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<div id="me74357">
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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?</div>
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I hope the person who was answering the questions has not closed shop and is ready for this round 2.</div>
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On Thu, May 31, 2012, at 10:09 AM, John Gitau wrote:</div>
<blockquote class="me74357QuoteMessage" type="cite">
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.<br />
<br />
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?<br />
<br />
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?<br />
<br />
gitau<br />
<br />
<div class="me74357gmail_quote">
On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 11:49 AM, James Mbugua <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jgmbugua@gmail.com" target="_blank">jgmbugua@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="me74357gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Listers<br />
<br />
I have removed them from the attachment and copied into the body of<br />
the mail for easier reading.<br />
<br />
<br />
1. Where does Kenya stand when it comes to local road standards vis a<br />
vis international<br />
standards?<br />
<br />
Kenyan road standards are prepared to international standards. Our Road Design<br />
Manuals were developed from international standards and customized to suit local<br />
conditions. Furthermore, in Kenya, standards make reference to international<br />
standards like Road Notes, TRRL, AASHTO, FIDIC among others.<br />
<br />
2. What are the “smart transport solutions” (ICTs integration) Kenya<br />
is considering to<br />
use in order to enhance road safety especially along the entire Thika road?<br />
<br />
We are considering installation of traffic lights, road signage and<br />
road marking to<br />
enhance road safety along the entire Thika road. Further,<br />
incorporation of ICT as part<br />
of PPP contract for maintenance of Nairobi-Thika Road is being considered.<br />
<br />
3. What does KeNHA have to say about the quality of work being done on the road<br />
between Rimpa and Magadi (so far upto Kiserian town)?<br />
<br />
KeNHA has put in place the right quality control measures to ensure<br />
that the works<br />
done meet the specifications. However, National Water Conservation and Pipeline<br />
Corporation are laying water pipes along the same road between<br />
Kiserian and Ongata<br />
Rongai. The material being excavated has been dumped on the side drains and road<br />
shoulders. This situation is temporary. Once backfilling is complete,<br />
drains will be<br />
cleaned and shoulders reinstated.<br />
<br />
4. How are roads categorized, in terms of those managed by the local<br />
authorities,<br />
central government and, if possible, those ones that are<br />
internationally managed?<br />
<br />
Roads are categorized into Class A, B, C, D, E, urban roads, park roads and<br />
unclassified roads. KeNHA manages Class A (International trunk roads),<br />
B (national<br />
trunk roads) and C. KeRRA manages Class D, E and rural unclassified roads while<br />
KURA manages urban roads. KWS manages park roads.<br />
<br />
5. Why does the government award contracts to companies that do not do their job<br />
professionally?<br />
<br />
Government contracts are awarded in accordance with the provisions of the<br />
Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005 and Regulations, 2006. This includes<br />
competitive bidding process through tendering and award to the lowest<br />
evaluated bid.<br />
<br />
6. There is a contractor who was awarded a contract to rehabilitate<br />
Nairobi-Naivasha<br />
Road (between the former Museum Hill roundabout and Rironi) and they’ve dug<br />
a whole stretch of the road, about a kilometre and a half. They dug up patches<br />
everywhere that drivers have to be extra cautious. Is there anything<br />
the Authority<br />
(assuming the said section is under Eng. Kidenda’s Authority) can do<br />
to make sure<br />
<br />
there are mechanisms in place for the Contractor to ensure he does not<br />
put the lives<br />
of road users at risk?<br />
<br />
The Contractor milled the road with an intention to immediately cover<br />
it with Asphalt<br />
Concrete (AC). However, the rains started and AC could not be laid under the wet<br />
weather conditions which lasted for two weeks resulting in further<br />
deterioration of the<br />
milled section.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, the section was covered with AC after the rains subsided. The<br />
Contractor is under instructions not to open up large sections of road<br />
and leave them<br />
exposed for longer periods.<br />
<br />
7. How ‘safe’ are our new roads? Would they pass muster if road safety<br />
audits were<br />
conducted?<br />
<br />
All new roads are designed and constructed to achieve the highest<br />
possible safety<br />
standards. Where the highest possible safety standard cannot be<br />
attained due to the<br />
nature of terrain, appropriate speed reduction measures are<br />
implemented. It is worth<br />
noting that safety on our roads is highly dependent on disciplined use<br />
of the roads by<br />
all the users i.e. motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, hand cart<br />
pullers, amongst others.<br />
<br />
8. There is a fundamental design flaw on our roads. Are concerned<br />
parties now ready<br />
to listen or are we going to export these problems to Langata Rd, Ngong Rd, New<br />
airport terminals, Lamu Port etc?<br />
<br />
We are not aware of any fundamental design flaw on our roads. We will<br />
