Nairobi Expressway's Green Park exit will be completed in mid January, Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said.
Murkomen said the project, which will have five lanes is expected to reduce congestion and improve traffic flow within the city.
“There are also plans to add two more lanes, from the current three, at the Museum Hill exit. The Nairobi Expressway is a shining monument to what private-public partnerships can do,” he said.
Murkomen praised the project saying it has reduced travel time from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Nairobi from two hours to 20 minutes at zero cost to taxpayers.
“The express way employed 6,000 Kenyans during its construction, it now has 500 people employed on permanent basis,” he said.
The CS spoke when he toured the project on Wednesday.
Murkomen said 200,000 subscribers have enrolled in the e-ticketing system in in the past 19 months.
He said the road has carried 26 million vehicles, which is proof that it has demand.
“Besides the many socioeconomic benefits it has brought to our country, the Nairobi Expressway has facilitated the transfer of technology to Kenya," Murkomen said.
"Its smart traffic monitoring system, with a 360-degree view of the whole road, has enhanced security and emergency response. It will provide a good benchmark for the Intelligent Traffic System we have piloted and is ready for roll out,” he said.
Murkomen said the success of the project has seen an increase in demand for similar projects.
“We are therefore considering the dualling of the Rironi-Mau Summit road, which will begin next year,” he said.
A long-term plan to develop roads across the country is currently underway.
Some of these roads are, the Nairobi-Mombasa highway, Athi River-Namanga highway, Kisumu-Isibania road and Kiambu road.
Murkomen praised the People’s Republic of China and its companies for for investing in the country under the PPP programme.
He said the investment will ease the credit burden on the country.
The Green Park exit was built to ease traffic in the Central Business District and City Centre.
It has two directions, one heads to the Processional Way into the Haile Selassie Avenue, the other one heads to Kenyatta Avenue round about.
The 27.12km Nairobi Expressway project is fitted with 54 high-definition traffic cameras.
The Sh87 billion project was launched by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta on July 31, 2022.
It was constructed under the build-operate-transfer contract, which means China Road and Bridge Corporation was to build and operate the expressway for 27 years to recoup the money spent.
CRBC will pocket Sh106.8 billion in profit over the next 27 years. After 27 years, it will hand over the project to the government.
The road has 11 toll stations and 54 toll plazas with 54 cameras.
On average, about 50,000 vehicles make use of the Nairobi Expressway in a day, a fivefold increment from the beginning of the trial operations on May 14, 2022.
With the completion of the multibillion-shilling project, it takes between 15 and 20 minutes to cover the 27 km stretch, which starts from African Inland Church in Mlolongo all the way to James Gichuru on Waiyaki Way.