About 10 years ago, the entire stretch of Kiambu Road from Muthaiga Golf Club all the way to Kiambu Town had no visible building in sight.
In the recent past, there has been a population explosion with multiple residential areas springing up on what was once almost exclusively farmlands.
The rapid rise in new residential areas, including Fourways Junction, Edenville, Runda Paradise, Mushroom, Ineza, Runda Paradise, Five Star Meadows, Thindigua and Kasarini, has come with thousands of residents that fall in the middle and upper-middle-class segments, meaning the majority of the population own at least one or two cars.
The 10.8-kilometre single-lane stretch from Muthaiga Golf Club to Kiambu Town can no longer support the growth of the area, which has also seen the number of petrol stations increase from two in 2016 to eight at present.
Malls and mini-malls, car wash ventures, entertainment spots, hospitals, supermarkets and liquor stores, hotels, recreational centres, churches and schools, are sprouting, mostly within close proximity to the road.
The road also seems to have joined Langata Road and Ngong Road as a motor vehicle dealership hub, hosting dozens of car yards.
The road is synonymous with long hours of traffic. To beat this, traffic police have devised what has come to be popularly referred to as “Happy Hour”.
Borrowing from the common restaurant practice when drinks are sold at reduced prices at a certain period of the day, the Kiambu Road Happy Hour is when traffic police block vehicles joining the road from Thika Road in the morning rush hour, to allow those headed to the city centre uninterrupted out-flow on both lanes.
While this has worked to some degree, it only favours the majority, it inconveniences the minority, which in many cases includes school buses and even ambulances and police vehicles.
There are many instances when the minority are released before the majority is cleared, resulting in accidents and serious snarl-ups.
These developments heavily suggest that the area is experiencing a very high level of economic activity, that needs to be adequately supported by the government.
Development almost naturally follows roads, as transport affects almost every aspect of economic activity.
Our infrastructural development is maturing and as the new administration settles in, dualling of Kiambu Road to support the economic agenda of both Nairobi and Kiambu counties will be vital for the country’s development agenda as a matter of urgency.
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