- The long winding traffic jams on the roads will be a thing of the past.
- It will also cut on travel time between the two cities from the current 11 hours to about four to five hours.
Image: FILE
President William Ruto’s new 440-kilomtre Nairobi-Mombasa expressway is poised to revolutionise road transport in the country.
The Sh472.9 billion project, conceived under Public-Private Partnership with a US company, will be realised by 2028.
The new toll road is envisaged to be a four to six lane dual carriageway.
The road has been on the cards for years now. It is one of the deals Ruto made in the US on Thursday.
It was signed by Kenya National Highway Authority and Everstrong Capital LLC.
“The project anticipates attracting investments totaling $3.6 billion (Sh478 billion), sourced from international investors, development agencies, pension funds and an exceptionally large number of Kenyan private investors,” Everstrong said.
Its construction will give Kenyans an opportunity to compare US and Chinese construction technology.
China, the world’s second biggest economy, has built the biggest infrastructures in Kenya among them, Thika Superhighway and the Nairobi Expressway.
If actualised, the long winding traffic jams on the long stretch will be a thing of the past.
The road will also cut travel time between the two cities from the current 11 hours to about four to five hours.
The project is also estimated to create 500 jobs and stimulate local enterprises that will supply building materials.
The toll road will be the biggest investment on the Kenyan roads dwarfing both Thika Superhighway and the 27-kilometer Nairobi Expressway.
Once completed, Everstrong will collect toll charges for 30 years to recoup its capital.
Toll charges are computed based on the vehicle type, entry and exit station.
Ambulances, police vehicles, military personnel and fire trucks are exempted from payment.
Nairobi expressway has 27 toll points manned round the clock; the new road will have more.
At the toll points, payments are either made through cash, electronic toll collection or manual toll collection.
Cash users are exempted from registration requirement prior to their trip on the expressway.
This is not the first time Kenya is pursuing expressway from the capital to the port city
In 2018 the state laid programme for the construction of Sh300 billion expressway between the two cities.
The project did not however takeoff after disagreements between government and Betchel – the company that was to drive the plan.
The government wanted the company to use its own capital to build the toll road and recover upon completion but the firm rejected the proposal.