By Christopher Omondi.
Coptic roundabout, as is commonly known to residents of Kisumu County, is along the Kisumu-Kakamega Road and has hit the headlines in recent times as a result of the latest accidents.
The truth is, the place has been a black spot for a while and a lot of lives are being lost at the spot daily. This has made the members of my community of Kisumu County ask more questions about the state of the roundabout itself as so much life has been lost on the same spot to blame it on something else.
The biggest concern raised is always concerning the size of the roundabout as many people consider it too big; it occupies so much space for the big vehicles to control and as a result, the numerous accidents.
According to Moses Imbayi who is a regular user of the route the road is small and he urges KENHA to do something soon. “The big issue with this place is that the roundabout is bigger than the road, making the space even smaller for bigger vehicles to turn and as a result most of them roll over to people’s houses, leading to deaths.’’
In the wake of the latest accidents that claimed 26 lives with 28 more left injured, the Governor of Kisumu County, speaking to the media, acknowledged that a lot of lives have been lost and called for the redesign of the road while also claiming to be in talks already with the national government on the issue.
With reports on the main stream media concerning the recent vandalization and destruction of the roundabout by unknown individuals making it more riskier for users, KENHA had to respond fast enough and have announced through the Agency’s Deputy Director of Corporate Communication, Samwel Kumba, “The authority seeks to develop a design that addresses the prevailing safety challenges while ensuring efficiency for both motorists and pedestrians’’, this is according to his interview with the star newspaper.
The Kenya Highways Authority (KENHA) shared an update on their social media account X on 16th August to confirm the reconfiguration of the Coptic roundabout with the main purpose of accommodating various road user attributes. They also claimed that a topographical survey data collection, which represents the physical features of an area, is underway to aid in the reconfiguration.
