More police officers deployed as construction of Nairobi Expressway starts

More than 70 police officers have been deployed to the Nairobi Expressway project along Mombasa Road in Nairobi to help the contractors and motorists operate with little disruption.

The officers include 20 new traffic personnel and 50 others from the Administration Police Service’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit (CIPU).

President Uhuru Kenyatta is scheduled to visit the site this weekend to inspect the progress so far.

A senior officer of the rank of Commissioner will manage the team for the next year or so when the project will be on course.

This followed concerns there would be traffic disruptions on the busy stretch as the construction of the Sh62 billion project starts.

Deputy Inspector General of APS Gabow Noor visited the sites where the construction team will be operating from as part of efforts to assure them of support from government.

He said the officers will enhance the operations of the contractor and motorists.

“We are here to help the team do their job well. Motorists too must cooperate as this is a grand project that may affect their movements but for a short while,” said Gabow.

Nairobi Traffic police boss Joshua Omukata said they have deployed enough personnel to help in traffic flow as the exercise continue.

“We have a senior officer there now managing the issue. We will make it,” said Omukata.

The excavators will be working at day and night with police directing the removal of debris and arrival of materials.

Main construction activities on the 27.1 Km project have started with December 2022 as the set completion date.

The Expressway begins at Mlolongo to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi’s CBD and ends at Westlands along Waiyaki Way.

According to the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) this project is a public-private partnership (PPP).

KeNHA says the road project is unique in Africa due to the private-public partnership arrangement with much of the materials, labour and professional expertise being sourced locally.

The route will have two traffic lanes in either direction and will feature 10 interchanges, with a considerable portion of the expressway being elevated.

The interchanges will be at Mlolongo, SGR terminus, Eastern and Southern bypasses, Capital Centre, Haille Selassie, Museum Hill, The Mall - Westlands and James Gichuru Road junction.

Sections of the Expressway will feature eight, six and four lanes based on projected traffic. Its primary objective is to decongest Nairobi Metropolitan by providing faster, reliable, and less costly transport.

According to the Official Twitter handle for the President’s Delivery Unit(PDU), project investors will recoup their costs through modest pay-as-you-use fees at designated toll stations.

The Expressway is expected to serve at least 25,000 vehicles per day with a user expected to pay Sh600 per day to use the road.

Construction is being carried out by the Chinese contractor China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) under the PPP model. An important feature of the new expressway will be the dedicated bus rapid transit (BRT) facilities, which will also help to improve public transport to the city.