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A long-distance cargo truck passes through one of the recently installed high-motion sensors to detect load weight and ensure compliance with strictly enforced load weight for both local and transit transporters at the Gilgil weighbridge. Photo/Erastus Gichohi.

KENHA automates weighbridges to ease traffic congestion in Northern Corridor

News / Fri, 12/13/2024 - 09:35
KNA by Erastus Gichohi

The Kenya National Highway Authority (KENHA) has fully automated weighbridges along the Northern Corridor, a strategic move aimed at addressing persistent traffic congestion. 

The corridor, which connects the Port of Mombasa to landlocked countries like Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan, is crucial for regional trade.

However, frequent traffic jams and long queues for both personnel and trucks at weighbridges have been a major challenge to both motorists and cargo transporters.

In response, KENHA has installed high-speed weighing sensor systems at key weighbridges, including those at Gilgil, Mai Mahiu, and Suswa as well as has increased the number of mobile weighbridges along the corridor to improve efficiency. 

These measures come in the wake of recent incidents where motorists have spent several hours on the busy route and have led to calls by Kenyans to the government to improve efficiency on the highway.

Danka Africa Kenya Limited, the company contracted to manage the weighbridges have now reported a load compliance rate of 99 per cent among local and transit truck drivers. 

According to the company’s Assistant Operations Manager Jackson Kimuyu, 99 per cent of trucks passing through the corridor now undergo preliminary filtering through the automated system. 

“The stringent measures implemented along the highway have curbed overloading, particularly among local transporters who have in the past flouted weight rules,” Kimuyu said.

The manager noted that all cargo transporters using the corridor must comply with local and East African laws that set limits to weight load to safeguard the crucial road network.

KENHA’s automation initiative aligns with broader efforts to modernize infrastructure, enhance trade efficiency, and reduce logistics costs in the region. 

The noble initiative by the highway authority seeks to complement government efforts to expand the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), from Naivasha to the Uganda-Malaba border.