Construction of the dual carriage road between Kenol in Murang’a and Marua in Nyeri County will be completed in June next year.
Completion dates for the 84-kilometre road were initially set for October 2023 with the Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia saying the construction period was reduced after two contractors were awarded tenders to work on the road.
Speaking on Friday when he inspected the ongoing works of the road at Makuyu area, Macharia said the road has been divided into two sections, one starting from Kenol to Sagana which is 48 kms and the second section runs from Sagana to Marua in Nyeri which is 38 kilometres long.
He observed that the two contractors are already on ground and the works are progressing well.
The Sh14 billion road, Macharia noted, will serve to make a great transformation to economies in the Mount Kenya and northern parts of the country regions.
“The project is one of the milestones of the Jubilee government and will enable the road to absorb the heavy traffic from Mwea, Meru, Embu, Kerugoya, Mukurwe-ini and Tumutumu areas and boost the socio-economic growth of the area,” Macharia said.
The stretch between Kenol and Nyeri, the CS observed, has been experiencing heavy traffic jams in the recent past and added that expanding the road to dual carriage will ease movement of people and goods.
He said that the dual carriage road will connect the Northern Corridor from Nairobi to the LAPSSET Corridor in Isiolo.
Macharia further explained that the government also intends to expand a 15-kilometre stretch from Kenol to Thika town from the current two lanes to three lanes.
This, he said, will enable it to absorb traffic from the new dual carriageway into the Thika superhighway without snarl ups.
“As a social responsibility, the contractors will build two hospitals one at Kenol and the other at Makutano to cater for road accident victims and also serve the local communities,” he added.
Meanwhile, Macharia added that he is holding discussions with Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria to have traders who will be displaced at Kenol town relocated to a modern market.
“We have plans together with the governor to source for land near Kenol and construct a modern market similar to the ones we are constructing at Muthithi and Kangare to provide traders with space to conduct their business,” Macharia said.
He said the contractor will also establish markets for hawkers operating along the road and upgrade streets in the affected towns.
The government is also currently doing a major road connecting four counties in Mount Kenya region.
The road dubbed Mau Mau is earmarked to connect Nyeri, Murang’a, Kiambu and Nyandarua counties.
by Bernard Munyao