appreciate if<br />
you can highlight those fundamental design flaws for our further<br />
necessary action.<br />
<br />
9. There is a role played by auditors at various stages. Do we have<br />
evidence that<br />
KeNHA engages these or in other words do we have people in Government/Private<br />
sector playing that role currently?<br />
<br />
KeNHA has an Internal Audit section which audits all the works and services<br />
undertaken by the organisation on a daily basis. In addition, KeNHA<br />
has a Quality<br />
Assurance department which is in charge of ensuring quality in all its<br />
endeavours.<br />
The Quality Assurance department usually engages the services of the<br />
Private sector<br />
to execute their function independently. Furthermore, Kenya Roads Board engages<br />
the Private sector to conduct audit checks on roads financed under<br />
Road Maintenance<br />
Levy Fund. Lastly, the Kenya National Audit Office conducts regular<br />
audits on all<br />
roads contracts countrywide.<br />
<br />
10. There is data collection and its role. But as we know data is<br />
useless unless turned to<br />
information. Does the relevant authority use this data?<br />
<br />
All required data is collected and utilised. These include data on<br />
traffic surveys, axle<br />
load surveys, materials investigations, environmental impact<br />
assessment, topographic<br />
survey, accidents, weather patterns, among other data are all utilized<br />
for design and<br />
<br />
eventually construct roads.<br />
<br />
11.There is the common user and there very annoying problems-turn-offs which are<br />
suddenly blocked with no notice, oncoming vehicle channelled to your<br />
lane, taking<br />
one hour to get to your gate while all the time you can see it a few<br />
metres from where<br />
you are stuck! Who is listening and helping?<br />
<br />
As explained earlier, road safety is a function of disciplined use by<br />
all the road users.<br />
Traffic rules are to be enforced by the Traffic Police. Our mandate<br />
does not include<br />
enforcement of traffic rules. There are traffic signs to notify<br />
deviations and speed<br />
limits to make motorists aware of the situations ahead. This calls for<br />
motorists to be<br />
vigilant and observant when driving.<br />
<br />
12. There is the role that ICT can play to enable smart infrastructure<br />
– my take is that<br />
unless we embed it in at step 1 (design) above, it will be most likely<br />
be cosmetic.<br />
<br />
Currently we have employed use of ICT in monitoring our weighbridges and have<br />
also installed automatic counters on our roads to count vehicular<br />
traffic plying the<br />
roads. However, due to constrained funding from the exchequer, and the need to<br />
increase connectivity countrywide through construction of all weather roads, the<br />
authority has prioritized building of more new roads and maintenance of existing<br />
ones. With the advent of PPP and having its legal framework in place,<br />
the use of ICT<br />
and its utilisation in Smart Highways will easily be accommodated.<br />
<br />
13. Are there any efforts to integrate intelligent transportation<br />
systems in these new super<br />
highways? (Making the infrastructure Smart) Should there be an<br />
accident on the one<br />
way lane (how do we alert speeding drivers coming from behind).<br />
Secondly is there a<br />
provision for transmitters that can allow smart driving and speed cameras?<br />
<br />
This question has been addressed above.<br />
<br />
14. What strategy does KeNHA have for creating ducts for fibre optic<br />
and power cables,<br />
are we likely to see the new roads being dug up?<br />
<br />
We incorporate ducts in our road projects for passing of services<br />
across the road.<br />
Where the ducts are not in place we only allow micro-tunnelling.<br />
Digging up of roads<br />
for purposes of utilities is no longer accepted.<br />
<br />
15. Are there frameworks for evaluating infrastructure alternatives<br />
and clear processes<br />
for evaluating infrastructure system designs?<br />
<br />
All these are taken care of at Feasibility, Preliminary and Detailed Engineering<br />
studies.<br />
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<div class="me74357h5">
<br />
On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 11:32 AM, Grace Githaiga <<a href="mailto:ggithaiga@hotmail.com">ggithaiga@hotmail.com</a>> wrote:<br />
> Listers<br />
><br />
> Greetings.<br />
><br />
> Kindly find attached a response from Engineer Kidenda on the state of Kenyan<br />
> Roads.<br />
><br />
> Rgds<br />
> Grace<br />
><br />
> ________________________________<br />
> Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 09:23:03 +0100<br />
> From: <a href="mailto:ekebaya@yahoo.co.uk">ekebaya@yahoo.co.uk</a><br />
> Subject: RE: KENYA ICT ACTION NETWORK QUESTIONS TO ENGINEER KIDENDA ON THE<br />
> STATE OF KENYAN ROADS<br />
> To: <a href="mailto:ggithaiga@hotmail.com">ggithaiga@hotmail.com</a>; <a href="mailto:dg@kenha.co.ke">dg@kenha.co.ke</a>; <a href="mailto:otieno.barrack@gmail.com">otieno.barrack@gmail.com</a><br />
><br />
> Dear Grace,<br />
><br />
> I sent this response to you yesterday from our official mail but it seems it<br />
> did not get through.<br />
><br />
> Kindly acknowledge receipt<br />
><br />
> Regards<br />
><br />
> Esther Kebaya<br />
> for: Director General, KeNHA<br />
></div>
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--<br />
**Gitau<br />
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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.</div>
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