This archive report was first published on 28 December 2021.
On a trip to China in 2019, Kenya's Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia and his team were impressed by the country's well-laid-out road system. The visit was part of a tour to finalize issues related to the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) system.
During a dinner meeting with Chinese officials, Macharia and his team commended the 'fantastic' status of a particular highway, only to be informed that the same company they were meeting had done the road.
‘They told us the road is on their balance sheet, it is their road; the same company which we had gone to see for the SGR,’ Macharia said.
The company's president had previously been stuck in a traffic jam for two and a half hours from JKIA to Nairobi's CBD, which made him receptive to the idea of building a similar road in Kenya.
‘So it did not require a lot of convincing for him to know we have a problem in terms of traffic and that the problem can be converted into an opportunity,’ Macharia noted.
After settling into an agreement with the company, Macharia explained that the company did not hesitate to commence the mega-project towards the end of the same year.
They sent a team to do a census of the vehicle passing through Mombasa Road from JKIA and counted about 30,000 vehicles. They fitted it in their financial model and we confirmed it.
The 27.1-kilometer elevated dual carriageway, which has 8-lanes, is expected to decongest Mombasa Road and reduce travel time between Mlolongo and Westlands to 20 minutes after completion in March next year.
