10 million vehicles have used Nairobi Expressway since its launch
Moja Expressway which operates the Nairobi Expressway on Tuesday celebrated a significant milestone of the project.
The 27-kilometre expressway, which was launched in July 2022, has seen the use of at least 10 million vehicles since it opened.
Moja Expressway Company Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Steve Zhao said this shows the reliability and efficiency of the expressway.
“Am very happy to announce that as of today the total number of vehicles that have used the Nairobi expressway stands at 10 million,” he said.
He expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Transport and the Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) for their role in the actualization of the project.
He added that about 50,000 vehicles use the toll road daily, a five-fold jump since it was opened for public trial on May 14.
It is, however, not immediately apparent whether the stated number quantifies unique vehicles or is a computation of total passes.
“Apparently on average 50,000 vehicles make use of the Expressway in every working day which is a five-time increment from the beginning of the trial of the structure. This shows that the Expressway has indeed created a reliable route in the existing transport networks and effective means to address congestion in Nairobi,” he said.
State Department of Roads Principal Secretary Joseph Mbugua praised the Nairobi Expressway project.
“The Public Private Partnership Act enables us to hasten development by tapping opportunities within the private sector. This provision, as witnessed in the expressway, maybe the way to go with other major developments like the Mombasa-Nairobi highway and the Nyali bridge, among others.”
Kenha Director General Kungu Ndung’u described the expressway as a “game-changer for the seamless connectivity and decongestion of roads.”
Ndung’u added, “We are celebrating a successful project which we hope will encourage other investors to come in, not only in roads but also other sectors.”
The Sh89 billion class A road is a four-lane dual carriage double-decker with a design speed of 80 kilometres per hour, has 11 tolling stations and 54 toll plazas that are equipped with a total of 126 cameras.
It has 11 exchanges at Mlolongo, the standard gauge railway (SGR) station, JKIA, Eastern Bypass, Southern Bypass, Capital Centre, Haile Selassie Avenue, Museum Hill, Westlands, and James Gichuru Road.
Motorists pay between Sh120 and Sh1,800 at the point of exit, depending on the vehicle size and the distance covered.
The Nairobi Expressway is one of the several public-private partnerships.
Moja Expressway will operate the toll road for 27 years before handing it over to the Kenya National Highway Authority (Kenha).