The Sh4.5 billion Makupa Bridge in Mombasa County is set for completion in June this year.
The 457-metre Bridge whose construction started in April 2021, will link Mombasa Island to the Mainland, replacing the current Makupa Causeway that was built in 1929.
The China Communications and Construction Company Limited, is constructing the Bridge, with funding from the National Government.
Mombasa County Development Implementation Coordination Committee (MCDICC) is set to inspect the Bridge next Thursday, to ensure it’s completed on time.
The Committee Chairman, who is also the Mombasa County Commissioner, Lukas Mwanza, said the Bridge is among several multi-billion infrastructural and other project being undertaken by the National Government in the Coastal City.
According to Mwanza, the Bridge will significantly improve infrastructure along the Mombasa-Nairobi Trunk Road and movement of cargo from the Port of Mombasa.
The Bridge comprises two four-lane parallel bridges with width of 20 metres each and an extra two-metre rail for non-motorised traffic and a pedestrian footpath.
“The National Government has committed huge resources for key infrastructural and other projects to spur development in the Coastal City and the Coastal Region at large,” said Mwanza.
He said the infrastructural improvement and other critical projects have positioned the County as an attractive destination for investment, trade and tourism.
Mwanza said that Mombasa and other coastal counties was a beneficiary of multi –billion infrastructural and other mega projects meant to transform the region into an investment and tourism hub.
Among other projects that will change the fortunes of the region include the Mombasa-Kwa Jomvu Road and Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), that is expected to be a logistics and industrial hub in Mombasa and create thousands of jobs for Kenyans.
According to stakeholders in the shipping and logistic sector, the Sh39.1 billion project has the ability to create over 30,000 jobs.
The Dongo Kundu project which will connect Mombasa to the South Coast in Kwale County is also aimed at easing transport, boost industrial development and accelerate movement of cargo from Mombasa Port.
The County has also witnessed construction and improvement of roads such as Mombasa-Miritini Road, Airport and Port Reitz roads, which have been expanded into dual carriageways at a cost of Sh23 billion. These roads link the Port of Mombasa to the Mombasa-Nairobi Highway at Miritini and have helped to ease movement of cargo from the Port.
By Radhia Ahmed and Mohamed Hassan
