Heavy Nairobi traffic jams visit Nakuru; but where is bypass?

In the 1970s, Nakuru, like most provincial and district headquarter towns, was orderly and well planned. Its cleanliness was the stuff of legend, with its Railway Station rated the cleanest in Kenya. Until the early 90s, it was sleepier than Nairobi, a friendlier place to live – both in terms of safety and cost to the pocket. One of its most inviting features was residents could walk from their houses to their places of work because the Rift Valley town was much smaller than Nairobi. One could also walk through its main streets without hindrance because human and vehicle traffic were low.

And then, development and population explosion happened. Today, the Nakuru CBD is nearly as frenzied as Nairobi, its comparatively smaller roads choked with human traffic, and all manner of vehicles from personal cars, matatus, tuk tuks and, of course, boda boda. The result is major traffic snarl-ups, particularly on the roundabouts linking town roads to the Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret highway. During evenings, the traffic can stretch for a kilometer past State House Nakuru, a nuisance for Western Kenya bound motorists. Mary Wambui, a snack and mask vendor at Mburu Gichua road within the Nakuru City Central Business District, says rush hour can be very chaotic as matatus that usually park outside the city return to town, fighting for space with motorbikes, taxis and personal vehicles.