The government has bowed to public pressure and reviewed the design of the planned Nairobi expressway that will now leave the iconic Uhuru Park unscathed.
The original design would have seen the Sh62 billion road cut through the famed recreational park and the historic papal dais at the University of Nairobi, triggering a new wave of compensations worth over Sh4.1 billion.
The four-lane dual carriageway once completed will run over 27km, linking Mlolongo and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
It is intended to ease the flow of traffic in the city and will be fully funded by a Chinese firm - China Roads and Bridge Company (CRBC) - which will recoup its investment with road tolls.
But following public outcry, Infrastructure Principal Secretary Paul Maringa said yesterday the road’s design had been altered to minimise damage on iconic facilities and lessen compensation payouts.
Mr Maringa said “not an inch” of Uhuru Park would be hived off in what is likely to win over critics of the road project.
“We are now certain that Uhuru Park will not be touched at all, not even an inch,” said the PS. He was speaking during an engagement with the Kenya Editors Guild in Nairobi.
Maringa also allayed fears that iconic institutions such as Khalsa Primary School and the Nairobi School would "be greatly encroached."
Other properties set to be affected by the project include Next-Gen Mall, parts of the Railways Club and Boulevard Hotel. Others to give way for the road are a military camp and National Persons with Disabilities plots in Westlands.
The PS defended the project, saying it would go a long way in decongesting traffic by 30 per cent from the existing highway besides creating 3,000 jobs both directly and indirectly.
The new road is estimated to accommodate 22,000 motorists per day when completed.
The expressway will be tolled at a cost of Sh11.24 per km, with the journey from Mlolongo to James Gichuru Road set to cost motorists an average of Sh300.
Maringa said the revised design sought to minimise the compensation payouts and that no facility would be demolished “the whole scale” in order to pave way for the project.
"I want to assure you in the continuous process of design there’s no facility brought down the whole scale,” said the PS.
Government Spokesperson Cyrus Oguna said motorists would not be forced to use the expressway in order for the contractor to collect toll fees.
The project, which was recently commissioned by President Uhuru Kenyatta, will take three years and commercial operations will run for 27 years.
