Uhuru commissions Nairobi’s Eastern Bypass

It will soon take motorists less than 40 minutes to drive from Thika Road via Utawala to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

This comes as the expansion of the 28 km Eastern Bypass into a dual carriageway.

On Sunday, President Uhuru Kenyatta officially commissioned the 27.8 km Eastern Bypass which is the final ring road in Nairobi.

The road has been expanded from a single 2-lane road to a dual 4-lane carriageway.

The dualling of the bypass began in November 2020 after the signing of a contract between Kura and the China Communication Construction Company which will be completing the Sh12.5 billion project.

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.

The China Communication Construction Company are the contractor.

The 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.

Nairobi Eastern Bypass connects Mombasa Road to Thika Super Highway at Kamakis, traversing through Embakasi, Utawala, Ruai and Ruiru towns, and was expanded as part of sustained Government efforts to decongest Nairobi.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport James Macharia said local that the Eastern Bypass project had employed 660 youths.

"Faced with unemployment, one of the benefits we have had with this major project is employment. If some of these projects hadn’t kicked off, some people would not have Jobs,” he said.

For major road projects, the ministry has also advocated for local content where the materials are locally supplied.

The CS indicated that out of Sh12.5 billion for the Eastern Bypass, Sh5 billion was for the local content consisting of building materials.

“We insist on local content for the materials and local labour, this way the money will be pumped into the economy and once the project will be done it will attract investors,” Macharia added.

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

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 added.

The Western By pass is not yet completed.