Outer Ring road expansion to be completed by September

Expansion of Outer Ring road is on schedule with completion expected in September, Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) has said.

Addressing the media on Friday after officially opening to traffic the carriageway from Ruaraka (Thika Road) to Taj Mall (Eastern Bypass), Kura acting Director General Silas Kinoti said that the project was within the original timelines and would meet the deadline.

"By the end of September the road will be ready but currently the two carriage ways are open and you can now drive from GSU all the way to Taj Mall,” he said.

Kinoti said that what is remaining now is completion of the interchange where Jogoo road meets Outer Ring road which is set to have 11 footbridges, service roads, grade separated intersections, walkways and cycle paths.

The acting urban roads agency boss also said the contractor, SinoHydro Tianjin Engineering Company Limited, is expected to finalize the other remaining works within six months including landscaping, footbridges and constructing the remaining service roads.

The road is expected to serve 60 per cent or over 2.6 million city dwellers and will improve accessibility of Eastlands area, he said.

The Kura boss further noted that the road will reduce travel time from Ruaraka to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

"It used to take two hours to commute from Ruaraka to JKIA but this will now be reduced to under 20 minutes as the gridlocks have been eliminated,” he said.

Also in the project and yet to start is the construction of Sh868 million wholesale market and other social amenities including a children's park to be located along the corridor.

The road expansion project was commissioned by President Uhuru Kenyatta in January, 2015.