Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has revealed plans to modify the Nairobi Expressway by expanding the road in a bid to ease traffic congestion.
According to the Transport CS, the Museum Hill Exit is expected to have an additional two lanes from the current three.
In a statement seen by The Kenya Times, Murkomen said, “There are also plans to add two more lanes, from the current three, at the Museum Hill Exit. The Nairobi Expressway is a shining monument to what Private-Public Partnerships can do,” said Murkomen.
Murkomen announced the road expansion plans on Wednesday, December 20 while inspecting the ongoing works on the new expressway exit toll expected to have five toll lanes.
“Today, I inspected the ongoing work on a new Nairobi Expressway Exit Plaza at Greenpark that will have five toll lanes,” noted the CS.
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Likewise, the new expansions project according to Murkomen, is expected to be completed in mid-January and will further help reduce traffic congestion as well as improve vehicle flow in the city.
In addition, Murkomen noted that with the success of the Expressway, Kenya is now receiving increasing demand for similar projects.
“We are therefore considering the dualling of the Rironi-Mau Summit Road expected to begin in the next year.
A long-term plan to develop roads across the country are underway, some of these roads are; the Nairobi-Mombasa highway and Athi River-Namanga highways, Kisumu-Isibania and Kiambu Road,” noted Murkomen.
Nairobi Expressway Benefits
On the other hand, the CS acknowledged that the Expressway has reduced travel time from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Nairobi from two hours to 20 minutes at no cost to taxpayers.
In addition, Murkomen stated that the 27-km stretch has also become a major job creator, employing 6,000 Kenyans during its construction and now offering 500 permanent jobs.
At the same time, he added that some 200,000 subscribers have enrolled for the E-Ticketing system in 19 months and the road has carried 26 million vehicles, proving that there was indeed demand for it.
Similarly, Murkomen noted that besides the many socioeconomic benefits, Expressway has brought for Kenya the Nairobi Expressway is also facilitating transfer of technology to Kenya.
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The CS while noting the improved technology at the Expressway said it has a smart traffic monitoring system, with a 360-degree view of the whole road, which has enhanced security and emergency response.
According to him, the technology will provide a good benchmark for the Intelligent Traffic System (ITS) that the Ministry of Transport has been piloting which is ready to be rolled out.