How Nairobi Roads were Named
In the process of going through many potholes reports via #whatisaroad hashtag, I did note that roads suffices varied. Some were referred to as streets, avenues, way et cetera. I did a little digging and found some interesting reasons to the naming.
A road — the word road doesn’t have any special meaning, it is a general definition of a passage connecting point a to point b. However, the other designations have special meanings.
An Avenue runs north to south and normally serves as a median for a city. You’ll notice Moi avenue runs north to south and divides Nairobi CBD into its two distinctive halves. Kenyatta avenue also cuts the city into halves although it doesn’t run north to south.
A street connects buildings together, usually in a city, usually east to west opposite an avenue. Muindi Mbingu street runs perpendicular to Kenyatta Avenue where it joins it at ICEA building. This is same for Loita Street and Koinange Street.
A lane is a narrow street usually lacking a median. Lanes normally form back routes in Nairobi. Example, Kimathi Lane which shadows Kimathi street, Government Lane shadowing Tom Mboya Street.
A drive is a private, winding road. Two good example are Muthangari drive and Riverside drive which are both winding and must have been private roads during the colonial period.
A way is a small out of the way road. Perhaps the only road that maintains the name is Waiyaki. Though not a small road today, it was small road during the colonial era as the principle road to Western Kenya was via Naivasha road in Dagoretti.
A highway is a major public road, usually connecting multiple cities. This is obvious — Uhuru highway, Mombasa highway.
A causeway combines roads and bridges, usually to cross a body of water. Nairobi has no causeway but Mombasa city does — the makupa causeway.
A walk is a road that was converted to a walking path or sidewalk. The only example in Nairobi CBD is Aga Khan walk.
A grove is a path/road thickly sheltered by trees. You’ll find numerous groves in Westlands area of Nairobi — woodvale grove, school grove et cetera. Eastlands area has no groves perhaps due to lack of trees.
A bypass passes around a populated area to divert traffic. The are three bypasses in Nairobi namely; Southern bypass, Northern bypass and Eastern bypass.
