Friday, March 29, 2024

Five Nairobi BRT bus lanes to cost Sh. 100 billion

Nairobi BRT Bus Lanes: The construction of five lanes of the Nairobi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system will cost an estimated Sh. 100 billion.

The project is expected to have the following five lanes within Nairobi:

1. Ndovu (Kangemi – Imara)
2. Simba (Bomas – Ruiru, includes Thika Superhighway)
3. Chui (Njiru – Show Ground)
4. Kifaru (Mama Lucy – T-Mall)
5. Nyati (Balozi – Imara)

In July this year, Chinese firm Stecol Corporation has secured a Sh. 5.6 billion deal to start construction of special lanes for high-capacity buses through the Nairobi city centre and Thika highway. This project will comprise more than 100 buses operating on dedicated lanes on the Thika highway through the Nairobi city centre to the Kenyatta National Hospital (KHN) area.

According to the Nairobi BRT Labour Impact Assessment Research Report January 2019 that was commissioned by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), ths project may take up to 15 years to be completely actualized in the capital.

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In the first phase of the project, Stecol Corporation will begin by demarcating sections of Thika highway to be remodeled to accommodate support facilities such as of boarding stations and footbridges. A park-and- ride facility is planned for construction at Kasarani to allow commuters heading to the city centre to leave their vehicles and transfer to a mass transport bus for the remainder of the journey. The existing footbridges on the busy highway will guide the placement of the initial stations for the BRT system.

This is the latest multi billion road project to be undertaken in Nairobi. For instance, the 27-kilometre Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA)–Westlands Expressway is expected to cost about Sh. 65 billion or Sh. 2.41 billion per kilometre, becoming Kenya’s second-most expensive highway. At the same time, the construction of a new Sh. 160 billion toll highway from Nairobi to Mau Summit is expected to begin in October next year.

This project will expand the two-lane Nairobi to Mau Summit highway into a 4-lane dual carriageway. The project will also involve widening of the existing Rironi- Mai Mahiu–Naivasha road to become a seven-metre carriageway with two-metre shoulders on both sides, construction of a 4Km elevated highway through Nakuru town, and construction and improvement of interchanges along the highway. The ongoing expansion of the Westlands-Rironi highway is also expected to consume over Sh. 16 billion. Nairobi BRT Bus Lanes.

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