KeNHA to open Witeithie footbridge to the public

The traffic management plan released by KeNHA yesterday.

The construction of the awaited footbridge over the Thika superhighway at Witeithie is complete, two years after the project was commissioned.  

The Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) said the contractor, Interways Construction Works, successfully hoisted the bridge and it will be opened to the public tomorrow.

Thereafter, speed bumps at Witeithie will be removed for a smooth flow of traffic at the stretch notorious with traffic jams.

Public service vehicles will also stop dropping and picking passengers on the main carriageways and instead use the service lanes.

KeNHA in July said the delay in completing the project was due to the slow clearance of the bridges' steel parts from China at the port of Mombasa.

Just last week, the roads agency instructed the contractor to stop hoisting the bridge since the works caused a traffic snarl-up that inconvenienced road users on the eve of Christmas.

It blamed Interways Construction Works for poor traffic management and directed it only block the highway and divert traffic between 11 pm to 4 am.

“At Witeithie, the contractor notified KeNHA that they experienced a hiccup when hoisting part of the steel superstructure for the pedestrian footbridge last night. This greatly affected traffic flow for the Thika-bound traffic, causing a massive traffic jam,” KeNHA posted on Twitter.

Traffic Updates at Witeithie (Along Nairobi - Thika Superhighway) pic.twitter.com/9hj8HypXgT — Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) (@KeNHAKenya) December 24, 2019

The Witeithie footbridge is part of a Sh822 million project to ease the pedestrian crossing at Garden Estate Junction, Survey of Kenya, Witeithie, and Mang’u.

Interways Works Limited is constructing the Witeithie and Mang’u footbridges at a cost of Sh430 while a second contractor, Fourway Construction Limited, is building the Survey of Kenya and Garden City footbridges at a cost of Sh390 million.