Nairobi–Mombasa Expressway

The Nairobi–Mombasa Expressway, also known as the Mombasa–Nairobi Expressway or the Nairobi–Mombasa Highway, is a proposed four-lane toll highway in Kenya. The highway will link Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya to Mombasa, the largest seaport of the country. The new highway is expected to cut travel times between the two cities from the current 6 to 10 hours to approximately four hours.[1][2]

Not to be confused with Nairobi–Mombasa Road.

Nairobi–Mombasa Expressway
Route information
Length326 mi (525 km)
HistoryDesignated in 2019
Expected completion in 2026
Major junctions
West endNairobi
 Voi
East endMombasa
Highway system
Roads in Kenya

Location

The road starts at Gitaru along the Nairobi–Nakuru Highway, approximately 24 kilometres (15 mi), northeast of Nairobi City centre.[3] It continues in a general southeasterly direction, through Ngong, Ongata Rongai, Kisaju and Isinya to rejoin the existing Nairobi–Mombasa Road, just north of Konza. The highway passes through nine Kenya counties to end in the city of Mombasa at the Changamwe Roundabout, a total distance of about 525 kilometres (326 mi).[4] The coordinates of this road at Kibwezi are: 02°25'04.0"S, 37°57'39.0"E (Latitude:-2.417778; Longitude:37.960833).[5]

Overview

The planned expressway is a dual-carriage motorway with initially four lanes, expandable to six lanes in the future. The road will be capable of supporting sustained traffic speeds of up to 120 kilometres (75 mi) per hour and will have controlled access.[2]

The expressway is intended to serve as "a central part of the national and regional transport system, helping promote trade and development in Kenya" and the regional neighbors of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,[2] Burundi and South Sudan.[6]

History

In February 2015, the Kenyan government hired PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct a feasibility study on the commercial and technical viability of the Nairobi–Mombasa Expressway. The PwC report indicated the highway was viable if the highway operator collected a toll that would be used to retire the private capital used to develop the expressway.[2][6] Starting about that time as well, the government of Kenya, through the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), began detailed talks with Bechtel International on a public-private partnership (PPP) to design, fund, construct and operate the highway.[7][8]

Construction costs

The cost of constructing this expressway is budgeted at US$2.1 billion.[7] Funding is expected from the Export–Import Bank of the United States and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, also from the USA.[9]

Timetable

In August 2017, KeNHA signed a binding agreement with Betchel International, an American civil engineering and construction company to design, construct, and operate the proposed expressway.[2] The expressway will be developed in 10 sections and is designed to have 19 interchanges. Construction is expected to start in July 2018.[10] Completion of the first section is expected in October 2019, with the entire expressway expected to open in 2024.[2]

In April 2019, the Business Daily newspaper reported that construction is expected to start in the second half of calendar year 2019.[2]

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See also

References
  1. Marete, Gitonga (14 August 2017). "Mombasa-Nairobi expressway to be complete within six years". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  2. Amadala, Victor (9 August 2017). "Nairobi-Mombasa expressway work starts in January – KeNHA". The Star. Nairobi. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  3. Globefeed.com (5 April 2019). "Distance between Central Nairobi, Kenya and Gitaru, Kiambu County, Kenya". Globefeed.com. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  4. Okoth, Edwin. "Sh300 Billion Mombasa Mega Highway To Bypass Nairobi". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  5. Google (5 April 2019). "The Nairobi–Mombasa Expressway at Kibwezi, Kenya" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  6. Njoroge, Kiarie (22 September 2016). "State invites bids for expansion of Nairobi-Mombasa highway". Daily Nation. Nairobi. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  7. Muchira, Njiraini (7 September 2017). "Kenya sets the stage for expressway". The EastAfrican. Nairobi. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  8. Munda, Constant (4 July 2018). "Kenya, US firm to hold talks on Sh300 billion road". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  9. Macharia, Ken (7 August 2017). "Construction of Nairobi-Mombasa high-speed express way to start in 2018". Nairobi: 98.4 Capital FM. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  10. Otuki, Neville (20 March 2018). "US company lobbies Kenya for Sh300 billion road contract". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 20 March 2018.

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