Commuters using Nairobi’s Outerring Road have a reason to smile. Their pain and agony might just be ending. Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) has announced that the construction of the road will start in October after the contract between KURA and SinoHydro (yes has to be Chinese) was signed on 21st August.
The construction of the 13-kilometre dual carriage artery of Nairobi will start from the Eastern bypass junction at Taj Mall up to Thika Road junction at GSU headquarters. The construction will start from the GSU Headquarters towards Embakassi. The contractor is now mobilising.
This project is estimated to cost Sh8.5 billion and is jointly funded by Government of Kenya and other development partners like Africa Development Bank (AfDB). The Kenyan government will avail 11.5 per cent funding while AFDB will carter for the remaining 88.5 per cent. Lee International Canada in joint venture with Lea Associates S. East Asia are the consultants for this project.
The construction will take a period of 36 months and involves dualing (two lanes in each direction), service Roads, 10 footbridges, 9metre Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) to be constructed at a later date, Non-Motorized Traffic and six grade separated junctions. The road will see the introduction of footpaths and cycle tracks on either side as the Government moves to encourage members of the public to be environment conscious and use safe tracks while footing or cycling to and from City Centre.
During the construction, deviation roads of about 12km will be upgraded for use by the public. These include Thika Superhighway – Mathare North – Juja road, Mtarakwa – Komarock Road, Embakasi Barracks – Kangundo Road and Eastern Bypass-Outer Ring Road.
More than 4,500 seedlings are also to be planted along the new road. The contractors are required to train 500 youths (60% to be women) in three years as artisans in local technical training institutions to enhance their skills to enable them secure gainful employment thereafter.
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