Govt Releases Date for Nairobi-Thika Expressway Launch

Construction of the proposed Nairobi-Thika Expressway is set to begin within two months, with President William Ruto expected to preside over the groundbreaking, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has announced.

Kindiki made the disclosure on Friday, October 30, while addressing residents of Kiambu County. He said the government was finalising project details before the ceremony could go ahead.

“Between one and two months, the president will come here for the groundbreaking of the road’s construction,” he said, adding in Swahili, “Tutajenga barabara ya ghorofa.”

The planned expressway will stretch about 60 kilometres as an elevated road running above the existing carriageway.

It will serve motorists travelling between Thika, Ruiru, Juja and Nairobi, ending at Museum Hill in the capital.

Kindiki likened the project to the Nairobi Expressway, which runs from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to James Gichuru in Westlands.

He explained that motorists would be free to choose between the elevated road and the ground-level highway, a design meant to ease overall traffic flow.

The deputy president acknowledged that the Thika Superhighway, built during former president Mwai Kibaki’s tenure, has not fully solved congestion because the number of vehicles using the route has grown significantly since its completion.

Preliminary estimates put the cost of the expressway at between KSh 150 billion and KSh 200 billion.

The government is expected to pursue a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement to raise the financing required.

The announcement comes about a month after the government commissioned a feasibility study to assess the project’s technical and financial viability.

The study is tasked with evaluating possible alignments, engineering specifications, traffic capacity, environmental and social impacts, and land acquisition requirements.

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