INVESTMENTS IN NEW ROADS AND BYPASSES WILL IMPROVE LIFE QUALITY IN NAIROBI
A regular deep throat source in Kenyas capital city of Nairobi has told this correspondent that governments ongoing efforts to improve the road network in and around Nairobi will yield big results in the next 3 5 years, when quality of life in the city will improve considerably. This statement was made when discussing current affairs to which no comments were offered and the imminent signing of a finance agreement between the Republic of Kenya and the Peoples Republic of China which will cater for the construction of the Southern Bypass, which will be funded, and very likely constructed too, by the Chinese government. This bypass, when ready, will route heavy transit traffic around the city, leaving the city roads largely for deliveries and commuter traffic.
Within Nairobi government intends to also construct a flyover to allow traffic to flow above the most congested intersections and roundabouts in the city, further de-congesting the main roads, which have become a nightmare for commuters and visitors alike.
Tourists will find the city better in terms of traffic, to reach their hotels from the airport, to leave for safari or return to the airport when they have ended their holiday in Kenya. This is important for the picture we as Kenya make overseas. And while the CBD has been moving to new suburban centres, at least in part, traffic in and out of the city centre and to those new business hubs will also become easier when the new roads are ready. You see, this is longer term planning looking beyond next years elections, preparing for the future of our country and surely this is good news for you to write about. We know that we have problems here and there, inflation, our currency, a congested airport, the Somalia situation but the future of the country still is positive and with all the new projects coming up we shall do a lot better.
Kenya is due to get a new harbour in Lamu, probably also financed by international consortia, with Chinese overtures at the most intense already, and is set to construct a new standard gauge rail link from Lamu to South Sudan with a branch off to Ethiopia. This will be opening new transport corridors for both countries directly to the Kenyan coast, while the existing narrow gauge railway between Mombasa and Nairobi, and on to Uganda, is also due to be modernized and widened to an international standard gauge line. I know you are not happy when you write about Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the delays in expanding it, giving it a face lift, but our government has now understood the importance of this project and is also speeding it up. Give it two more years and you will see a very modern and spacious airport did the source add when challenged over the constraints at Kenyas, in fact the East African regions most important aviation hub.
So two years it will be for JKIA and on the outside 5 for a new Nairobi bypass and new city road network, but until then be sure to read regular updates on developments not just from Kenya but the entire Eastern African region. Watch this space.
