Why many Kenyans still risk crossing highways instead of using footbridges

Recent arrests by NTSA and traffic police officers targeting pedestrians who cross busy highways instead of using nearby footbridges have sparked debate across Kenya.

Authorities argue that the operations are meant to reduce road deaths and protect both pedestrians and motorists.

Yet for many Kenyans, the question is not simply whether footbridges exist, but why so many people continue to ignore them even when they are only a few metres away.

The answer lies in a mix of human behaviour, urban planning, accessibility challenges, and engineering design.

Along major roads such as Thika Road, Mombasa Road, Waiyaki Way, and parts of the Nairobi Expressway corridor, it is common to see pedestrians crossing through moving traffic despite the presence of a footbridge nearby.

For someone rushing to work, school, a matatu stage, or a market, a footbridge can feel like a time-consuming detour rather than a convenient crossing point.

Many pedestrians make a quick calculation: crossing directly may take 30 seconds, while climbing a footbridge, walking across it, and descending the other side may take several minutes.

This does not make the decision safe, but it helps explain why enforcement alone may not fully solve the problem.

In many cases, footbridges are installed based on available space, road geometry, or construction costs rather than actual pedestrian movement patterns.

A bridge may be located hundreds of metres from a bus stop, shopping centre, hospital, or estate entrance. People naturally choose the shortest route between two points, even if that route is dangerous.

Most footbridges in Kenya require users to climb long flights of stairs.

For elderly people, pregnant women, persons with disabilities, parents carrying children, or traders transporting goods, this can be physically demanding.

Where ramps or lifts are missing, some pedestrians feel excluded from using the infrastructure altogether.

Poor lighting, isolated approaches, and limited security make some footbridges uncomfortable to use, especially early in the morning or late at night.

Pedestrians may prefer crossing an open road where they feel more visible than walking through a deserted elevated structure.

During peak hours, some heavily used footbridges become crowded with commuters and hawkers, slowing movement considerably.

This creates the perception that crossing at road level is faster and more convenient.

Pedestrians who dash across multi-lane highways force drivers to brake suddenly, swerve, or change lanes abruptly.

This can trigger chain-reaction collisions involving private cars, matatus, buses, and motorcycles.

On high-speed roads, drivers may have only a few seconds to react, meaning a single illegal crossing can endanger dozens of road users simultaneously.

According to road safety experts, pedestrian-related incidents remain one of the leading contributors to fatalities on Kenyan roads, particularly in urban areas with heavy commuter traffic.

One of the most common complaints from road users is that many Kenyan footbridges are not straight.

Instead, they may have long ramps, S-shaped approaches, spiral sections, or curved walkways that appear unnecessarily complicated.

The design is usually intentional.

A footbridge must rise high enough for trucks, buses, and other tall vehicles to pass underneath safely.

Kenyan highway standards generally require significant vertical clearance between the road surface and the underside of the bridge.

If engineers built a short, straight bridge to reach that height, the stairs or ramps would become extremely steep and difficult to use.

By making the approach longer or curved, the same height can be gained gradually, producing a gentler slope that is safer and easier for most pedestrians.

Where ramps are provided, engineers must maintain a manageable gradient so that wheelchair users, cyclists pushing bicycles, and people with limited mobility can use the structure.

A straight ramp rising five or six metres would require a very long horizontal distance. Curving or looping the ramp allows that distance to fit within a smaller piece of land.

Major roads are often surrounded by buildings, service lanes, drainage channels, utility lines, and matatu stages.

A straight bridge approach might require demolishing adjacent structures or interfering with existing infrastructure.

Curved approaches help engineers work around these obstacles without significantly disrupting the surrounding environment.

Curved or staggered approaches can help control pedestrian speed, improve visibility at entry and exit points, and distribute structural loads more effectively across the bridge supports.

In some locations, the curved design also prevents users from walking directly into fast-moving traffic immediately after descending from the bridge.