express way

Top 10 Most Expensive Kenyan Roads Under President Uhuru Kenyatta

Kenyan Roads: Construction of the highway is poised to commence in September 2021 and is expected to reduce traffic congestion on the northern corridor. It will widen the existing Rironi- Mai Mahiu–Naivasha road to a seven-metre carriageway with two-metre shoulders on both sides with an elevated section upgrading the old Nairobi-Nakuru highway. 

Construction of the road was awarded to a French consortium made up of Vinci Highways SAS, Meridian Infrastructure Africa Fund, and Vinci Concessions SAS last year will see the road expanded into a four-lane dual carriageway through a Public-Private Partnership model.

The contractors are expected recoup their money through tolls collected on the road for over a period of 30 years.

2. Nairobi Expressway – Ksh65 billion – 27kms

Construction of the elevated highway is expected to end by December 2022. The road will start at Mlolongo and will pass outside Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) through Nairobi Central Business District to join Waiyaki Way in Westlands. 

Over 25,000 motorists using the road will part with a Ksh300 toll fee each every day and the contractors, the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) will manage the road for 27 years to recoup its money before ceding it to the state.

The road will have 10 interchanges at the SGR interchange, the JKIA interchange, Eastern bypass, Capital Center, Haile Selassie, Thika road interchange, Westland’s interchange and James Gichuru.

3.  South Sudan Link Road – Ksh37 billion – 30kms 

The road – being constructed by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) – connects Kitale – Kapenguria – Lokichar – Lodwar – Kakuma to Lokichogio town, which is 30 kilometres from the border between Kenya and South Sudan.

The road is expected to boost the potential of the region and enhance cross-border trade as well as ease exploration of petroleum deposits within the Lake Turkana Basin

4. Kenol-Sagana – Ksh33 billion – 120kms

Chinese firm Jiangxi Engineering Group kicked off the construction of the highway at Kenol market in Murang’a County on July 16, 2020. 

The dual carriageway will connect the Northern Corridor to Thika and Nairobi, with the ongoing Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) project

5. Thika Road – Ksh32 billion – 50kms

Funding was provided by the African Development Bank, the Exim Bank of China, and the Kenyan government. Construction began in January 2009 and it was unveiled in 2012 by former President Mwai Kibaki.  

6. Dongo Kundu – Ksh24 billion – 8.96kms

The dual carriageway project in Mombasa County will comprise an interchange at the Likoni-Lunga Lunga Highway.

Uhuru unveiled the completed phase one of the projects in 2018. It was designed to ease traffic congestion at the Likoni Ferry. 

7. Kibwezi-Kitui–Migwani road – Ksh18.4 billion – 192kms. 

The road being constructed by a Chinese firm is part of the Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project. The road will be upgraded to bitumen standard. It will pass through Makueni and Kitui Counties, starting from Kibwezi to Migwani. 

8. Southern Bypass – Ksh18 billion – 29.61kms 

The Southern Bypass will allow motorists using Mombasa Road heading to Western Kenya to bypass the City Centre. The road, which was commissioned in 2016, will majorly be used by freight trucks. The road starts at the junction of the Nairobi–Mombasa Road and Likoni Road. 

Image of traffic on Southern Bypass Mombasa Road

Traffic snarl-up at the Southern BypassTwitter

9. LAPSSET – Ksh17.9 billion – 453kms 

Kenya National Highways Authority(KeNHA) signed a contract with the China Communication Construction Company Limited to construct the Lamu-Ijara-Garissa Road. All associated spur roads will also be refurbished to an all-weather gravel standard.

The first part of this project will involve constructing the 257 kilometres Lam, Kenya to – Ethiopia road, which forms the initial part of the LAPSSET corridor. This road is located in the Eastern Coastal region of Kenya, running from Lamu County to Garissa County towards the Northern direction.

The second part will involve the construction of the Budhei – Basuba – Kiunga (A11) Road

The project road is located in Lamu County of Coast Region, with the works situated along with the existing Hindi – Budhei – Basuba – Kiunga (A11) road in Lamu County.

10. James Gichuru – Rironi – Ksh17.5 billion – 25kms

The expansion of Waiyaki Way involves refurbishing and expanding the 25km James Gichuru-Rironi Road stretch into a superhighway. The project commenced in 2017 and was projected to be completed by December 2020. 

11. Western Bypass – Ksh17.3 billion – 16.7kms 

The project was launched in March 2019 and is currently 46.9 percent complete. It includes the construction of seven grade interchanges at Gitaru, Lower Kabete, Wangige, Kihara, Ndenderu, Rumenye, and Ruaka, as well as the construction of ten overpasses and five underpasses.

The China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) was contracted to build the road. The project dubbed Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contract (EPC) is being funded through a concessionary loan from the Government of China.

A Section of the James Gichuru- Rironi Road. PHOTO: TWITTER

Author: Alex

Alex is a Kenyan blogger writing on technology, fraud, social media and politics at Nairobi Today.

email:: admin[at]nairobitoday.co.ke

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