2021: The year that saw Nairobi turn into key infrastructural site

Traffic jams in Nairobi are now estimated to cost the Kenyan economy Sh100 billion every year, which would translate to about Sh11 million per hour.

To ease up the traffic, the government embarked on various projects, that when completed, will be a game changer for the capital and its five million residents.

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said Nairobi's infrastructural projects are part of President of Uhuru Kenyatta's commitment to ensure he has left a city with no traffic congestion.

"We are doing a lot of work more than we even expected to have done more by this time," he said.

"If you move in almost every part of Nairobi you will see roads being constructed. We are doing this to make Nairobi a better place."

Informal settlements in Nairobi  have suffered from poor road network making accessibility of critical services and other essentials a severe challenge.

This has led to difficulties in emergency and disaster response, including fire outbreaks and other emergency services hampered by inaccessibility

In February, the government embarked on a project that would open up the slum by constructing access road.

The project being implemented by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority at a cost of Sh5.8 billion will see 408. 44km of roads set up to carbo or bitumen standards.

The upgrading of 408.44km of roads will include 70km in Mukuru, Dagoretti-30km, Kawangware-22.6km, Kangemi-41km, Kibera-22.8km, Korogocho-13.6km  and Mathare-18.2km.

On completion next year March, the project will be a game changer in the slums that have suffered from poor road networks making accessibility of critical services easier. 

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the government embarked on a project which is set to end the much experienced traffic jam along Mombasa Road and Waiyaki Way.

The Expressway project is a 27.1km road project beginning from Mlolongo through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Nairobi’s CBD to Westland’s area along Waiyaki Way.

When construction started along Mombasa Road an Waiyaki Way, motorists spent hours on the road due to traffic jams brought by the diversions.

This showed the intensity of the project that costs Sh72 billion that is a purely public-private Partnership with no debt incurred by the government.

China Communications Construction Company, the parent firm of China Road and Bridge Corporation, is the one funding and building the highway .

Initially, the project was to take four years but the government shortened it to two years, thus contractors working 24 hours on site.

The Nairobi Expressway, which is currently at 76.4 per cent completion, will have a four-lane and six-lane dual carriageway within the existing median of Mombasa Road, Uhuru Highway, and Waiyaki Way, as well as 10 interchanges.

The section between the Eastern and Southern bypasses will be a six-lane dual carriageway while the section from to the Eastern Bypass and that from the Southern Bypass to James Gichuru will be a four-lane dual carriageway.

Once complete, it will be the first Expressway built in East and Central Africa and the second largest toll road in Africa after the Dakar Toll Highway.

The double-decker road is the equivalent of having half of the Thika Superhighway suspended above Uhuru Highway and the city's main traffic artery.

The project has also provided opportunities as some 6,000 people have been employed since its construction commenced in July 2020.

Motorists will be expected to pay between Sh100 and Sh1,550 in toll charges, depending on the size of the vehicle and the distance covered.

Macharia said that the Expressway is the most sophisticated infrastructure project the government has ever done due to its location and the impact it has.

However, the benefits are expected to be massive including improved connectivity for the transport of goods, services and people between Nairobi and the entire Northern Corridor.

Test runs on the road will take place in March next year as the President is expected to commission the project in June.

Another plan by the government is to make it possible and easy for motorists to transverse Nairobi without getting into the congested Central Business District and the city centre.

The dualling of the 16km Western Bypass is almost complete.

The 15.3km road will pass through several towns which include Gitaru, Wangige, Ndenderu and Ruaka, and is the fourth and final ring road in the Nairobi Ring Road Network Masterplan.

The project works  also include the construction of about 17.31km of service roads and construction of seven grade interchanges at Gitaru, Lower Kabete, Wangige, Kihara, Ndenderu, Rumenye and Ruaka.

This means that if one is coming from Thika, one will o through Muthaiga, then through Red Hill, and join the Bypass at Ruaka, and then you can go towards the west without having to go through the city centre.

Construction works have also started to upgrade the 28km Eastern Bypass to a dual carriageway.

The project is expected to ease traffic along the busy Eastern Bypass, which serves the eastern side of Nairobi and diverts traffic from the city centre.

At a cost of Sh12.5 billion, the dualing of the bypass will make some sections have four lanes and others six.

The Eastern Bypass starts at City Cabanas along Mombasa Road, linking motorists through Ruai towards Ruiru, passing over Thika Road to Ruaka where it joins the Northern bypass.

The Nairobi Eastern bypass dualling project was among 11 major infrastructure initiatives Kenya showcased to international investors during the Belt and Road forum in Beijing in May 2017.

With the project expected to be completed mid next year, Kura will also install amenities such as pedestrian walkways and streetlights.

Northern Bypass is described to be one of Kenya government’s major infrastructure projects aimed at making the country a regional business hub.

The 31-km bypass starts from Ruaka trading centre along Limuru Road, overpasses Banana Road through Runda and Thome estates. It then proceeds to Kahawa West and eventually to Ruiru through Kamae, where it joins the Eastern Bypass.

The China Road and Bridge Corp constructed the Nairobi Southern Bypass and was completed in 2016.

The 28.6-km bypass dual carriageway begins on the southern edges along Nairobi-Mombasa Road, passes through Gitaru in the northern part of the town and connects to the Western Bypass.

Kura has also managed to construct about 300km of roads in small towns and estates within Nairobi.