Construction works on the first double decker highway road in Nairobi Kenya is set to begin in September. This is according to Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia.
The double-decker road project is set to link Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to the Nairobi-Nakuru highway. The project has delayed for nearly a decade with the first attempt collapsing the World Bank questioned its suitability and cut financing.
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Double decker highway
Parliament in 2008 approved the construction of a 77-kilometre double-decker road in Nairobi under a 30-year build-operate-transfer deal that allows private firms to invest in a public project and operate it for an agreed period to recoup their investment and profit before handing it over to the State.
Construction works will take two years at an estimated cost of US $494m. have been tasked to see through the development. The proposed elevated dual carriageway is to be built in three phases beginning with the first 6.5 Km running from JKIA to Likoni Road and the Southern Bypass interchange.
Bus rapid transit (BRT)
A bus rapid transit (BRT) system is one of the special features of the planned highway, which will involve construction of a dedicated lane for large-capacity buses to ease congestion.
The second stretch of 12 km will connect Likoni Road to James Gichuru Road junction on Waiyaki Way in Westlands, while the last section will run from James Gichuru Road to Rironi, on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
The road will also come with multiple interchanges at intersections on Popo-Kapiti, Lang’ata-Lusaka, Bunyala, Rhapta and James Gichuru roads.
Nairobi residents on average spend an hour to travel to work and another hour commuting back home due to traffic congestion on the city’s roads. CS Macharia said that Motorists will have the option of using the express way to escape the heavy traffic jams at a fee or toll charges to help the private firm building the road recover its investments. However, those using the lower section of the double-decker highway will be spared the toll charges.
Uhuru Kenya mbele
I congratulate the government for the development of Nairobi city but lets also think of other towns in our country, lets also rebuild our major towns like Kisumu, Mombasa and Nakuru.
Lets make other small towns to be somewhere in this republic ok Kenya
Oh how I wish people would listen to reason. This type of construction has been shunned globally for decades now. This was a plan hatched during the Moi Era. We are now keen on the convenient cost effectiveness and sustainability of interchanges. Why can we just save Kenyans a bunch of their much needed meager financial resources and do the right thing? Remove all, and I mean all, roundabouts and in their place have interchanges opening up the flow of traffic?