Nairobi News

Motorists will start using the Nairobi Expressway on a trial basis in March of 2022, Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia has announced.

Macharia also confirmed that the partially elevated 27-kilometre highway that stretches from Mlolongo through the Uhuru Highway to the James Gichuru Road junction in Westlands that was initially to be completed in December 2022 is currently 95 per cent complete.

“We are almost there, the expressway is 95 percent complete and tests will start in March. As we speak now, most of the machinery that was being used to construct it has now been moved to construct the Langata road viaducts which will eventually help with traffic,” he said.

He further disclosed what is remaining to complete the project is auxiliary infrastructure.

Besides, the 27- toll booths are almost done, once everything is ready we will test the cashless system which will be used.

“There is a technology which they are bringing in which will require drivers to have a card that they will load in money and then they can use the expressway without stopping along with it. It will almost be continuous, if you haven’t paid, it will not open. It will be a cashless system,” added the CS.

The dual carriageway will have 11 interchanges, including the standard gauge railway terminus at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Eastern Bypass, Southern Bypass and Enterprise Road.

The expressway is a four-lane and six-lane dual carriageway within the existing median of Mombasa Road-Uhuru Highway-Waiyaki Way.

President Kenyatta launched its construction in October 2019 and it is the first public-private partnership road project in Kenya.

The concessionaire [CRBC] is responsible for designing, financing and building the expressway, and will maintain and operate it during the concession period.

The PPP arrangement allows private investors to own infrastructural projects for a given period to recoup their funds before ceding the ownership to the State.

Under the conditions published in 2020 by the national environment watchdog Nema for public review, CRBC will be required to plant trees covering double the area of public spaces affected.

CS Macharia also said new trees will be planted once major road works are completed, as that is included in the contract.

“At the moment, we cannot start planting trees because they will be damaged as major works are still ongoing. But it is within the contract … that the trees which were cut will be replaced and will be even more in number,” he said.

According to Nema, the measures will open green spaces to compensate for permanent loss of vegetation and destruction of bird habitats at Nyayo Stadium and the Westlands roundabouts.

“The proponent will collaborate with private parties and State agencies to offset the loss of vegetation by planting trees in areas such as Nairobi National Park, Uhuru Park, City Park and Arboretum, public schools and other land along the corridor,” Nema said.

Christened by some as a “road for the rich”, the project is one of key infrastructure developments undertaken during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s term in office. It links the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Westlands area. It links to the new Kangemi-Rironi four-lane dual carriageway and the new Western Bypass dual carriageway running from Wangige to Ruaka.

Construction of the road started in late 2020 and has come at a cost for businesses and residents on Mombasa Road, with motorists enduring heavy traffic snarl-ups.

On completion, the road will stretch 27km across Nairobi, and it is meant to ease traffic flows in and out of the city centre.