roads needed to be done but Mombasa Road to Kikuyu bypass should have been done instead of Northern to remove north bound traffic from getting into town and maximize gains on the expanded Mombasa Rd. Outering Road should also be a priority.

Mombasa Road should have been dualized all the way to Machakos to get more people moving towards Machakos direction.

Though I support Thika road expansion,am afriad it may encourage more development in that direction hence the jam problem may recurr after 3 years. We need to open up roads in all directions. Kiserian etc.

info is money

Ever heard of the concept of Circular Reasoning?

This is when you present the absence of your solution as the problem.

E.g.,


The people of Ukambani are hungry because there are no water boreholes; therefore we should dig the holes to supply water for irrigation!

OR

The problem in the transport system between Thika and Nairobi is that the road is too narrow; therefore we should widen it!


This kind of reasoning is blind to the fact that the two largest rivers in Kenya pass through Ukambani and that there is no road wide enough to solve the traffic congestion problem.

Even if Thika road was expanded to 50 (fifty!!) lanes each way,it would still get congested in a very short time! The reason is that good wide roads attract more people (cars) and soo enough they get congested.

The problem betwwen Thika and Nairobi is that you have too many people living in one town but working in the other. Thus we must ask ourselves why they are doing that,therefore how we can reverse the situation and balance it out.

There are two inter-connected reasons:


Housing is expensive and unavailable in Nairobi + Housing is cheaper in Thika (& environs)
Most jobs (good and bad) are to be found in Nairobi

Solve these two and the traffic problem disappears in the long-term.

In the medium tern,find a way of transporting people without using the road

In the very short term; expand the existing road.

Behind the gardens...Behind the wall...Under the tree (Including: Red...Dark Blue...Yellow)

@Wini the pooh:

the bigger question is this: why are the goods being transported by trucks?

Behind the gardens...Behind the wall...Under the tree (Including: Red...Dark Blue...Yellow)

Some innovative thinking by the powers that be is also necessary at times.

They should lock heavy vehicles transiting Nairobi from using Mombasa road during peak hours. Say 6.00 am to 9.30 am and again from 4. pm to 8.00 pm. This long distance travelling trucks can re-organise their schedules around this hours. I am sure it will improve traffic flow kiasi (maybe 5-10%).


I've noticed the youth in particular coming in to a workplace with a completely outsized notion of their own value and importance... just a thinly-veiled arrogance. May be the credit crunch induced recession is whats needed to remind us all about the value of hard work.... By Anonymous