The Kenya National Highway Authority (KENHA) has moved to erect new reflective road signs along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway in a bid to reduce rising fatalities along the busy highway.
The authority has earmarked various black-spots mainly in Naivasha where over 20 people including students have died through road accidents over the last two months.
The move comes just weeks after the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) warned over an increase in fatal accidents along the highway.
The development has won praise from residents and drivers. According to Dan Wainaina a resident of Kinungi in Naivasha, the exercise by KENHA was timely and would help address the bane of road accidents.
He called for the erection of more speed bumps between the trading center and Naivasha town as one way of reducing speeding by motorists.
“This idea is timely as the road signs are very big and can be spotted from a distance and they will help address the number of accidents,” he said.
This was echoed by another resident John Karanja who termed the road signs as a blessing for motorists and pedestrians.
He however expressed concern over rising cases of vandalism targeting the signs adding that this would compromise their effectiveness.
“Unlike the other road signs, these ones are reflective and can be spotted from far and we hope security agents will deal with those vandalizing them,” he said.
A trader Silas Maasai called for more road-signs along the busy highway especially around black-spots.
“For years, this road had become the killer-highway and we hope that the latest initiative will help address this and bring back sanity,” he said.
Speaking two weeks ago, NTSA Director-General George Njau, said they were working with KENHA to increase road signs along major roads. Njau said that the authority was rolling out intelligence road management and safety systems targeting PSVs as part of ongoing efforts aimed at reducing road carnage.
