I do not know why but ive always had a feeling that if traffic management was handed over to KRA, and their revenue collection targets doubled, we would have more order on our roads. <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, May 31, 2012 at 11:30 AM, Patrick Mwangi Karanja <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mutuota@yahoo.com" target="_blank">mutuota@yahoo.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><div><span>Listers, <br></span></div><div><br><span></span></div>
<div><span>The community has taken this discussion further, please see below</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><a href="http://www.ihub.co.ke/blog/2012/05/translating-online-conversations-to-offline-action-the-case-of-nairobi-road-safety-and-traffic/" target="_blank">http://www.ihub.co.ke/blog/2012/05/translating-online-conversations-to-offline-action-the-case-of-nairobi-road-safety-and-traffic/</a></span></div>
<div> </div><div>Regards,<br><br></div><div>Patrick M. Karanja<br><br> <div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt"> <div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt"> <div dir="ltr">
<font face="Arial"> <hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold">From:</span></b> John Gitau <<a href="mailto:jgitau@gmail.com" target="_blank">jgitau@gmail.com</a>><br> <b><span style="font-weight:bold">To:</span></b> <a href="mailto:mutuota@yahoo.com" target="_blank">mutuota@yahoo.com</a> <br>
<div class="im"><b><span style="font-weight:bold">Cc:</span></b>
KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <<a href="mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke" target="_blank">kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a>> <br> </div><b><span style="font-weight:bold">Sent:</span></b> Thursday, May 31, 2012 10:09 AM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">Subject:</span></b> Re: [kictanet] RESPONSES FROM ENGINEER KIDENDA ON THE STATE OF KENYAN ROADS<br> </font> </div><div><div class="h5"> <br><div>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>On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 11:49 AM, James Mbugua <span dir="ltr"><<a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:jgmbugua@gmail.com" target="_blank">jgmbugua@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote 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>
<div><div><br>
On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 11:32 AM, Grace Githaiga <<a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:ggithaiga@hotmail.com" target="_blank">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 rel="nofollow" href="mailto:ekebaya@yahoo.co.uk" target="_blank">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 rel="nofollow" href="mailto:ggithaiga@hotmail.com" target="_blank">ggithaiga@hotmail.com</a>; <a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:dg@kenha.co.ke" target="_blank">dg@kenha.co.ke</a>; <a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:otieno.barrack@gmail.com" target="_blank">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>
><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.<br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <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.<br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div style="text-align:center"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px"><table style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;margin-top:5px" width="100%" cellspacing="0">
<tbody><tr><td colspan="2" style="background-color:rgb(237,241,247);padding:5px"><font style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;color:rgb(0,51,153);text-decoration:none"><i>“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great <b>political </b>importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate <b>power</b>, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate <b>power</b> against democracy”</i></font></td>
</tr></tbody></table></span></div><br>