Day 1: Nairobi Expressway opened to the public [Video]

The Nairobi Expressway was on Saturday opened for public use by Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia accompanied by Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai.

This is following an earlier announcement by President Uhuru Kenyatta that as from May 14 the much-awaited Expressway will be up and running.

The Transport CS while speaking on Saturday during the commissioning of the road ahead of public use, said about 11,000 thousand vehicles have so far been registered on the road, with about 7,000 having registered to use the electronic toll collection.

Moja Expressway, the subsidiary of China Road and Bridge Corporation, is in charge of managing the road and has been registering over 800 vehicles a day.

The registration is ongoing and motorists who will want to use the Nairobi Expressway can register their vehicles at Lavington or along Mombasa Road.

CS Macharia also said that the old Mombasa Road will be renovated at a cost of Sh9 billion and will incorporate a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line.

He added that sections of the road which were damaged during construction will be repaired by a contractor expected to a sign a contract next week.

The 27.1-kilometer road which will greatly reduce traffic along Mombasa road starts from Mlolongo passing through JKIA and Nairobi’s CBD to the James Gichuru junction along Waiyaki Way.

According to President Uhuru, while speaking last Sunday during the Nairobi City Marathon, the road has been opened for trials and will be officially launched in the coming weeks.

“We will allow Kenyans to use the expressway so that we see the loopholes that exist before we officially launch it,” he said.