The works on the 2km Kibra-Southern Bypass Interchange road within Nairobi County being constructed by the government to bitumen-dual carriageway standards at a cost of over Sh1.15 billion is progressing well and is expected to be complete by September next year.
The works of the road which commenced in September, 2020, whose progress is currently at 21 per cent includes the construction of a dual carriageway, service roads, underpasses, overpasses, bus bays, bridges and pedestrian bridges and footpaths.
Assistant Resident Engineer of the project, Eng. Kelvin Mutemi, from the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), said the road will have a four lane-two way dual carriageway road that will be 7.5m wide with 2.0m verges between the curb and the open side drains.
“The road will also have service and slip roads linking to the Southern Bypass interchange, acceleration and deceleration lanes,” added Mutemi, who is also the Resident Engineer of the Improvement of the Nairobi roads Lot1 projects. Briefing the Nairobi County Development Implementation Co-ordination Committee (CDICC), Wednesday, during an inspection visit of the Kibera-Southern Bypass Interchange, Eng. Mutemi informed the Committee that the contractor is unable to proceed with the slip road works from the Southern Bypass onto Missing Link 12 towards Ngong road as some individuals were claiming ownership of the parcels of land along the road abutting the Southern bypass.
“These disputed properties fall within the Southern Bypass road reserve which is 60 metres wide,” said Eng. Mutemi.
He said the encroachment of a road corridor along the Langata road by individuals who have put up three car wash stations along the project road is also hindering the construction of the walkways and drains, as the proprietors are reluctant to move out, claiming they have permits to operate their businesses.
The CDICC team led by Ms Jane Katuse, from the Nairobi County Commissioner’s office and Mr Larry Mulomi from the President’s Delivery Unit and also Secretary of the Committee who were impressed with the project, commended the good works being undertaken by KURA and the contractor of Ogle Construction Company Limited.
Ms Katuse assured the contractor that the Committee will address the bottlenecks delaying the progress of the construction, as the government wants the project be completed as per the agreement.
The Kibra-Southern Bypass interchange road will have four bridges which include the Railway overpass expected to be complete in August this year, Mashimoni overpass and Lindi underpass bridges to be ready by July 2021, while River Mutoine road over River bridge is expected to be complete in December this year.
By Bernadette Khaduli
