President William Ruto is expected to start construction of the proposed Thika-Nairobi Expressway within the next 60 days, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has announced.
“Within two months we will have the President here starting the construction of the Thika-Nairobi Expressway, from Thika Town to Museum Hill,” Kindiki said during his speech in Kiambu County on Wednesday October 28.
The proposed expressway will cover around 60 kilometres and will connect Thika town to Museum Hill. It will connect to the existing Nairobi Expressway and will serve as an alternative to the existing Thika Superhighway for commuters.
Kindiki said that the highway did not fully solve the issue of congestion as the population continues to grow.
“Former president Mwai Kibaki constructed the Thika Superhighway but people still face congestion. We have very busy towns such as Thika, Ruiru and Juja,” he said.
The government has previously reported that they were designing the new road and doing feasibility studies. This will ensure they know exactly what the route will look like, what the engineering will be, how much it will cost to build and more.
The government is looking at implementing a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for this project. This means private investment will go into building this infrastructure. However Kindiki did not specify how the funding will work.
Initial estimates suggest that this project will cost between KSh150 billion and KSh200 billion. The government have not reported how they will charge tolls, how long it will take to build or what the full terms of the private partnership will be.
The expressway will help to increase capacity on the road between Thika and Nairobi. The corridor is used by commuters, public service vehicles, private motorists and companies. This can cause congestion, meaning longer travel times especially during peak times.
However how much this will help relieve congestion depends on how many entrances there will be, connections to other roads and how vehicles will get on and off the elevated road. While the groundbreaking ceremony will mark the official start of construction it will not mean it will be completed within 60 days.
The next steps will be to confirm when the groundbreaking will happen, how it will be funded and when it will be built. Until this information is released it is unclear how much it will cost and when it will be completed.
Kindiki’s announcement shows the government are committed to this project however motorists will need to wait for more information to be released to know when they will start construction and when it will be opened.