The Nairobi Expressway was on Saturday morning opened to the public on a trial basis ahead of its official launch by President Kenyatta later this month.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia says at least 11,000 vehicles have already been registered on the eight-lane elevated dual carriageway, out of which about 7,000 have registered to use the electronic toll collection.
“The expressway is going to help decongest the city, we are excited to launch it this morning,” Macharia said during the Saturday opening.
Registration of vehicles is being done by Moja Expressway, a subsidiary of the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) which is responsible for designing, financing, and building the highway, and will maintain and operate it for 27 years to recoup its investment through toll fees.
The expressway, the first major project in the country to be carried out through a Public-Private Partnership [PPP] model, begins from Mlolongo through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Nairobi CBD to the Westlands area along Waiyaki Way. It is expected to reduce the time spent on Mombasa Road during rush hour from about two hours to between 10 and 15 minutes.
The Sh88 billion highway has 11 interchanges at Mlolongo, Standard Gauge Railway, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Eastern Bypass, Southern Bypass, Capital Centre, Haile Selassie Avenue, Museum Hill, Westlands, and James Gichuru Road.
The Transport Ministry has set the base toll charge for using the expressway from Mlolongo to the James Gichuru exit in Westlands at Sh360 while the cost of using the road between JKIA and Westlands is Sh300.
Heavy vehicles with four or more axles will pay five times the base toll rates, meaning a trailer will be paying Sh1,800 to move from Mlolongo to Westlands on the expressway. Bodabodas, carts, bicycles, and tuk-tuks are banned on the expressway.
Motorists intending to use the road are required to pay in cash or use Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) and Manual Toll Collection (MTC) cards.
