Good effort by KeNHA, envisioning a city without gridlock, on paper

If the city gridlock would be resolved by the number of drawings and sketches of what technocrats envision to be the solution to the challenge, it would have been smooth sailing by now.

This week, The Star had sketches from the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) showing the various interchanges that they say will ease the strangulating traffic, once and for all.

I stopped complaining about Mombasa Road when I heard folks from different parts of the city lament that travel to and from work has been a nightmare, although the confluence of the domestic and the wild animals along Mombasa Road does make the road particularly risky.

As for those coming from Thika, I hear since the word started spreading about the rapid of vehicles there, every other real estate development was taken there, so the flyover into the town now resembles a typical city thoroughfare that requires patient wisdom to navigate.

And I hear those who live in Karen are virtual prisoners, forced to make their way home, or to work at certain times.

But what I need to know from the KeNHA – besides the move to raise fuels to cater for a road maintenance levy – is if the drawings printed in the Press this week are the same ones that had been submitted to the World Bank some moons ago.

The reason for this is that the World Bank had vetoed earlier propositions on account of some issues of transparency.

But then, I read the Japanese were supporting yet another venture to decongest the city, with a focus on light rail and inter-city bus transportation.

Since this week’s report focuses on expanding road networks within the city, and building massive over-passes, I’m just wondering if they will go beyond the paper work. Ours, after all, is a paper tiger.