Each time
I’ve visited the UK over the last few years, I’ve had various people tell me
about the potholes there. Admittedly, I don’t spend that much time there and
haven’t driven on every road (!), but I’m not sure that I could say that I’ve
seen any real potholes! Perhaps a few places where the edge of the road was
breaking up a bit, or the occasional ‘dimple’ in the road surface. Nairobi on
the other hand…. Whilst Nairobi roads are a lot better than you’d find
elsewhere across this Continent (driving in the DRC is quite an artform!),
potholes quickly form, and then turn into craters (which are then left that way for varying periods of time). My own road has certainly been that way.
With all the road construction in the area (for 2 years now!), involving the
digging up of tarmacked road surfaces (and not much in the way of relaying
tarmac!), the main traffic through the area has been diverted along Matumbato.
Hence, the road surface has deteriorated faster than it normally would. Within
about 200 metres of my gate, there must been in the region of 20-30 craters in the
road, requiring cars to take a slalom course in order to avoid the worst of
them, or occupants being thrown around in the car when that wasn’t possible (with who
knows what damage to the car’s suspension and shock abosorbers). One spanned the entire width of the road, and
was on a bend, making it additionally difficult to negotiate. On one occasion,
I was behind a car that had been forced to go across it, due to traffic coming
the other way. With his front wheels in the hole, he then faced a problem of
how to get out again!
The other
day, I walked along that section of road with my camera, trying to capture the
scale of the problem. I don’t think the photos give a true picture, but at
least offer some idea of what a potholed road really looks like!
Bizarrely, within a week of my taking them, repair work started (maybe I should have taken my camera out sooner?), with workers breaking up rocks to fill them, and presumably at a later stage, tarmac being put over the top. I wonder if that’ll be the case along the entire length of the road – there are many more craters going the other way!
 |
| Just outside my gate |
 |
| Work started to repair the road outside the office gate. Not sure how long it'll last! |
1 comment:
Ahhh, Nairobi potholes. There's one on the Waiyaki Way slipway (just east of the Toyota dealership) that's been there for at least a couple of decades. "Volunteers" occasionally fill it with dirt that I'm sure comes from digging new potholes somewhere else. I though it was quite interesting that the potholes in your 3rd and 4th pictures were shaped like the African continent. Symbolic?
Post a Comment