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Motorists free to use Nairobi expressway from next Saturday - Uhuru announces

Uhuru personally inspected the Sh88 billion expressway in December 2021 and drove himself on the 27-kilometre stretch.

A general view of the Nairobi Expressway along Mombasa road in Nairobi on March 23, 2022. - The construction of the 27.1km Nairobi Expressway continues and is scheduled to be completed in June 2022. (Photo by SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images)

President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced that the Nairobi expressway will be open for the public to use on May 14.

The head of state made the announcement on Sunday, May 8 while awarding medals to winners of the Nairobi City Marathon, dubbed the Uhuru Classic at Nyayo stadium.

He said that the expressway which is one of his flagship infrastructure projects will be open for trial with users expected to provide feedback.

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

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“From Saturday, the expressway will be on use so that we continue to build Nairobi and Kenya as a whole.” The President announced.

The president noted that the expressway was built to ease traffic jam in Nairobi and its environs especially for those who will use the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) service.

"All of you who have run are the first to use the new Expressway which we built to ease traffic jam in Nairobi as we better our city in the sun. This week on Saturday (May 14), on a trial basis, we shall open the Expressway for vehicles so that Kenyans can start using it as we monitor what needs to be fine-tuned," he stated.

Those using the road also have the option of Manual Toll Collection (MTC) once they reach the service centers.

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Motorists will pay up to Sh350 to use the road with a design speed of 80km per hour.

Project close to Uhuru's heart

Uhuru personally inspected the Sh88 billion expressway in December 2021 and drove himself on the 27-kilometre road.

The expressway has 11 interchanges at Mlolongo, Standard Gauge Railway, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Eastern Bypass, Southern Bypass, Capital Centre, Haile Selassie Avenue, Museum Hill, Westlands and James Gichuru Road.

The expressway is a first of its kind in Kenya, with 18.2km on the ground and 8.9km elevated.

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Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) has been putting final touches on the project that was initially set for launch in February 2022 according to a July 2021 announcement by Transport Cabinet Secretary, James Macharia.

Among the areas that are currently being addressed is the drainage.

"The contractor is working to ensure that the drainage is finalized and fixed in a safe manner for all motorists. Extra work teams and equipment have been deployed to focus on all outstanding works including the drainage system - targeting completion before the rains result in peak flows," stated KeNHA late last month.

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