By the end of the year, you will be able to avoid Nairobi's choking traffic jams by using bypasses without getting into the city.
Southern Bypass, Northern Bypass, and Eastern Bypass have already been put up.
The only missing bypass is the Western Bypass, which Transport CS James Macharia said on Friday will be completed by the end of the year.
"If you are coming from the side of Thika, you come through Muthaiga; you come through Red Hill, you join this road at Ruaka, and then you can go towards the west without having to go through the city.
"The same thing if you are coming from Rift Valley, you can now use Southern Bypass going all the way to City Cabanas towards Mombasa," Macharia said after touring the project.
The CS said he is happy with the progress after the contractor confirmed they will complete it in the next five months.
"We have seven interchanges in the design. This is a very expensive road to do in terms of the design and where it is passing through; it is a very critical link which will make a difference not only in this area but the entire city of Nairobi," he said.
Macharia said the road project will be open for use by December. It passes through several towns such as Gitaru, Wangige, Ndenderu and Ruaka, and is the fourth and final ring road in the Nairobi Ring Road Network Masterplan.
The project works include the construction of a dual carriageway with a length of 15.3km and about 17.31km of service roads.
It also involves the construction of seven grade interchanges at Gitaru, Lower Kabete, Wangige, Kihara, Ndenderu, Rumenye and Ruaka.
The construction began on March 15, 2019, and was projected to be completed in 39 months. It is being funded by the China Exim Bank and the Kenyan government. The contractor is China Road and Bridge Corporation.
The bypass transverses the two subcounties of Kabete and Kiambaa – both in Kiambu county.
Macharia said the government is doing a circular road going around the city to make sure motorists not interested in passing through the central business district avoid unnecessary jams within the city.
The Southern Bypass has helped reduce traffic within the city, with lorries ferrying goods such as fuel avoiding the CDB.
He said the Western Bypass will complete the circle. Macharia said challenges to do with the land acquisition will be dealt with.
The CS said roads within some nine informal settlements have also been given a facelift. They include Dagoreti, Kwangware, Kangemi, Mukuru, Dandora, Mathare and Kibera, which previously had dilapidated roads or where none existed.
"We had a programme to upgrade those roads in the shortest time possible. We gave the contractor 12 months to do the works. It cost Sh5 billion but covering 408 kilometres, this has never been done before," he said.
The programme to upgrade roads in slums started last year.
With an overall 63 per cent completion, the contractor has so far received payment equivalent to 30 per cent of the contract sum.
Section I (from Gitaru to Wangige) has 70 per cent of work completed, while section II (which is from Wangige to Ndenderu) has 75 per cent of work completed.
Section III (from Ndenderu to Ruaka) has 60 per cent of work completed.
The latest 4th and 6th instalment payments that would make payment totalling 60 per cent have been processed for payment by the employer.
The National Land Commission has completed awards for the 20 acres needed for the project amounting to Sh1.87 billion.
Until now, the Kenya National Highways Authority has dispensed a total of Sh520 million to the NLC for compensation of persons affected by the project within some of the priority areas.
NLC issued a Notice of Taking Possession for 34 plots on July 1, 2021, out of the 37 plots that were pending.
The project still requires an additional Sh1.36 billion to clear the pending land compensation. Already, KeNHA has set aside Sh1 billion in its budget for the same.
From the preliminary design, which forms the basis of the contract implementation, several changes have been instructed, especially in respect of Wangige, Ndenderu, Ruaka, Rumenye interchanges, additional retaining walls, service roads, and geometry of the road.