Kenya’s first high-speed expressway connecting Nairobi and Mombasa is set to start following the signing of a financing deal last week.
Expressways, a common infrastructural feature in developed countries, are designed for high speed traffic averaging speeds of about 120 kilometres per hour.
According to the State agency, design and construction of the 473-kilometre Mombasa-Nairobi road is set to begin after last week’s signing of a financing deal with US-based firm Bechtel International Inc.
“The project will be supported with financing from Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) in the United States of America. The signing of this agreement will be followed by mobilising of funds from the ECAs for the construction of the expressway,” KeNHA director-general Eng. Peter Mundinia in a statement.
Once complete, the Sh230 billion road will be among key highways motorists are expected to pay a toll charge for in order to help recoup construction costs and support maintenance.
KeNHA says it will have four lanes, with a provision for future increase to six lanes and 19 interchanges with toll stations.
The roads agency projects that the expressway will be completed in ten sections over the next six years, with design and construction being undertaken concurrently.
The first section from Nairobi to the junction with Namanga road near Kitengela will have an interchange near Konza City and a spur road to Kyumvi (Machakos Turnoff) on Mombasa Road.
This section is expected to be commissioned in October 2019.
