[SIZE=7]Salgaa dual road building finally begins[/SIZE]
MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2018 16:22
BY ERIC MATARABY PETER MBURU
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The construction of the much-awaited Sobea-Salgaa-Mau Summit dual carriageway on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway has finally started. The building has started a month after the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) awarded the China Railway Number 10 company the contract. The project is aimed at curbing accidents on the dangerous stretch.
Already, heavy construction machines have been installed at Salgaa trading centre and at Migaa to prepare the way where an adjacent route will be created. Residents, many of whom have witnessed horrible accidents along the notorious stretch, welcomed the move, saying it will greatly reduce the road carnage.
“We have been witnessing many horrible accidents along this route for many years and we always feel bad seeing people dying here. "We appreciate the move because the road carnage will be a thing of the past,” Mr Josephat Karanja, a resident of Sachangwan said.
Residents say the dual carriageway is long overdue and will end the frequent accidents that have claimed thousands and left many maimed.
“We dread accidents, which become rampant especially during the festive season. This route has become a death trap for travellers. "For long we have asked the government to come up with a solution and now we appreciate it has done something,” said Ms Lucy Wangari, a businesswoman at Salgaa.
The government last December announced it would spend about Sh500 million in construction of the dual carriageway.
KeNHA’s assistant director for corporate communication Charles Njogu said the construction will end by May 2019.
“The construction will be complete by May 2019 and is aimed at taming frequent accidents along the stretch,”said Mr Njogu.
The nearly 22-kilometre stretch of the Nakuru-Eldoret highway has claimed scores of lives and left many other people maimed.
The section stretches from Sobea, Salgaa, Migaa, Sachangwan to Mau Summit.
It also includes Jolly Farm and Mkinyai areas.
“All procedures for the construction of the dual carriageway were completed last month and the works have started,” added Mr Njogu.
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The black spot at Migaa on the Nakuru-Eldoret Highway on December 13, 2017. FILE PHOTO | NMG
What project involves
The project involves expansion of the notorious stretch between Sobea and Mau Summit, designing and construction of emergency runaway truck rumps, repair of guardrails and installation of warning and informative road signs. The design also will provide for the construction of a lorry brakes checking point with a capacity of 20 lorries to evaluate the braking systems of vehicles on the road. In December last year alone, more than 40 lives were lost along the stretch. An oil tanker accident in 2009 killed nearly 200 people at Sachangwan area along the highway. Dark patches of spilled oil, broken glasses, and pieces of rubber and mangled remains of motor vehicle parts litter the road section – a grim reminder that the stretch bears a bitter past for many families. The series of accidents prompted the government to intervene in a bid to end the carnage.