[kictanet] RESPONSES FROM ENGINEER KIDENDA ON THE STATE OF KENYAN ROADS

Thu May 31 11:30:29 EAT 2012

Listers, 

The community has taken this discussion further, please see below

http://www.ihub.co.ke/blog/2012/05/translating-online-conversations-to-offline-action-the-case-of-nairobi-road-safety-and-traffic/

Regards,

Patrick M. Karanja

________________________________
 From: John Gitau <jgitau at gmail.com>
To: mutuota at yahoo.com 
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> 
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2012 10:09 AM
Subject: Re: [kictanet] RESPONSES FROM ENGINEER KIDENDA ON THE STATE OF KENYAN ROADS

I should have probably brought this one up earlier. I am an avid cyclist. One of the biggest issues cyclists face is a lack of proper dedicated cycling lanes. 

City council guys once harrassed me for riding on what they called a 'pedestrian only' walk way. Is this the case or can I ride on this walkways (with full respect for the other users of course) without fear of expensive bike confiscation? 

Obviously cycling on the road is a bit insane on some highways. Is there a chance at least on the new roads this can be taken to consideration? 

gitau

On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 11:49 AM, James Mbugua <jgmbugua at gmail.com> wrote:

Listers
>
>I have removed them from the attachment and copied into the body of
>the mail for easier reading.
>
>
>1. Where does Kenya stand when it comes to local road standards vis a
>vis international
>standards?
>
>Kenyan road standards are prepared to international standards. Our Road Design
>Manuals were developed from international standards and customized to suit local
>conditions. Furthermore, in Kenya, standards make reference to international
>standards like Road Notes, TRRL, AASHTO, FIDIC among others.
>
>2. What are the “smart transport solutions” (ICTs integration) Kenya
>is considering to
>use in order to enhance road safety especially along the entire Thika road?
>
>We are considering installation of traffic lights, road signage and
>road marking to
>enhance road safety along the entire Thika road. Further,
>incorporation of ICT as part
>of PPP contract for maintenance of Nairobi-Thika Road is being considered.
>
>3. What does KeNHA have to say about the quality of work being done on the road
>between Rimpa and Magadi (so far upto Kiserian town)?
>
>KeNHA has put in place the right quality control measures to ensure
>that the works
>done meet the specifications. However, National Water Conservation and Pipeline
>Corporation are laying water pipes along the same road between
>Kiserian and Ongata
>Rongai. The material being excavated has been dumped on the side drains and road
>shoulders. This situation is temporary. Once backfilling is complete,
>drains will be
>cleaned and shoulders reinstated.
>
>4. How are roads categorized, in terms of those managed by the local
>authorities,
>central government and, if possible, those ones that are
>internationally managed?
>
>Roads are categorized into Class A, B, C, D, E, urban roads, park roads and
>unclassified roads. KeNHA manages Class A (International trunk roads),
>B (national
>trunk roads) and C. KeRRA manages Class D, E and rural unclassified roads while
>KURA manages urban roads. KWS manages park roads.
>
>5. Why does the government award contracts to companies that do not do their job
>professionally?
>
>Government contracts are awarded in accordance with the provisions of the
>Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005 and Regulations, 2006. This includes
>competitive bidding process through tendering and award to the lowest
>evaluated bid.
>
>6. There is a contractor who was awarded a contract to rehabilitate
>Nairobi-Naivasha
>Road (between the former Museum Hill roundabout and Rironi) and they’ve dug
>a whole stretch of the road, about a kilometre and a half. They dug up patches
>everywhere that drivers have to be extra cautious. Is there anything
>the Authority
>(assuming the said section is under Eng. Kidenda’s Authority) can do
>to make sure
>
>there are mechanisms in place for the Contractor to ensure he does not
>put the lives
>of road users at risk?
>
>The Contractor milled the road with an intention to immediately cover
>it with Asphalt
>Concrete (AC). However, the rains started and AC could not be laid under the wet
>weather conditions which lasted for two weeks resulting in further
>deterioration of the
>milled section.
>
>Nevertheless, the section was covered with AC after the rains subsided. The
>Contractor is under instructions not to open up large sections of road
>and leave them
>exposed for longer periods.
>
>7. How ‘safe’ are our new roads? Would they pass muster if road safety
>audits were
>conducted?
>
>All new roads are designed and constructed to achieve the highest
>possible safety
>standards. Where the highest possible safety standard cannot be
>attained due to the
>nature of terrain, appropriate speed reduction measures are
>implemented. It is worth
>noting that safety on our roads is highly dependent on disciplined use
>of the roads by
