[kictanet] RESPONSES FROM ENGINEER KIDENDA ON THE STATE OF KENYAN ROADS
waudo siganga
emailsignet at mailcan.com
Thu May 31 11:40:25 EAT 2012
Hi Gitau - I remember a national road policy that was implemented
some years back when late Michuki was in charge. It said that new
roads would take account of all the needs of ALL users, not just
vehiclar traffic but also cyclists, pedestrians, even mkokoteni
were to have their lanes. I am not sure if the new highways
recognise cyclists, leave alone mkokoteni.
2 belated questions for the engineers - not necessarily just for
KENHA which overall is doing a sterling job. Are there any
STANDARDS for construction of road bumps. The current bumps seem
to come in all shapes and sizes depending on the whims of the
builder and on highways are likely to cause more accidents than
they prevent. Some appear to be cynically created to be so high
that they ensure our majority ex-Japan cars get thorough damage
from scrapping. Furthermore it appears there is no policy to have
road bumps painted to warn motorists or sign posts placed to
indicate their existence.
Second: It seems to me that their is no policy to MAINTAIN roads.
It appears the practice is to construct and run. The old dictum
that "a stitch in time save nine" hardly applies. A good example
is Nabkoi-Kapsabet raod. This road is re-built every 15 or so
years and abandoned until it is so full of potholes that even
tractors find unpliable. Then it is re-dug and completely
re-built. Is it not easier to fill potholes as they emerge?
I hope the person who was answering the questions has not closed
shop and is ready for this round 2.
On Thu, May 31, 2012, at 10:09 AM, John Gitau wrote:
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
<[1]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
<[2]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: [3]ekebaya at yahoo.co.uk
> Subject: RE: KENYA ICT ACTION NETWORK QUESTIONS TO ENGINEER
KIDENDA ON THE
> STATE OF KENYAN ROADS
> To: [4]ggithaiga at hotmail.com; [5]dg at kenha.co.ke;
[6]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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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
platform for people and institutions interested and involved
in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a
catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the
national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable
behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect
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abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not
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**Gitau
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
platform for people and institutions interested and involved in
ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst
for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of
ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable
behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's
times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or
personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your
wares or qualifications.
References
1. mailto:jgmbugua at gmail.com
2. mailto:ggithaiga at hotmail.com
3. mailto:ekebaya at yahoo.co.uk
4. mailto:ggithaiga at hotmail.com
5. mailto:dg at kenha.co.ke
6. mailto:otieno.barrack at gmail.com
7. mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
8. https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
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