Kenya's little-known towns are turning into business hubs with accelerated infrastructure development by the government over the past years.
According to the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), there are 40 ongoing road projects in the country under the agency.
All these projects amounting to billions of shillings are part of the government's plan in building 4,120 kilometres of roads countrywide, of which an estimated 1,413 kilometres were completed by end of 2019.
The South Sudan Link road project is being undertaken by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) at a cost of Ksh37 billion.
It connects the towns of Kitale - Kapenguria - Lokichar - Lodwar - Kakuma to Lokichogio town, which is 30 kilometres from the border between Kenya and South Sudan.
The road is expected to boost the potential of the region and enhance cross-border trade as well as ease exploration of petroleum deposits within the Lake Turkana Basin.
Garsen-Witu-Lamu Road (135km) at Ksh10.9 Billion
The project is being financed by the national government and will undergo a radical facelift from the current earth/gravel road to a bitumen standard, and reconstruction of the paved section which runs from Gamba to the MinJilla area.
The road forms the main access into Lamu County as it connects from the existing bitumen paved road from Garsen through Witu and Hindi to the Mokowe Jetty, from where boat services access Lamu Island.
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Kibwezi-Kitui–Migwani road - Ksh18.4 billion - 192 KM
The road is part of the Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project to bitumen standard and its upgrading has been ongoing since August 2017.
Works on the 192-km project done by the Chinese firm that also constructed Thika Superhighway in Nairobi.
The road is situated in the Eastern parts of the country and traverses Makueni and Kitui Counties.
It starts from Kibwezi town and continues in a generally northward direction through Ikutha and Mutomo to Kitui. The road proceeds to Kabati and onwards through Tulia to Migwani.
It will provide a route from Mombasa to Ethiopia on a direct alignment with less steep slopes, avoiding the need to pass through Nairobi.
Machakos-Kenol-Ngoleni-Kaani-Mutituni-Kaseve road - Ksh 1.2 billion
The construction is currently ongoing and is a critical artery in Machakos County.
Its upgrading is expected to provide improved movement of people, goods and farm produce between Mitaboni/ Kathiani and Machakos Town.
Nuno-Modogashe Road - 135km (Ksh8.4 Billion)
The 135 Km stretch connects the towns of Garissa and Wajir, as well as to the North East region and neighboring Ethiopia and Somalia.
The construction of the road has changed the image of the area where roads in the isolated North Eastern Province are mostly in poor condition.
The project will pave this road and replace and/or construct drainage works and install signs, pavement markings and guardrails.
On completion, the upgraded road will enhance the population’s access to social services and ease travel to some of Kenya’s top tourist destinations, thus helping boost the tourism sector.
Other road projects are the Eldoret Town Bypass (32km) at Ksh5.1 Billion, Chiakariga-Meru Road (55km) at Ksh4.7 Billion, Kitale-Endebess-Suam Road (45km) at Ksh4.5 Billion and Ruiru-Githunguri-Uplands (47km) at Ksh4.0 Billion.
