Why some city estates have no pedestrian walks
The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) was on the receiving end online after claiming that construction of footpaths in city estates is dependent on the availability of space and funds.
The authority was responding to an inquiry by a user who was concerned about a new road that did not have pedestrian walkways.
The user posed; “Also who is responsible for the pedestrian walkway construction when a road is done? KURA or counties?”
The authority replied; “The walkways are components within the entire project depending on availability of funds and space available along the road corridor, thus it is not a responsibility of another institution.”
The response provoked reactions with one user writing; “Sijaelewa vizuri. So the space allocated for pedestrians (who are the majority) to walk is subject to availability of funds and space? What about the space that shall be allocated to cars. What is that space subject to?”
Kura communication manager John Cheboi explained that most city estate roads were allocated less space for footpaths during planning.
“The minimum space required for a road is 6metres with a drainage of at least 1.5metres. So if an estate road was allocated 9metres as most were and we construct two drainages on both sides we have already consumed the 9metres so the only way to create a walk way is by covering the drainages which is subject to funds,” he explained.
Cheboi added that the authority in some instances has received goodwill from residents who surrender land where the walkways can be built.
“In places where there is space we even do cycle lanes so we try as much as possible to have roads that consider pedestrians and even cyclers,” he said.