Motorists are incurring losses running into millions of shillings every week due to the perennial traffic snarl-ups along the Mai Mahiu-Limuru road.

The most affected are heavy commercial vehicles heading to neighbouring countries, tour drivers and Public Service Vehicles that ply along the road.

A truck driver Sam Makhoha noted that weekly jams on the road were costing them a fortune, with many hours lost and perishable goods going to waste.

He noted that the road that was constructed in 1942, by Italian prisoners of war could no longer handle the high traffic, leading to the costly snarl-ups.

“Motorists are getting scared of using this road, as it’s impossible to maneuver in case of an accident and this always leads to massive traffic jams,” he said.

Kamau Njuguna, a director with the East Africa Chamber of Commerce, said the road was critical as it was the main gateway to Rift Valley.

He said that the road also lead to Maasai Mara and Western Kenya, terming it as critical to the economy of the country and thus the need to expand it.

“The jam has been worsened by overlapping drivers but the only way to fully address this problem lies in expanding it,” he said.

Earlier, Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui and his Narok counterpart Samuel Tunai challenged the government to give the road a priority and expand it as the current condition was affecting businesses.