Nairobi Traffic Alert: Key Road Closures and Diversions for Sunday's Stanchart Marathon

Nairobi Traffic Commandant Joseph Chirchir has announced extensive traffic diversions and temporary road closures across key transit arteries in the capital ahead of the 2026 Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon scheduled for Sunday, October 25.

The annual event is set to draw tens of thousands of local and international runners, prompting security and traffic management plans to safeguard athletes along the designated routes.

Addressing media representatives during an official security briefing, Commandant Chirchir confirmed that over 30,000 participants, including 1,000 foreign athletes, will take to the course, necessitating a full operational lockdown of the Southern Bypass and adjacent feeder connections.

To ensure the safety of runners and maintain orderly vehicle movement across the Nairobi metropolitan area, traffic police officers and marshals will redirect motorists away from the main marathon circuit along several key routes.

Outlining the specific traffic management plan during the press briefing, Nairobi County Traffic Commandant Joseph Chirchir stated: “The Stanchart Marathon 2026 is here with us. It is scheduled to be on 25th October, that's on this Sunday. We have been informed that we have about 30,000 participants, including 1,000 foreigners. For the safety of this large number of participants, we will temporarily close the Southern Bypass road, and we will make the following diversions.”

Detailing the alternative routes for motorists travelling from different parts of the city and surrounding counties, Chirchir added: “All the vehicles coming from the Mombasa direction will divert at Ole Sereni to use Mombasa Road towards the CBD. The second diversion will be that all the vehicles coming from the ICT will divert to Mombasa Road, find their way to Mombasa Road and to the CBD. Vehicles coming from Western Kenya, that's the Kikuyu Bypass direction, we will divert them to use the main James Gichuru Road towards the CBD and all the way to Mombasa.

“Vehicles coming from the Lang'ata direction will not be able to join the Southern Bypass, but they will go directly to Lang'ata Road then to the CBD. All the vehicles coming from Karen will also not be able to join the Southern Bypass; instead, they will go via Dagoretti, Ngong Road to the CBD.”

The traffic department has mobilised heavy personnel deployments, combining traffic police officers, administrative security, and event marshals, to direct drivers at key intersections and ensure compliance with the early morning diversions.

Emphasising the timeline for setting up the race infrastructure and implementing the road blockades, Commandant Chirchir explained: “This one will allow us to secure the safety of the participants so that we guarantee their safety. We will deploy enough police officers and traffic marshals to give those diversions and signals.”

“So we will close the roads at midnight on Saturday. So from Saturday midnight, we will make those diversions so that we allow the team to do their setup, so that by Sunday very early in the morning, we start the race,” he added.

Traffic authorities urged participants to arrive early and strictly adhere to their assigned wave start times to prevent delays in reopening public roads to commercial and personal transport.

Issuing a stern directive on race management and confirming when normal traffic flow will resume, Chirchir stated: “What we are urging the participants to do is to organise to start the race on time so that by 12 noon we will be able to start opening the roads. So those participants who will be joining the race, as not indicated on their start time, will not be allowed to wander within the route until 2 p.m. and beyond. We are assuring Kenyans that by 2 p.m. will be able to open the roads for public.”

The Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon continues to serve as a major national athletic platform, raising funds for community initiatives such as the 'Futuremakers' program, which supports disadvantaged youth and female entrepreneurs.

Motorists planning to navigate through Nairobi on Sunday morning are strongly advised to use designated alternative routes, allow for extra travel time, or postpone non-essential trips until full road reopening at 2:00 p.m.