Traffic at snail's pace on Waiyaki Way following Thursday evening rains

The traffic, at the moment, has only affected only one side of the highway – impacting movement of vehicles towards the general direction of Nairobi town.

“The traffic started around 3pm just as it started raining. I have been held up in traffic for nearly two hours,” said a motorist who identified himself as Allan Kamau.

The Kenya Meteorological department on Thursday issued a communication regarding the coming rains.

In its announcement, the MET department warned of heavy rainfall in areas including Rift Valley and Nairobi from Thursday, May 2 to Sunday, May 4 – and which would spread to northern parts of Kenya on 3-5 May 2024.

The Thursday evening rains, accompanied by strong winds and darkened skies, seemed to have caused panic among motorists and pedestrians in Nairobi.

Office workers could be seen attempting to rush home from work – as tens of Matatus and other Public Service vehicles plying the upcountry routes rushed to beat traffic that was slowly building up along Waiyaki Way.

The brief rains left a section of Westlands old roundabout area flooded – therefore slowing down traffic.

Hundreds of pedestrians are currently stuck in various bus stops around Westlands; ABC, Safaricom stage, Sarit, Mosque, Uthiru, Kangemi, Kinoo.

Waiyaki way is largely the main conduit into Nairobi for motorists coming from the Western side of the capital.