Preliminary works on Nairobi Expressway have commenced. Main construction activities on the 27.1 Km project are scheduled for July 2020 with December 2022 as the set completion date.
The Expressway begins at Mlolongo to JKIA, Nairobi’s CBD and ends at Westlands along Waiyaki Way.
According to the Kenya National Highways Authority( KeNHA) Director-General, Engineer Peter Mundinia, this project is a public-private partnership(PPP).
The road project was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in October last year.
“We are not going to interfere with Uhuru Park and therefore there should be no concerns from the public. There is enough land to accommodate the road project,” said Eng Mundinia.
According to Engineer Mundinia, this road project is unique in Africa due to the private-public partnership arrangement with much of the materials, labour and professional expertise being sourced locally.
The new expressway, passing through Kenya’s congested capital, Nairobi, has been delayed for nearly a decade but the construction has now started. The project is a key development project as it will reduce traffic jam in the city.
The route will have two traffic lanes in either direction and will feature 10 interchanges, with a considerable portion of the expressway being elevated.
Sections of the Expressway will feature 8, 6, and 4 lanes based on projected traffic. Its primary objective is to decongest Nairobi Metropolitan by providing faster, reliable, and less costly transport.
According to the Official Twitter handle for the President’s Delivery Unit(PDU), project investors will recoup their costs through modest pay-as-you-use fees at designated toll stations. The Expressway is expected to serve at least 25,000 vehicles per day with a user expected to pay KSh 600 per day to use the road.
The roads will allow through traffic to use the expressway rather than having to pass through the city’s chronic congestion.
Construction is being carried out by the Chinese contractor China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) under the PPP model. An important feature of the new expressway will be the dedicated bus rapid transit (BRT) facilities, which will also help to improve public transport to the city.
Construction work on the expressway is ongoing despite a petition pending in court where two activists are urging for the project to be stopped. They say the design, negotiations, and planning were done secretly.
They cite some of the properties to be affected as NextGen Mall, Khalsa Primary School, sections of the Railways Club and a plot for Persons with Disabilities in Westlands.
ALSO READ;
JKIA-Westlands Expressway: The First Step Towards Solving Nairobi’s Traffic Menace?
Govt Puts Mombasa-Nairobi Expressway Project On Hold
Cabinet approves expressway project linking JKIA to Westlands
Chinese Private Investors Commit to Support JKIA-Westlands Expressway
European Lenders to Give KSh 23B for Kenya’s BRT System
