Dual carriage of five Nairobi roads to ease traffic jam in Sh6bn project
19 June 2014
Business Daily
Traffic jam in Nairobi is likely to ease with Sh5.9 billion projects that will see dual carriage of five main roads, building of cycling paths and the expansion of lanes at the junctions of 61 city roads.
The European Union Tuesday said the work on the projects will start this month as it prepares to disburse a Sh3.4 billion grant for the 16 kilometre road links designed to ease congestion.
The Treasury will provide Sh1.5 billion in the EU driven project that will turn Lusaka, Enterprise and Likoni roads as well as Ring Road (Parklands) and Quarry Road (Gikomba) into dual carriages.
This will also include extension of General Waruinge road (Eastleigh) to Thika Super highway via Juja Road as well as building foot and cycling paths on Lusaka Road and Mumias Road (Buru Buru).
Separately, the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has been allocated Sh1 billion to create additional lanes towards road junctions, which is cheaper than underpasses and fly-overs.
"Nairobi´s business and growth is being held back by jams," Lodewijk Briet, the European Union Ambassador to Kenya said Tuesday in a statement.
"These links are designed to fill in the missing parts of Nairobi´s road layout - mostly in the east - and ease congestion and improve safety for the city´s commuters and pedestrians."
The works will help ease congestion in Industrial Area, Eastleigh and Parklands.
"Streetlights will be installed and all the roads will have pavement constructed alongside the highway," said the EU, adding that 21km of footpaths and cycleways will be built.
A study by IBM Corporation in 2012 says Kenya loses Sh50 million in a day due to time wasted on the road.
A recent report by JICA, which was commissioned by City Hall, showed that in 2013 the average speed of traffic in the capital was 40km/h, which is forecast to halve in the next 15 years without extra transport capacity.
Last year, according to Economic Survey 2014, the number of new registered cars went up by 21 per cent.
The government has been working on reducing congestion by revamping the railway transport by creating new stations as well as expanding major roads. The African Development Bank last year approved a $120 million (Sh10.3 billion) financing for the upgrade of Nairobi's Outer Ring road.
Original article by Gerald Andae
Category: Transport