KURA bets on Sh1.4bn traffic management system to ease Nairobi jams

The government is set to take the managing of traffic situation in the city of Nairobi a notch higher by embracing the Intelligent Transport System. (I.T.S).

The project, which is being implemented by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority, KURA, entails the installation of a modern traffic signalization system for 400 junctions in Nairobi.

KURA acting Director General Silas Kinoti is confident that the system will address the traffic menace that has been a headache for many in the city.

“We have realized our roads are congested not because capacity is low, but because of conflicts we are having at the junctions, and those are the ones we are trying to eliminate, we are suffering all these jams because of lack of order on our roads”, Mr Kinoti said.

The project has been financed by the World Bank to the tune of Sh1.4 billion for the first phase.

Mr Kinoti who was speaking to Citizen Digital on the sidelines of a meeting to discuss the new traffic system said the system will be improved to enable both police and road users to benefit.

“Systems we are putting in place are capable of even transmitting real time photos, pictures if you break the law, and we can even be able to find them even if humans are not involved,” he said.

Nairobi Traffic Police Boss Leonard Katana lauded the move saying it would ease the role of traffic police and traffic marshals in the city, who are overwhelmed by managing traffic.

“We have a lot of expectations when this system becomes a reality, because we shall come up with a control center where we shall monitor the city,” Mr Katana said.

KURA expects to install the system within the next fifteen months. I.T.S is part of the Nairobi Urban Transport Improvement Program.