The Nairobi Expressway is a toll road in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, connecting

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is an international airport serving Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya. The other three important international airports in Kenya include Kisumu International Airport, Moi International Airport a ...

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

's Westlands area, that has been constructed under a public-private partnership between the government of

and

China Road and Bridge Corporation China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), is a Chinese state-owned construction and engineering firm that focuses on global infrastructure projects such as highways, skyways, rai ...

(CRBC).

Location

The 27.1-kilometer road starts from Mlolongo passing through JKIA and Nairobi's CBD to the James Gichuru junction along Waiyaki Way. From Mlolongo, the road links up via an interchange with Airport South Road, to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, along the Nairobi-Mombasa Road. The highway continues along the existing roadway to the Likoni Road Junction, a distance of approximately . From the Likoni Road junction, the toll highway continues northwards to the James Gichuru Road junction, a distance of approximately .

Overview

The Nairobi Expressway is aimed at easing traffic and provide a seamless access to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and its environs. The work involves expansion of the existing road to four-lanes one-way, (8 lanes total), with foot paths, drainage channels, overpass bridges and street lighting.

Construction and funding

The

government of Kenya The Government of the Republic of Kenya (GoK) is the Central government, national government of the Kenya, Republic of Kenya located in East Africa. It is composed of Counties of Kenya, 47 Counties, each county with its own semi-autonomous gove ...

has contracted with

(CRBC) to build this toll road on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. CRBC will use its own money to construct the road expansion, interchanges, and toll stations. The company will collect the toll fees until their investment is recovered, then the road will revert to government. The road expansion is to be done in stages. The

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

had indicated interest in funding the road expansion, but those plans have been overtaken by events. The cost of the toll highway is quoted as between KSh51 billion (US$510 million) and KSh65 billion (US$650 million).

Recent events

In April 2022, 98.4 Capital FM reported that the construction of the expressway was complete and was awaiting political and commercial commissioning. The road project, which cost over US$560 million to build, is expected to reduce travel time from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to the Nairobi

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

to between 15 and 20 minutes, instead of the one hour it took during off-peak and two hours it took during peak hours, before the expressway was built.

References

External links