Eastern Bypass dualling 30% done, completion set for June

The expansion of the Sh12.5 billion Eastern Bypass has made good progress with completion status at 30 per cent.

The dualing of the 27km road from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Ruiru is set to be completed in June this year.

During an inspection tour on Friday, Transport CS James Macharia said the state was contented with the progress of the project which started in November last year.

“The purpose is to make sure we can complete this project by June this year. The contractor is working hard to make sure the road is complete,” he added.

Kenya Urban Roads Authority and the China Communication Construction Company are working together on the project.

Last October, the state borrowed Sh2 billion for the project which stretches from Mombasa Road to the Thika Superhighway.

The CS said that the dualling was vital as the project links East Africa to the Great North Road.

He said the bypass was also a link to the United Nations at Gigiri where concerns had been raised over lack of evacuation space.

“UN had raised concerns that during an emergency they can't evacuate their people from Gigiri to the airport,” Macharia said.

The CS said the state had earlier constructed the bypass as a single carriage due to financial constraints but there were plans to one day dual it.

“Many roads are done as a single carriage due to budget constraints,” Macharia added.

GIBB consultants were tapped by Kura to carry out a feasibility study on the project and presented their preliminary detailed designs for the dualling work in April 2017.

Nairobi traffic jams are estimated to cost the Kenyan economy Sh100 billion every year, or about Sh11 million per hour.

The project will include installation of other amenities like street lights and walkways along the bypass.

The CS said such infrastructural projects are beneficial to Kenyans as they create employment and promote local suppliers.

He said the Eastern Bypass project has employed 660 youths while 6,000 were contracted for the expressway.

"If some of these projects hadn’t kicked off, some people would not have jobs,” he said.

The ministry has also advocated for local sourcing of materials for the road projects.

The CS said out of Sh12.5 billion for the Eastern Bypass, Sh5 billion was for the local sourcing of building materials.

“We insist on local materials and labour, this way the money will be pumped back into the economy,” he said.

The road, one of the Vision 2030 infrastructure projects, was designed during the grand coalition government.

The dualling of the road is part of 11 infrastructure projects that the Kenyan government delegation showcased to global investors during the two-day Belt and Road Forum for International Co-operation in Beijing, China, in May 2017.

The Ministry of Transport is set to complete works on four bypasses, with motorists expected to start using the roads from January next year.

The eastern, western, northern and southern bypasses will significantly cut the time motorists spend on unending traffic snarl-ups as they transit through the CBD to their destinations.

"Eventually, we shall have an iconic piece of infrastructure once complete and this is what we want to leave as a legacy,” Macharia said.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)

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