Contractor to complete Sh12.5bn dualing of Eastern Bypass in January – Business Daily
Expansion works on the 28-kilometre Eastern Bypass. NMG PHOTO
The expansion of the Eastern Bypass into a dual carriageway is 86 percent complete, with the Chinese contractor expected to finish the job in January 2023.
The 28-kilometer road, which stretches from City Cabanas on Mombasa Road to Ruiru, has been under construction since November 2021.
The contract for the Sh12.5 billion key road was awarded to China Communication Construction Company Limited last year.
“The expansion of Eastern Bypass into a dual carriageway is 86 percent complete with completion of works date set for January 15, 2023,” said Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) on Wednesday.
The multi-billion-shilling project is aimed at easing the growing traffic jam on the key road that links motorists from the busy Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Mombasa-Nairobi highway to Thika Superhighway, bypassing the congested central business district.
Treasury documents tabled in Parliament show that the State borrowed Sh2 billion to expand the road in September 2021.
The Eastern Bypass was constructed as a single carriageway, but since its completion in 2014, considerable urbanisation and commerce along the corridor have occasioned significant traffic volumes.
The Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern bypasses are set to significantly cut the time motorists spend on unending traffic snarl-ups as they transit through the CBD to their destinations
The Southern Bypass allows traffic from Mombasa, destined for western Kenya and Uganda to bypass downtown Nairobi, thereby reducing traffic congestion in the city’s central business district.
The bypass starts at the junction of Nairobi-Mombasa Road and Likoni Road, about 10 kilometres south-east of the city centre and loops through Nairobi National Park to Kiambu County.
The Northern Bypass starts from Ruaka trading centre on Limuru Road, overpassing Banana Road through Runda and Thome estates.
The 31-km bypass then proceeds to Kahawa West and eventually to Ruiru, through Kamae, where it joins the Eastern Bypass.
The Western Bypass allows motorists to drive through several towns, including Gitaru, Wangige, Ndenderu and Ruaka.
The link is the fourth and final ring road in the Nairobi Ring Road Network Masterplan.
