President Uhuru Kenyatta has witnessed the signing of a KSh 160 Billion deal with the French VINCI Consortium that will see the upgrading of the 233-kilometre road network between Rironi in Kiambu County, through Nakuru and terminating at the Mau Summit- on the outskirts of Naivasha town.
Considered the largest Public-Private Partnership(PPP) road project in Africa, the Paris deal involves upgrading the existing Rironi-Mai Mahiu-Naivasha road to a 7-metre carriageway with 2-metre shoulders on both sides, construction of a 4Km elevated highway through Nakuru town, and construction and improvement of interchanges along this highway.
The Rironi – Mai Mahiu – Naivasha road serves the Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD) and the proposed Industrial Park in Naivasha. It also serves traffic destined to Narok, South Western Kenya and Northern Tanzania.
Parties to this PPP agreement are Kenya’s Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development & Public Works, through the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), and the French VINCI Consortium comprising of VINCI Highways SAS, Meridian Infrastructure Africa Fund (MIAF), and VINCI Concessions SAS.
VINCI Highways SAS is the largest construction company outside China whilst VINCI Concessions SAS is the largest provider of infrastructure concessions services in the world.
The Rironi – Nakuru – Mai Mahiu Road is part of the Northern Corridor, which originates in Mombasa and terminates in Malaba.
This corridor is crucial for goods and people moving between the Eastern and Western parts of Kenya, also allowing landlocked Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan to transport goods to and from the port of Mombasa.
Expansion of the Rironi-Nakuru-Mau Summit road is expected to ease congestion along this transport corridor. It is estimated that over 20,000 vehicles.
This road link is estimated to carry over 20,000 vehicles per day, an amount that is increasing at the rate of 4% per annum.
The new highway is expected to improve traffic flows, reduce road accidents and facilitate the proper management of heavy commercial vehicles.
This new road has also been designed to connect efficiently with the other traffic infrastructure systems currently in use and under construction.
Other ongoing projects along the Northern Corridor include construction of the 600km Standard Gauge Railway from Mombasa to Naivasha, expansion of the ports of Mombasa and Kisumu, construction of the Nairobi Expressway, and expansion of the James Gichuru Junction – Rironi Road, Athi River – Machakos turnoff road, and Mombasa – Mariakani Road.
The Rironi-Nakuru- Mai Mahiu road will be implemented under a PPP financing model where the concessionaire will design, finance, build, operate, and maintain the road for some time before transferring it back to the state.
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