Africa-Press – Kenya. Some Kakamega leaders now want the Kenya National Highways Authority to redesign the road section around Kaburengu to reduce accidents along the Eldoret-Webuye highway.
This follows twin accidents that killed four people at the Kaburengu black spot on Sunday evening.
Kakamega deputy governor Ayub Savula and Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera said the road agency should consider expanding the section of the road between Chekalini and Webuye to a dual carriage.
“This road section needs to have a four lane carriage with a barrier to isolate the trailers from other road users, this will minimise the number of deaths that occur at these spots annually,” Savula said.
Savula said trailers should use two lanes while other vehicles use the other two lanes.
He said the narrow road contributed to the high incidents of accidents.
Nabwera said he has filed a motion before the National Assembly seeking to compel the government to turn the road section around Kaburengu into a dual carriage.
Nabwera said the the motion also seeks to compel the government to compensate people living near the highway in case they are killed in their homes by vehicles that veer off the road.
The motion also seeks to compel the County Government of Kakamega to construct spacious modern markets at Mukhonje and Kaburengu to cater for people selling their products on the roadside in the two markets.
A report by a task force appointed by former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya to establish the cause of an accident that involved multiple vehicles, killing six people and destroying property belonging to 31 people on August 26, 2021, at Mukhonje blackspot, blamed lack of road signs and encroachment on road reserves for the accidents.
The report showed that traders have put up structures on road reserves, while matatus have set up an illegal stage away from the official bus stop, hence causing more confusion at the centre.
“Most road signs limiting speed or indicating approach to built-up areas along the Kipkaren-Kaburengu stretch of the Webuye-Eldoret highway, have been vandalised by scrap metal vendors,” the report reads.
The task force recommends use of speed cameras at the spot to tame speeding trucks, immediate installation of rumble strips and restoration of warning signs, preferably using plastic material to make it less attractive to vandals.
Savula said the county government will shoulder the funeral expenses of the four who were killed by two trailers at Kaburengu on Sunday and four others who were killed by another trailer at Mayanja.
The duo who were killed at Mayanja were traveling back home to Malava after attending a funeral of a relative in Bungoma when a speeding trailer driver veered off the road and knocked the four who were traveling on a motorbike around Bumula area.
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