The Ministry of Roads and Transport lines up Bungoma County for an extreme makeover

The Ministry of Roads and Transport has lined up Bungoma County for an extreme makeover as the multibillion shilling construction of airstrips and at least 600 kilometre of the road network in the county to link up with the neighbouring counties gets underway.

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said that the construction of the roads in the county will be undertaken by the country’s three road agencies- Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA).

CS Murkomen noted that of the kilometers of the road network to be done in the county, KeNHA will undertake 336.8 kilometres.

According to the CS, this includes maintenance of Mayoni-Bungoma (Kanduyi) (B139) road, Kapsokwony-Kaptama (B13) road, Bungoma -Chwele (B142) road, Webuye -Kitale (A1) road and Namwela- Kamukuywa (B142) road.

The others include the repairs of the damaged Malakisi bridge and approach roads, the routine maintenance and spot improvement of, Kapsokwony (Kaptama) JCT (A1 Kitale) (B13) road, Kimaeti Lwakhakha (B141) road, Mungatsi- Kimaeti (B141), of Junction A104 (Turbo) Junction A1 (Shikhendu) (B123) road.

Also included is the Routine Maintenance & Spot Improvement of Rwatama-Sirisia (B13) Road and the performance based maintenance of Malaba-Webuye (A8) road.

KURA is undertaking the construction of 28 kilometres of urban roads in the county which includes Bungoma, Kimilili and Webuye towns. The construction of another 30 kilometres of roads is planned for in the next financial year- 2024/25 period.

The urban roads agency is also upgrading a total of 13.5km of roads in Bungoma County under the annuity programme at a cost of Sh4.34 billion inclusive of construction, routine and periodic maintenance.

“These roads are intended to support the primary growth sectors of commerce, tourism, agriculture, rural production and extractive industries. The scope of works includes upgrading of roads to bitumen standards, drainage works and construction of walkway,” said CS Murkomen.

The CS revealed that KeRRA is also at different stages of the construction of the 264 kilometres of roads in the county at a cost of Sh9.31 billion.

The projects under KeRRA include the conventional roads, low volume seal roads and periodic maintenance with 115.54 kilometres of the roads already achieved.

Lwakhakha Border Post

CS Murkomen further revealed that in order to supplement capacity at Malaba and ease congestion, the Ministry is seeking to improve the road links leading to Lwakhakha border crossing.

“While part of the road network connecting to Lwakhakha has been under KeRRA, going forward KeNHA will be the lead agency for the network so as to raise its standard.”

The 21.6 kilometre Mungatsi- Kimaeti road, the shortest route from Lwakhakha to the A8 main road is currently of gravel standard and KeNHA has a contractor on the ground to maintain it. KeNHA also has a contractor on the ground to reinstate the Malakisi Bridge.

Madaraka and airstrip

According to the CS, some of the roads proposed for the Madaraka Day celebrations this year and have budgetary allocations are Matulo Airstrip Access Road, Makutano River Khalaba (White Rose) Road and Bungoma River Khalaba (C811).

The roads will be upgraded to bitumen standards and will be completed before the annual and rotational Madaraka Day celebrations to be marked in Bungoma town.

Axle load Control and Ease of Movement

To ensure axle load control and ease of movement, “improvements are currently being made at Webuye static weighbridge,” which the CS noted, includes high speed weigh-in-motion that is being reinstated at Webuye and will be operational by August 2024.

“With this feature, transit vehicles will be able to pass without stopping, in compliance with the Head of State Directive on weighing only at Mombasa and the border,” said the Roads CS.

He said that the Eldoret-facing weighbridge facilities are being installed at Webuye. In the past only Malaba-facing facilities were available, which meant that vehicles had to cross over to be weighed.

The new installations, the CS said, will improve safety considerably with the Webuye holding yard also being improved and a new generator set for installation for power supply to ensure there are no interruptions in weighing.

The government has also installed a virtual station at Amagoro weighbridge, which is working well according to the Roads CS.

Railway line

The Ministry is also planning to construct a medium gauge railway line for the passenger trains.

Currently, two cargo trains, which collect containers which have been delivered by the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Mombasa to Naivasha, are operated daily between Naivasha and Malaba.

To actualize this, Kenya Railways has contracted for replacement of steel railway sleepers with concrete railway sleepers and contractor is already mobilizing to start the works.

The concrete sleepers are superior and more durable than steel sleepers.

The Ministry has indicated that the eventual extension of SGR from Naivasha to Kisumu and then Malaba, will make Bungoma County a major transport hub which will boost businesses and create jobs.