>all the users i.e. motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, hand cart
>pullers, amongst others.
>
>8. There is a fundamental design flaw on our roads. Are concerned
>parties now ready
>to listen or are we going to export these problems to Langata Rd, Ngong Rd, New
>airport terminals, Lamu Port etc?
>
>We are not aware of any fundamental design flaw on our roads. We will
>appreciate if
>you can highlight those fundamental design flaws for our further
>necessary action.
>
>9. There is a role played by auditors at various stages. Do we have
>evidence that
>KeNHA engages these or in other words do we have people in Government/Private
>sector playing that role currently?
>
>KeNHA has an Internal Audit section which audits all the works and services
>undertaken by the organisation on a daily basis. In addition, KeNHA
>has a Quality
>Assurance department which is in charge of ensuring quality in all its
>endeavours.
>The Quality Assurance department usually engages the services of the
>Private sector
>to execute their function independently. Furthermore, Kenya Roads Board engages
>the Private sector to conduct audit checks on roads financed under
>Road Maintenance
>Levy Fund. Lastly, the Kenya National Audit Office conducts regular
>audits on all
>roads contracts countrywide.
>
>10. There is data collection and its role. But as we know data is
>useless unless turned to
>information. Does the relevant authority use this data?
>
>All required data is collected and utilised. These include data on
>traffic surveys, axle
>load surveys, materials investigations, environmental impact
>assessment, topographic
>survey, accidents, weather patterns, among other data are all utilized
>for design and
>
>eventually construct roads.
>
>11.There is the common user and there very annoying problems-turn-offs which are
>suddenly blocked with no notice, oncoming vehicle channelled to your
>lane, taking
>one hour to get to your gate while all the time you can see it a few
>metres from where
>you are stuck! Who is listening and helping?
>
>As explained earlier, road safety is a function of disciplined use by
>all the road users.
>Traffic rules are to be enforced by the Traffic Police. Our mandate
>does not include
>enforcement of traffic rules. There are traffic signs to notify
>deviations and speed
>limits to make motorists aware of the situations ahead. This calls for
>motorists to be
>vigilant and observant when driving.
>
>12. There is the role that ICT can play to enable smart infrastructure
>– my take is that
>unless we embed it in at step 1 (design) above, it will be most likely
>be cosmetic.
>
>Currently we have employed use of ICT in monitoring our weighbridges and have
>also installed automatic counters on our roads to count vehicular
>traffic plying the
>roads. However, due to constrained funding from the exchequer, and the need to
>increase connectivity countrywide through construction of all weather roads, the
>authority has prioritized building of more new roads and maintenance of existing
>ones. With the advent of PPP and having its legal framework in place,
>the use of ICT
>and its utilisation in Smart Highways will easily be accommodated.
>
>13. Are there any efforts to integrate intelligent transportation
>systems in these new super
>highways? (Making the infrastructure Smart) Should there be an
>accident on the one
>way lane (how do we alert speeding drivers coming from behind).
>Secondly is there a
>provision for transmitters that can allow smart driving and speed cameras?
>
>This question has been addressed above.
>
>14. What strategy does KeNHA have for creating ducts for fibre optic
>and power cables,
>are we likely to see the new roads being dug up?
>
>We incorporate ducts in our road projects for passing of services
>across the road.
>Where the ducts are not in place we only allow micro-tunnelling.
>Digging up of roads
>for purposes of utilities is no longer accepted.
>
>15. Are there frameworks for evaluating infrastructure alternatives
>and clear processes
>for evaluating infrastructure system designs?
>
>All these are taken care of at Feasibility, Preliminary and Detailed Engineering
>studies.
>
>
>On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 11:32 AM, Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Listers
>>
>> Greetings.
>>
>> Kindly find attached a response from Engineer Kidenda on the state of Kenyan
>> Roads.
>>
>> Rgds
>> Grace
>>
>> ________________________________
>> Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 09:23:03 +0100
>> From: ekebaya at yahoo.co.uk
>> Subject: RE: KENYA ICT ACTION NETWORK QUESTIONS TO ENGINEER KIDENDA ON THE
>> STATE OF KENYAN ROADS
>> To: ggithaiga at hotmail.com; dg at kenha.co.ke; otieno.barrack at gmail.com
>>
>> Dear Grace,
>>
>> I sent this response to you yesterday from our official mail but it seems it
>> did not get through.
>>
>> Kindly acknowledge receipt
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Esther Kebaya
>> for: Director General, KeNHA
>>
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-- 
**Gitau

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