Govt Announces Plans to Contruct 536km Road Linking Over 7 Counties

The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has asked contractors and consultants to weigh in on a proposed KSh 77.8 billion (USD 600 million) project to upgrade 536 kilometres of rural roads to bitumen standard.

The Roads for Rural Economic Development Project is backed by the World Bank and the Kenyan government.

KeNHA made the call in an Early Market Engagement Notice, which names roads across Elgeyo Marakwet, Uasin Gishu, Kericho, Bomet, Nandi, Narok and Nakuru counties.

The four corridors are the 110-kilometre Kericho-Kenegut Border road, the 150-kilometre Kenegut Border-Nyaru road, the 133-kilometre Neissuit-Embomoss road and the 143-kilometre Embomoss-Mariwa road.

The Kericho-Kenegut Border route will pass through Ainamoi, Poiywek, Fort Ternan and Gilimori, while the Kenegut Border-Nyaru road will run through Mbogo Valley, Sirwa, Lessos and Kipkabus. The Neissuit-Embomoss road will link Salgaa, Elburgon and Turi, and the Embomoss-Mariwa corridor will cover Siongiroi, Kilgoris and Enoosaen.

Works will include upgrading, safety improvements and civil works to carry fibre-optic cables, using a design-and-build approach.

Each corridor’s roadwork and fibre-optic civil works will be split into two contracts, making eight in total. The project also covers bridges in the Lower Eastern region, community socio-economic infrastructure and improvements to cross-border trade facilities.

The government plans to seek financing from the World Bank through the International Development Association (IDA) and will also contribute funds.

The procurement notices, however, do not state how much the government will put in or confirm that the World Bank financing has been fully approved.

KeNHA said the engagement will gather feedback on construction costs, technical requirements, contractors’ capacity and likely implementation challenges. The authority added that the procurement strategy and contract packaging could change after industry feedback.

Source; https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CHK3mSMmp/

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