Motorists and passengers were left stranded for more than 15 hours after heavy traffic brought movement along the Nakuru-Eldoret Highway to an almost complete standstill.

The congestion was reported from around 9pm on Friday, August 28, with long queues continuing into Saturday along the Sachangwan-Salgaa stretch.

Travellers reported spending hours on the road as vehicles moved at an extremely slow pace, with some motorists saying traffic was barely moving.

The congestion affected several routes, including the Nairobi-Nakuru, Nakuru-Eldoret and Kisumu-Busia corridors, leaving hundreds of travellers facing major delays.

Traffic officers were deployed to try to restore movement, but their efforts were reportedly unable to prevent the situation from worsening.

The traffic jam affected both lanes of the single-carriageway section, making it difficult for vehicles to move freely.

The exact cause of the massive congestion was not immediately established. However, ongoing road construction, lane indiscipline and overlapping were reported to have contributed to the problem.

The affected section is also located along the wider Rironi-Mau Summit corridor, where major construction works are currently underway.

The Ksh184 billion Rironi-Mau Summit Highway project is being developed in phases and is expected to expand the road into a six-lane highway.

The first phase covers the Rironi-Naivasha-Gilgil section as well as the Rironi-Mai Mahiu-Naivasha route. It is expected to be completed by June 2027.

Once completed, the expanded highway is expected to reduce travel times, ease congestion and improve transport links towards western Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

For travellers caught in the latest gridlock, however, the long wait highlighted the continuing traffic challenges along one of Kenya’s busiest transport corridors.