Four footbridges worth Ksh380 million are set to be demolished to pave way for the construction of the Nairobi Expressway.
The footbridges are located in Mlolongo, Imara Daima near Libra house, General Motors on Enterprise Road, and at St Mark's church in Westlands. They were all built between 2009 and 2015.
"We are demolishing the four footbridges and relocating them to new sites along the corridor. This is a normal thing in road construction,” KeNHA director-general Peter Mundinia told Business Daily in an interview on Tuesday, March 2.
The General Motors footbridge is said to be relocated along Enterprise Road, the Imara Daima footbridge will be relocated to the ASL Packaging on Tecla Lorupe Road, while the one at St Mark’s church will be relocated to Dunhill Towers along Waiyaki Way and the footbridge at Mlolongo will be relocated to Mulley’s Supermarket off Airport North Road.
The relocation is said to ensure no material goes to waste as the footbridges were made from steel, which is quite expensive.
“The footbridges we are demolishing are made of steel. This means that we are not going to put into waste any parts demolished,” said Mundinia.
Relocation of water and sewerage lines along the highway has cost taxpayers Ksh 2.1 billion with Ksh 1.1 billion set to be spent on the relocation of electricity lines.
The demolishing of these footbridges will greatly affect citizens given that on Mombasa Road, all footbridges are Boda Boda cycling lanes (as pedestrians opt to cross at dangerous sections). On the Airport North Road, hawkers dominate the footbridge where they display their wares.
The construction of the Nairobi Expressway is aimed at easing traffic along Mombasa Road, Uhuru Highway, and Waiyaki Way. This project is expected to be completed by December 2021.
