The government is in the final stages of acquiring a members-only club in Nairobi to pave way for the expansion of Uhuru Highway and the construction of a matatu terminus.
Speaking at the Senate on Tuesday, November 10, Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja told the house that the government had already committed Ksh5 billion to purchase the land that is owned by Kenya Railways Retirement Pension Scheme.
“Treasury has confirmed that the money is available and that the NLC is finalising the valuation for the compulsory acquisition of Railways Club land,” he divulged.
The government is buying the Railways' land for the Nairobi Expressway Road project and to build a bus terminus along Uhuru Highway for matatus coming to the city from Mombasa Road, Lang’ata Road and Ngong Road.
The expressway is part of the state’s plan to decongest traffic in Nairobi and the new bus terminus will also be part of the BRT project that is already in the works.
When complete, it will serve as the final stop for passengers travelling to the CBD, as the Nairobi Metropolitan Services seeks to ban Matatus from entering the central business district.
After alighting at the new terminus, passengers will then be expected to board the BRT buses to their destinations in the CBD or proceed to other bus termini outside the city.
Traders who had businesses inside the Kenya Railway Club lost up to Ksh200 million as KeNHA started demolition of the premises.
Owners of the Lunar Park had protested a decision to bring it down but NMS Director General Mohammed Badi reassured that it would not be affected.
Badi stated that it would be re-modelled after the Greyhound Park in New York and be renamed Green Park.
President Uhuru Kenyatta reiterated his commitment to addressing transport challenges in Nairobi during a visit to Nairobi Central Railway Station on Tuesday, November 11.
“The estimated value of time lost to travel in Nairobi, as an example, is between Ksh 80 million and Ksh 400 million per month, with congestion costing the country about Ksh 50 million daily.
“Needless to say, this loss in productivity has impacted adversely the growth of our economy,” President Kenyatta noted.
