This archive report was first published on 4 October 2021.
Published on October 4, 2021, the Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) announced plans to open sections of the Nairobi Expressway to ease traffic congestion on Mombasa Road.
The move aims to provide relative ease of movement and safety for motorists, particularly those on Mombasa Road, Uhuru Highway, and Waiyaki Way, who have been experiencing gridlocks since last year's construction of the Expressway linking Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to Westlands.
KeNHA intends to widen the angles of diversion points to ease vehicle movement and open lanes previously closed at Syokimau and Mlolongo area. Improvements on two directional U-turns at Mlolongo will also be done.
Motorists are advised to expect congestion on areas along Game Masters (GM) and the Bunyala – Haille Selasie Round About as Chinese contractors accelerate construction of the 64.8 kilometer Expressway, the first of its kind in East and Central Africa.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia stated that the construction of the Sh65 billion Expressway will be completed by May next year, with the project being 65 per cent complete. It is the first Private Public Partnership (PPP) project in Kenya, financed and constructed by China Road and Bridge Corporation.
State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita clarified that the project was purely a PPP with no debt incurred by the government, stating, “This project fits in the Nairobi Masterplan and no single fund has been borrowed by the government. It is purely PPP.”
