City footbridge continues to pose danger to pedestrians

The footbridge situated around ABC Place – and just opposite the Aga Khan Secondary School – is used by hundreds of people both in the day and at night.

Pedestrians who use the footbridge to cross the road risk toppling over should they lose a step. This is because a major section of the guardrails have been uprooted.

According to residents who spoke to Wananchi Reporting, the guardrails that are supposed to protect users from falling over were stolen over one year ago.

“Old people, children or people living with disability cannot cross easily without being aided because they can easily slip and fall. Others can just topple out of fear of heights,” said Anton Kijana who works along the Waiyaki Way.

It poses danger especially to people who fear heights – or are prone to suffer dizziness or seizures.

Old people who may have a problem with balance often find it challenging to use the footbridge.

“Sometimes you need something to hold, but here we have none. That’s why you will find people choosing to use the other end of the footbridge that has guardrails,” says Kijana.

In 2022, the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA) called on pedestrians using Waiyaki Way to utilise the footbridge.

Residents say that the number of pedestrians has increased tenfold ever since a wire mesh barrier was erected sometime in 2022 to prevent pedestrians from crossing the highway at undesignated areas.

Residents are asking the Highways Authority to erect guardrails to protect pedestrians using the footbridge.