Motorists plying the Sakas road within Kapenguria Municipality are an elated lot following the proper marking of recently erected speed bumps that posed a traffic threat.
The motorists had hailed the government for erecting standard speed bumps on the road although they raised concerns over what they claimed was lack of markings to signal their presence challenging the concerned authorities to label them for safety since they had been used to the earthly ones that would be easily identifiable.
Speaking to KNA, they said that the move by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) was welcome and added that it will go a long way in improving the status of the road thus making motoring comfortable and safer for both motorists and other road users on the road characterised by sharp bends.
“With these proper road markings, everybody is now safe for they can know when to slow down and when to overtake,” said Alfred Nyongesa.
Nyongesa added that the markings should be done periodically since the road has become quite busy and fading is inevitable.
He added that motorists new to the road had been tempted to speed oblivious to the existence of the new speed guards because of the lack of markings.
“It has been very risky especially at night because the road has no street lights to illuminate it, making it difficult for a rider or a motorist to identify the depressions occasioned by the new speed bumps,” the motorist highlighted.
He pitied motorcyclists fond of speeding on the road noting that if the speed bumps had not been marked, there would have been likelihoods of increased accidents.
Speed bumps also called traffic thresholds or speed breakers for sleeping policemen, are a class of traffic-calming devices that use vertical deflection to slow motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve safety conditions.
The motorists had initially condemned initial illegal bumps saying they were non-uniform hence a threat to the road users but then standard ones were erected with no proper markings.
A spot-check by KNA revealed that residents’ appeals for establishment of zebra crossing zones owing to increased human and animal traffic have also been honoured on the main road leading to the county headquarters.
By Richard Muhambe
