Relief as conversion of Ngong Road into dual carriageway to start in April
The much-anticipated conversion of Ngong Road into a dual carriageway will commence in April, the government has announced.
The announcement was made Wednesday by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) after the contract was awarded to World Kaihatsu Kogyo(WKK) Ltd, a Japanese based construction company.
The company emerged the lowest bidder beating two other prequalified companies Konoike and Toda Construction Companies, according to Silas Kinoti, the KURA’s acting director general.
The negotiated contract was signed in Tokyo, Japan on January 14, 2016 at a cost of Sh1.3 billion (1,454,900,000 JPY) in a ceremony attended among others Roads Secretary Philemon Kilimo, Mr Kinoti and Kenya’s ambassador to Japan S.K. Maina.
“Phase 1 of the project covers 2.6km which starts from the Kenya National Library to Kilimani Ring Road Junction,” said Mr Kinoti.
“The project will provide a median to be developed later for Bus Rapid Transport or Light railway. It will also include the installation of street lights, intelligent traffic signals and walkways for pedestrians.”
The project is sponsored through a grant from the Japanese Government through its Economic Cooperation Program Project. Supervision will be carried out by Katahira and Engineers International.
The new-look road is expected to ease the traffic jam experienced along Ngong Road.
Conversion of Langata Road into a dual carriageway is also underway, while works to transform Outer Ring Road into a superhighway started last year.
