City road junctions to go in Sh2bn plan
More than 60 road junctions in Nairobi are to be removed in a new Sh2 billion plan to ease traffic flow.
The T-junctions will be removed and replaced with acceleration and deceleration lanes, Transport and Infrastructure Principal Secretary John Mosonik said.
The junctions have been blamed for traffic congestion in the city and its environs.
Deceleration lanes allow traffic exiting a major street to slow down to a safer speed to make a left or right turn at an intersection without affecting the main flow of traffic.
Deceleration lanes
Acceleration lanes allow cars that are joining the main road to speed up to match the flow of traffic.
Mr Mosonik said the government will set aside Sh2 billion in the 2014/15 national budget for this.
“We will replace the junctions with acceleration and deceleration lanes,” he said.
The PS noted that all contractors upgrading roads in the city have been given a deadline to complete their work.
Mr Mosonik said that the Mara Road in Upperhill that runs all the way to the Kenyatta National Hospital will be completed by August.
“The contractor has up to August to complete it,” he said.
The Upperhill roads began in 2012 and were expected to be completed in May but most of them have stalled.
At the same time, the Lang’ata-Bomas Road that is being expanded is expected to be completed by August.
“We are no longer going to see any delays because we want to move to new projects,” said the PS.
The Lang’ata-Bomas Road is being expanded at a cost of Sh2.6 billion to a two-lane dual carriageway with an underpass at the Bomas junction. The road will also have pedestrian walkways and cycle tracks.
Pedestrian walkways
It was expected to be completed by May 2013.
The Southern by-pass that covers over 30 kilometres will be completed next July.
The ministry said it talking with contractors to have the Outering Road started by August.
According to Mr Mosonik, over 47 per cent of Nairobi residents walk to and from work and as such, all the current and forthcoming roads will have walkways, cycle tracks and footbridges.
The dualling of the Ngong Road from All Saints Cathedral to Adams Arcade is estimated to cost Sh15 billion.