The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has announced that two major roads in the city will be closed starting Monday, June 28, 2021, to enable the contractor of the Expressway to complete construction.
The road closures will force motorists using the Capital Centre access and Waiyaki Way to use alternate routes.
Kenha said that the closure of the ramp from Waiyaki Way to Forest Road will last for a period of 34 days starting June 28, 2021.
“This is to pave way for construction of the Nairobi expressway along Mombasa Road. Motorists are advised to use alternative routes. Kenha apologizes for the inconvenience as it tries to provide an efficient, safe and reliable road network,” the authority said.
Kenha director-general Eng Peter Mundinia added that the Capital Centre access along Mombasa Road will be closed for 20 days, from Monday to July 17.
Closures of the two roads could worsen the already chaotic traffic along the highway which already has been made worse by the construction.
Since the construction of the expressway began, Mombasa road and Waiyaki Way have turned Nairobi into a nightmare with cars piling up for hours during rush hour.
Overlapping and resulting accidents have become a common feature, despite the deployment of additional traffic police.
Already, there have been traffic snarl-ups on Mombasa Road, Uhuru Highway, and Waiyaki Way caused by the construction of the Nairobi Expressway, with motorists using either the Industrial Area, Jogoo Road, or South B as alternative routes into and out of town.
In April, Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said what road users are experiencing are only short-time pains.
“In the meantime, I know there are a lot of inconveniences as people are spending longer hours in traffic but the reason we are constructing the Nairobi Expressway is to solve the traffic jam that was there before. If there was no traffic congestion before there would be no justification to construct the highway. This pain we are having now is very short-term pain,” he said.
Motorists using Mombasa Road, Uhuru Highway, and Waiyaki Way are the most affected by the expressway construction being done by China Road and Bridge Corporation to the tune of Sh62 billion and is expected to be concluded in December.
The road project, once completed, will ensure Kenyans pay a toll fee, with Macharia saying the highway will reduce the traffic snarl-ups on Mombasa Road.
Once the expressway is complete, motorists will pay toll charges to use the 27-kilometer highway.
The utility, being constructed by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, means investors will recoup from toll fees paid by motorists.
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