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Uhuru Park to lose 1.3 acres along Uhuru Highway for Expressway’s construction

By Hilary Kimuyu October 24th, 2019 2 min read

Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has said that an area of 1.3 acres along Uhuru Highway will be hived off from Uhuru Park to make way for the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA)-Westlands Expressway.

The Sh59 billion project, which will be financed under the public-private partnership (PPP), will start at Mlolongo and head to JKIA all the way to James Gichuru.

According to KeNHA, the government has made deliberate efforts to minimise land acquisition for the project.

“The preliminary land-take is approximately 35 acres, including 60 percent of public land and 40 percent of private property,” said KenNHA in a statement.

KeNHA has further explained that the developer will take a risk to construct the Expressway as the existing road will still be maintained and in use and that no motorist will be forced to use the Expressway.

The Expressway will be tolled at a cost of Sh11.24 per km.

The double-decker which was launched last week by President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to reduce the heavy traffic gridlocks along Mombasa Road, which starts from the Mlolongo to the city centre.

PHOTO | COURTESY
PHOTO | COURTESY

DELAYED PROJECT

It will have multiple interchanges at intersections on Popo-Kapiti, Lang’ata-Lusaka, Bunyala, Rhapta, and James Gichuru roads.

The state-of-the-art highway will also have special features such as the bus rapid transit (BRT) system where large-capacity buses will have dedicated lanes to ease congestion.

The agency indicated that the interchanges would be constructed after considering factors such as existing road networks, topography, land acquisition and return on investment.

The project has delayed for nearly a decade. The first construction attempt collapsed when the World Bank questioned its suitability and cut financing.

The proposed elevated dual carriageway is to be built in three phases beginning with the first 6.5 kilometres running from JKIA to Likoni Road and the Southern Bypass interchange.

Abbout 3,000 people will be employed during construction and 500 during the operation of the Expressway.