• The 16.79km road is being built by China Road and Bridge Corporation.
• The project is expected to be ready in 39 months.
Image: VICTOR IMBOTO
The construction of the Sh17 billion Nairobi Western Bypass has started.
The 16.79km road starts at Gitaru and will link the Southern Bypass with the Northern Bypass at Ruaka on completion. It is the fourth and final ring road in Nairobi.
The China Exim Bank-funded project is being built by China Road and Bridge Corporation. The Kenya government will compensate people whose land has been acquired for the project.
The construction of the Sh17 billion Nairobi Western Bypass has started. See story https://bit.ly/2G46IQJ
Engineer George Amingh said the road will be a four-way expressway. “Motorists will drive at a speed of 80km per hour on the expressway,” he said.
The project began on March 15 and is expected to last 39 months.
Amingh said the compensation report will be ready in the next three weeks.
The bypass includes a 25km service roads and seven interchanges at Gitaru, Lower Kabete, Wangige, Kihara, Ndenderu, Rumingi, and Ruaka.
Amingh said four footbridges will be erected at already determined locations. Services such as water, electricity, and communication lines have not been moved from the corridor where the road is set to cut through.
"Eighty per cent of the corridor is available for the contractor to proceed with work,” Amingh said during the tour of the site.
He was accompanied by Eric Yu, CRBC's project manager and the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) assistant corporate communication director Charles Njogu.
Noise barriers will be fitted in all human settlement areas as a way of having an enhanced environmentally compatible highway, Amingh said. There will be paved deviations along the construction route to ensure smooth traffic flow and to reduce dust.
The deviation routes will be retained for future use by residents along the corridor. Eleven traffic bridges and pedestrian underpasses will also be provided.
Amingh said a steel barrier will be erected to prevent pedestrian crossings except on footpaths and underpasses.
He said a bus park will be put up at Wangige to enhance public transport efficiency and ease congestion. Bus bays will be provided in all major existing commercial centres and settlement areas.
Separate footpaths and cycle tracks will be provided to ensure that there is no conflict between motorised traffic and road users.
Other bypasses in Nairobi are Nairobi Southern Bypass, Nairobi Northern Bypass, and Nairobi Eastern Bypass. The Western Bypass will complete a ring around the city.
Amingh said once complete, the bypass will alleviate traffic congestion in the Central Business District.
The government contracted China Road and Bridge Corporation in April 2017 through KeNHA.
Amingh said the relocation of services such as power lines remains a challenge. However, discussions are underway with Kenya Power managers.
"We are only likely to seek compensation at the locations of the seven interchanges which comprises 20 per cent of the length of the road," he said.
The absence of National Land Commission officials could, however, affect the project as the agency plays a critical role in compensation. The term of the first crop of commissioners lapsed on February 19, this year.