- The Sh87 billion, 27.1km road was financed and built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation under the public-private partnership model
- He said the strategic location of the exit plaza near the Haile Selassie roundabout will ensure easy access to key government offices
Image: TWITTER/X
Motorists can now easily access Nairobi CBD from the Expressway following the opening of a new five-lane exit plaza at the Greenpark terminus.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the new exit will provide smooth access to the Central Business District and put Kenya's first and only toll road under maximum use.
"Many people appreciate the importance of the Expressway but a lot of them feel the value of this road is being underutilized because of exits that are far away from the CBD," Murkomen said after he commissioned the exit for public use.
He said the strategic location of the exit plaza near the Haile Selassie roundabout will ensure easy access to key government offices located in the city centre.
He commended the contractor for completing the work in a record five months.
"This is an example of a successful PPP project where the government does not take responsibility for traffic volume risks. Many other PPPs have failed in the past because the investors are insisting the government collects the toll and meets the difference in case they are unable to collect the amount of money they need monthly," he said.
The Sh87 billion, 27.1km road was financed and built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation under the public-private partnership model. It stretches from the James Gichuru junction on Waiyaki Way in the western side of the city to Mlolongo on the southeastern edge of the metropolis.
Murkomen said the road has helped reduce travel time from Westlands to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from two hours to just 20 minutes.
The Expressway has experienced some traffic snarl-ups, especially at the exit points but the CS said, that will be a thing of the past once the addition of more lanes is completed at the exit points.
“There are also plans to add two more lanes, from the current three, at the Museum Hill exit. Negotiations with the University of Nairobi for land acquisition are ongoing," he said.
The Expressway's daily average traffic volume has increased from 10,000 to 65,000 trips with more than 200,000 users having subscribed to its Electronic Toll Collection service in the last 19 months.
He said the road has carried 26 million vehicles, which is proof that it has demand.
“Besides the many socioeconomic benefits it has brought to our country, the Nairobi Expressway has facilitated the transfer of technology to Kenya. Then expressway is a shining monument of what public-private partnerships can do," Murkomen said.
Because of that success, the minister said the government was mulling the construction of another expressway to Kiambu Road.
"We are currently exploring the possibility of constructing another expressway to Kiambu road through a PPP project like this. We hope that the feasibility study will be completed soon," he said.
He said two contractors were already working to recarpet Uhuru Highway and Mombasa Road which were damaged during the construction of the Expressway and that the works will be completed in time.
The project is expected to be completed in 18 months.
"It will take some time and the contractors are already working on the drainage. They still have 12 months to go. We are looking for a way to ensure the works go on and at the same time traffic flow is not interrupted," Murkomen said.
The CS said debt servicing had slowed down infrastructure development and urged Kenyans to be patient.
He said Bus Rapid Transport in Nairobi has stalled because of a Sh3 billion debt but expressed hope that works on the project's Line 2 on Thika Road will soon resume as money is made available.
"I have no doubt in my mind that BRT is going to work in Nairobi," he said.
The minister promised to find a new investor for the Sh160 billion Rironi-Mau Summit road project that is to be made a dual carriageway.
"As you know, we had an investor who had expressed interest and we had made great progress but unfortunately we could not agree on the traffic volume risks because the government was not willing to put extra money into the project."