Plans for 53km JKIA road finally released
Plans to construct a 53-kilometre Jomo Kenyatta International Airport-Rironi road to ease congestion in the city have been announced.
The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) said in a statement on Tuesday funding for the project will be provided by the World Bank while the designs were funded by the government.
The road is divided into three sections: JKIA-Likoni Road Junction at the Southern Bypass Interchange; Likoni Road Junction-James Gichuru Road Junction near ABC Place on Waiyaki Way and the James Gichuru Road Junction-Rironi section.
KeNHA said tenders to build sections of the road had already been advertised and procurement was ongoing.
FASTER AND EFFICIENT
“We had to find a better way of moving people through a well-organised bus system using dedicated lanes, and thus we came up with the Rapid Bus Transit system, a faster and efficient way of moving people,” KeNHA General Manager David Muchilwa said.
The project entails building a dual carriageway from JKIA, passing through Likoni Road and linking James Gichuru Road to Rironi on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
The road will have a dedicated Rapid Bus Transit lane from JKIA to Kikuyu.
Mr Muchilwa says construction of the service lanes will begin before the contractor moves in to build the inner lanes.
The JKIA turnoff to Likoni Road junction will have an additional lane on either side between JKIA terminal and Likoni Road junction while service lanes will be built on both sides between Likoni Road junction and the start of the flight path.
DUAL CARRIAGEWAY
Feeder roads at the Likoni and James Gichuru junction will have an elevated dual carriageway over the median between the road-over-rail bridge just before Haile Selassie Intersection up to the KBC headquarters.
Rapid Bus Transit lanes will also be included alongside interchanges at intersections on Popo-Kapiti, Langata-Lusaka, Bunyala road, Rhapta and James Gichuru road.
The final stretch from James Gichuru to Rironi will have additional lanes on both sides and space will be left in the middle of the road for a future bus rapid transit system.
The road expansion is expected to spur industrial expansion in the area by easing access to the Industrial Area.
SOURCE: Daily Nation