Road Network 

 

Link to the Kenya Roads Map – Kenya Roads Board Website 

Link to the Kenya Roads – Kenha Website 

According to the Kenya Roads Board (KRB), the road network in Kenya is 161,451 kilometres, which includes 21,583km of trunk roads and is valued at more than KES 1.5 trillion budget. Further, KRB data says the country has 161,451km of classified roads. 

 

Challenges in the road transport:  

1. National transport and safety authority is the agency mandated to ensure safe carriageways; however, instances of road accidents are frequent on the main transport corridors due to non-compliance by users.  

2. Ineffective/incomplete Modal Split performance of railway transport that puts a strain on the road transport, sometimes due to the different modes also not interlinking properly.   

3. Institutional Deficiencies; Transport facilities undermine ownership and management have weak and ineffective structures. Lack of capacity and shortage of resources seriously undermines their capability for good corporate governance, sound decision making and efficient management. 

 4 An increase in crude oil prices which affects the price of fuel at the pump; 

5. Climatic effects that predispose the road infrastructure to unforeseen damages e.g., Floods damaging the roads 

https://fortuneofafrica.com/kenya/challenges-facing-road-sector-in-kenya/ 

For more information on government contact details, please see the following link: 4.1 Government Contact List. 

 

Distance Matrix 

Distances from Capital City to Major Towns (km) 

	Nairobi	Mombasa	Kisumu	Eldoret	Dadaab	Lokichoggio	Moyale	Mandera
Nairobi		487	345	330	530	923	827	1039
Mombasa	487		832	798	606	1,410	1,242	1,190
Kisumu	345	832		160	875	896	951	1,179
Eldoret	330	798	160		840	621	1,102	1,145
Dadaab	530	606	875	840		1,373	862	694
Lokichoggio	923	1,410	896	612	1373		1,507	1,757
Moyale	827	1,242	951	1,102	862	1,507		606
Mandera	1.039	1,190	1,179	1,145	694	1,757	606

 

Travel Time from Capital City to Major Towns (in Days) 

	Nairobi	Mombasa	Kisumu	Eldoret	Dadaab	Lokichoggio	Moyale	Mandera
Nairobi		1	1	1	2	3	2	3
Mombasa	1		2	2	2	4	3	3
Kisumu	1	2		1	3	3	3	4
Eldoret	1	2	1		3	2	3	4
Dadaab	2	2	3	3		5	4	2
Lokichoggio	3	4	4	3	5		4 via Nyahururu	6
Moyale	2	3	3	3	4	4 via Nyahururu		2 via Bute
Mandera	3	3	4	4	2	6	2 via Bute

 

Road Security 

Security due to armed banditry is a concern in Kenya, particularly along the trade, ‘humanitarian,’ and tourist routes, i.e., Kapenguria - Kakuma - Lokichogio, Garissa - Dadaab - Liboi, Garissa - Wajir - Mandera, and Isiolo - Marsabit sections.  

Government security surveillance has improved in the sections between Kapenguria - Lokichogio and Isiolo – Marsabit. Specifically, in Kainuk the government of Kenya has deployed multi-agency unit near the Kainuk Bridge. Some sections are still porous due to banditry attacks, ethnic clashes, and inter-clan conflicts. Truck drivers prefer moving through these sections at night since identifying of cargo trucks for ambush is not that easy in the dark. 

While private operators may move unescorted within the UN Phase 3 security areas, the UN vehicles are required to hire escort services from the Kenyan Administration Police, referred to as ‘Askaris’  

NB:  

 Always check with Security agencies e.g., Police Station, Government Administration Office for updates on affected areas  

 

Weighbridges and Axle Load Limits 

The axle weight restrictions on the roads of East Africa are very strictly adhered to by the Government agencies to avoid potential damage to the roads. Currently KeNHA operates Eleven (11) static weighbridges and Twenty-Three (23) Virtual weighbridges as well as Mobile Weighbridges on selected locations on the National Trunk Roads. To ensure compliance with the set Axle Load Limits, the Authority implements two sets of Laws i.e., the Traffic Act and the East African Community Vehicle Load Control Act, 2016. The East Africa Community Vehicle Load Control (EACVLCA) 2016 is a Regional Law applicable within the EAC partner states. It harmonized the Axle Load Limits in the seven (7) member states. 

