City roads set for closure to facilitate Expressway construction
The Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) has announced the temporary closure of two major roads in the city to enable the contractor who is building the Nairobi Expressway to complete the work.
In a statement, Kenha said the Nairobi-bound carriageway at Nyayo Stadium and Mombasa Road will be closed from Sunday, November 14, 2021.
Kenha Director General Engineer Kung’u Ndung’u said the section of the road will be closed from 5:00 am to 12.00 noon to pave way for the erection of the Nyayo footbridge.
During the eight-hour road works, Langata – Nairobi-bound traffic will be diverted just after Madaraka Roundabout to Aerodrome Road into Bunyala Roundabout.
This disruption will be caused by the ongoing construction along the road and the planned erection of the Nyayo footbridge.
This will affect the free flow of traffic from the Nyayo Stadium Roundabout that may even further affect Mombasa Road traffic.
Motorists plying the route have been urged to comply with traffic marshalls to ensure that the closure only causes minimal interruptions.
“Kenha advises motorists to follow the proposed traffic management plan and cooperate with the police and traffic marshals on site. Motorists are further urged to exercise caution and road courtesy for better management of traffic,” Kenha said in a statement.
The closure of the two roads will worsen the already chaotic traffic jams on the highway, which already has been made worse by the ongoing construction.
Since work on the expressway started, Mombasa Road, Uhuru Highway and Waiyaki Way have turned Nairobi into a nightmare, with cars piling up for hours during rush hours.
Overlapping and accidents have become a common feature despite the deployment of additional traffic police officers.
Last week, Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Roads James Macharia said that City motorists can breathe a sigh of relief after the Government announced it will reopen the old Waiyaki-Uhuru Highway -Mombasa road affected by the Nairobi Expressway by December 25, 2021.
The CS was speaking during an inspection tour of the expressway where he said it was 75 percent done.
Various closed sections have already been reopened to the public as the Expressway project nears completion.
The Westlands -James Gichuru section which had been closed was opened in October while closed sections between Mlolongo and JKIA have already been reopened to ease the current traffic situation.
Haile Selassie–University Way Roundabout is set to be reopened on December 15, 2021, once construction works are done.
The expressway is being built by China Road and Bridge Corporation at a cost of Sh62 billion and is expected to be completed in December.
Once completed, Kenyans will pay a toll fee to use the 27-kilometer expressway.