AFTER COMPLETING THE SUPER RAILWAY DOES KENYA NOW AIM TO CREATE A SUPER HIGHWAY BETWEEN NAIROBI AND MOMBASA
(Posted 15th August 2017)
The Kenyan government, with elections out of the way, has earlier this week signed a deal with Bechtel of the United States towards the construction of a new highway between the capital Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa.
While in Mombasa additional infrastructure projects are underway such a the construction of a major new route out of the city towards Nairobi to fight the eternal traffic jams towards Mariakani – the Mombasa Jomvu road is also under construction – and most important the Dongo Kundu highway opening up a key roadlink to the beaches and towns south of Mombasa, will the new road link to Nairobi ease road transport for thosen not wanting to use the train.
The new highway, with a length of nearly 500 kilometres, will cost a whopping 230 billion Kenya Shillings, money invested in the future of East Africa’s largest economy which provides a lifeline for many hinterland nations like Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Eastern Congo.
The first section between Nairobi and the turnoff at Athi River towards Namanga is expected to be commissioned first by late 2019 while additional sections will the be progressively constructed and linked.
The Kenya National Highway Authority, in short KenHA, will be overseeing the tendering of the various sections and their construction.
Meanwhile is Kenya Railways still struggling to introduce and launch their electronic booking platform for tickets on the Madaraka Express to the dismay of the country’s tourism industry, a situation many key stakeholders have called a disgrace given the fanfare with which the new rail line was launched at the end of June and the countless challenges KR has faced since then. A notable migration of passengers, no wonder given the preferential tariffs of just 900 Kenya Shillings per person one way, has taken tens of thousands of travelers off the country’s busses and brought them to the trains and the bus industry is now looking forward to improved road networks to begin clawing back their market share.
