Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia has announced plans to construct a Bus Rapid Transport System (BRT) lane beneath the Nairobi Expressway which runs from Westlands to Mlolongo in Machakos County.
Macharia made the revelation on Sunday, October 31 while giving the update on the expressway construction.
Thika Road was previously earmarked as the highway that would be used to test the project with the construction of the BRT stations already underway on the busy road.
The CS added that there would be beautification by planting grass and flowers and allocating space for non-motorised traffic.
He noted that the Expressway was at 75 per cent completion with it being expected to be complete by March 2022.
“We are doing the grass the flowers but also the non-motorised traffic, in terms of walkways and cycling but also down there we also have made a provision for the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRT). It is part of the infrastructure that is going to be done” CS Macharia stated.
He noted that most of the construction of the Expressway was complete and that the government was targeting that by Christmas, all the old roads that have been blocked during construction would be opened up.
“All the piling is 100 per cent complete and what is being done currently is putting up of the beam; which is basically the bridge, and this will be finished by mid-December,” Macharia noted.
“By Christmas, we expect to open up the entire old way and not just opening it but restoring and enhancing its,” he added.
The transport CS noted that the Expressway would go a long way in improving Nairobi's diplomatic status.
“By doing this major piece of highway construction, connecting to the UN will be a lot easier for the diplomats,” Macharia stated.
He added that they want to ensure that by the time President Uhuru Kenyatta finishes his term, Nairobi will look completely different.
“Nairobi will be different, and we want to leave office when Nairobi is looking very different as that is our goal for doing all these investments,” the CS noted
Macharia noted that despite trees being cut down, it was within the contract and instructions given to the contractor that for any trees that would have to be cut down, replacement would be done by planting more trees.
