President Kenyatta on Wednesday commissioned the construction of multi-billion-shilling Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA)-Westlands expressway.
The building of the 18.5-kilometer highway will commence at JKIA and end at James Gichuru Road along Waiyaki Way in Westlands.
Its construction will be done by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) on a public-private partnership (PPP) model where investors will recoup their money plus profit from toll fees paid by motorists using the expressway.
The 65 billion shillings road, whose construction was set to start in August but was pushed to October, will have multiple interchanges at intersections on Popo-Kapiti, Lang’ata-Lusaka, Bunyala, Rhapta, and James Gichuru roads.
Motorists wishing to escape the heavy traffic jams on the route will pay toll charges to help the private company building the road recover its money but those using the lower section of the double-decker motorway will be spared the charges.
The state-of-the-art highway will have special features such as the bus rapid transit (BRT) system where large-capacity buses will have dedicated lanes to ease congestion.
The construction will be done in three phases starting with phase one which runs from JKIA to Likoni Road.
Phase two will link Likoni Road to James Gichuru Road junction on Waiyaki Way in Westlands, while the final segment runs from James Gichuru Road to Rironi on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