EACVLCA has a limited scope of application i.e., along the Regional Trunk Road Network (RTRN) defined in Schedule 1 of the Act. This Regional Law decriminalized overloading whereas the Traffic Act requires a party to be charged in a court of law and is applicable on all the Road Networks within the country except the RTRN. 

 The law governing the axle weight within Kenya except the Regional Trunk Road Network RTRN is under section 55 (1 & 2) of the Traffic Act, 2012 and the subsequent Legal Notice No. 93, published on 14/06/2013. These Regulations apply to all vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 3,500 Kg and above. The highlights of the regulations are as below: 

Overall Width 2.6 M 

Overall, Height 4.3 m from the road surface 

Overall length of rigid vehicle 12.5 M 

Overall length of articulated vehicles 17.4 M 

Overall length of any combination of vehicles is 22.0 M 

The allowable axle weights and gross vehicle weight is governed by the type of vehicle and its axle configuration as described on the second and third schedule of the EACVLCA 2016 and vehicle dimensions and axle configuration regulation 2018. 

The maximum allowed gross vehicle weight is 56,000 Kg. 

Any excess load on the gross or the axle shall attract an overload fee payable to the National Roads Authority. 

 

Road Class and Surface Conditions in Kenya 

Class	Description	Purpose	Roads	Paved	Unpaved	Total (in km)
S	Class – S Roads	The highway that connects two or more cities or provide a bypass through a city and carries safely a large volume of traffic at the highest speed of operation (e.g., Thika Superhighway. Nairobi Southern Bypass, Nairobi Expressway, Miritini-Mwache-Kipevu-Link Road, Mombasa Dongo Kundu Bypass)	S1, S2, S3, S4_A, S4_B	123.11	-	123.11
A	International Trunk Roads	Link centres of international importance and cross international boundaries or terminate at international ports or airports.	A1 to A14	4,551.45	1919.92	6,471.37
B	National Trunk Roads	Link nationally important centres (e.g., Provincial headquarters).	B1 to B153	7,002.87	7,959.20	14,962.07
C	Primary Roads	Link provincially important centers to each other or to higher class roads (e.g., District headquarters).	C107, C111, C115	2,693	5,164	7,857
D	Secondary Roads	Link locally important centers to each other, or to more important centers or to a higher-class road (e.g., divisional headquarters).		1,238	9,483	10,721
E	Minor Roads	Any link to a minor Centre.		577	26,071	26,649
SPR	Special Purpose Roads	Government Roads (G)  Settlement Roads (L)  Rural Access Roads (R)  Sugar Roads (S)  Tea Roads (T)  Wheat Roads (W)		100	10,376	10,476
U	Unclassified Roads	All other public roads and streets		2,318	96,623	98,941
All	Total	All public roads and streets		18,603	157,596	176200

 

Ongoing/upcoming road projects 

1. Construction of Lamu – Garissa – Isiolo – Nginyang – A1 junction (A10) road (Ongoing between Lamu and Garissa) 

2. Construction of Kitale – Morpus (A1) Road (Under Procurement) 

3. Construction of Kwa Jomvu – Mariakani (A8) Road (Ongoing) 

4. Upgrading of Isiolo - Kulamawe –Modogashe (A10/B84) road (Ongoing) 

5. Upgrading of Wajir – Tarbaj (A13) Road (Procurement ongoing) 

6. Upgrading of Tarjab – Kotulo (A13) Road (Procurement ongoing)  

7. Upgrading of Kobo – El Wak Road (Procurement ongoing) 

8. Marsabit – Segel (Ongoing) 

9. Barpello – Tot Junction – Chesegon – Kopasi River – Lomut – Sigor – Marich Pass (Ongoing) 

10. Dualling of Keno – Sagana – Marwa (A2) Road (Ongoing) 

11. Dualling of Mombasa – Mtwapa – Kwa Kadzengo – Kilifi (A7) Road (Ongoing) 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Kenya#Classification 

 

Agency	Name	Title	Telephone
KENHA	Dennis C. Higens	Road Superintendent	+254720272148
KENHA	Kevin Magati	Engineer	+254114064675
KENHA nairobi region	Eng. J. Kaburia	Director	020-4954800 / 020-2632237/ 020-2642475