Elevated roads key to unlocking incessant traffic gridlocks

Nairobi Expressway on April 23, 2025. [File, Standard]

When visiting Nairobi National Park, no one reminds you to look for the “Big Six.”  

The sixth is the elevated Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), which allows animals to move freely between parts of the park, much like an elevated expressway saves lots of space.

Without elevation, Uhuru Park would have been “eaten.”  Why is this park still closed and overgrown with grass?

Skyscrapers save lots of ground space by “piling” one house over the other. We seem to have accepted that our future homes are in the air, based on the height of residential buildings. 

Elevating roads, rails, houses and other structures is standard in many countries. It saves precious land.

It’s popular in China, where land is scarce, and the population is high. We think it’s for beauty and engineering prowess.

It’s more about coming to terms with reality. Our planet is infinite, and without a habitable exoplanet, space will keep shrinking. 

Though space is limited and precious, some decisions leave my head spinning; how was the Nairobi Dam converted into plots? 

The Nairobi Expressway is a marvel, not just because it unlocks the traffic but also because of the ingenuity in engineering.

It made us believe in new possibilities. The key inputs are concrete and metal, which are easily available.

The engineering aspect is also very accessible, as the roads pass near two universities, the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) and the University of Nairobi (UoN), both of which offer engineering programmes.  

Why revisit SGR through Nairobi National Park and the expressway?  

Kiambu Road is to be dualised. I have not seen the design, but common and environmental senses suggest we should elevate it like an expressway.

The road passes through Karura Forest and other green areas. That is very precious flora and fauna in a country that is over 80 per cent arid or semi-arid. 

Elevation could make the road cheaper with no compensation for landowners. The flora and fauna saved are priceless.

Ever taken a walk in a pristine forest and got entertained by the chorus of birds? Sadly, such forests are rare. Yet, we need them in urban areas to act as “lungs.”   

The expressway is 27 kilometres long; it’s only 10km from the city centre to Kiambu town. That is easier.

I dream of driving to Kiambu while admiring the canopy of Karura Forest. The other good reason to elevate the road is to leave the existing road intact to give motorists a choice.

I am not saying the road should be tolled. Why do we toll roads if we do not toll footsteps for the walkers?

Why do we believe car owners are rich? Tolling and parking fees are lazy sources of revenue for governments. 

In addition to elevating the new Kiambu Road, hopefully, the shock point at Pangani will be removed.

We have endlessly complained that it makes the superhighway “unsuper.” We have lived with this eyesore for almost two decades. 

Did I hear some Ministry of Road officials ply that road daily? The end of the superhighway should be like a delta of a river, distributing water. The end of the Thika Superhighway is worse than an estuary!  

Did I hear that another expressway will be built along Thika Road, too? Elevated as well?  I have observed that once a highway is built, residences and offices follow the road as we buy more cars.

The problems soon return. I’ve noticed the frequent traffic jams on the motorway; I can see them from the UoN towers.

The same issue exists on Thika Road. The population grows faster than the investment in infrastructure. 

No one talks of slowing population growth. Religion and votes are key factors.  Never mind, the vote seekers never help you bring up the voters. Procreation is secret; bringing up the children is not, and is much harder. 

The long-term solution is to remove the cars from the roads. Give us alternative means of transport. Why not a sky rail, which is elevated or underground in some places?

Mass transport is the future. Electric trains with a fixed timetable and integrated into other means of transport, like road and air, are the way to go.

Our road, water, rail and air transport systems are not integrated, which raises the cost of transport. Why is SGR not up to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport? You can drive seamlessly on the expressway. What of the other roads out of it or into it? 

If we can import the American constitution, with governors and the Supreme Court, why not their logistics and transport networks? 

Why not “import” Chinese or Japanese road, rail, water or air transport networks? Why have we been made to believe that traffic jams are normal? 

Traffic jams dilute the ingenuity that gave us the car. They have another unintended consequence: we lose sleep to leave early, affecting our productivity in the workplace.

And we don’t do much in the traffic jams except call. That is why I am a fan of driverless cars, even without traffic jams.