Motorists using Uhuru Highway in Nairobi are set to endure long hours in traffic after a road agency closed a section of the busy highway for 20 days.
The closure, which commenced on April 9, is meant to allow for the ongoing construction of the Nairobi Expressway.
According to the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), the 20-day traffic disruption will affect the section between Bunyala roundabout and the Nyayo Stadium roundabout.
Motorists leaving town using Uhuru Highway will have to use Bunyala Road-Workshop Road- Lusaka then join Mombasa Road at the Nyayo roundabout.
KeNHA has urged motorists to comply with traffic management plans and follow the direction of traffic marshals as well as road signs.
“There will be traffic disruption along Uhuru Highway starting Friday, April 9, 2021, to Thursday, April 29, 2021 (20 days). Motorists are kindly advised to use alternative routes. We apologise for the inconveniences that may be caused as we endeavour to provide an efficient, safe and reliable road network,” KeNHA Director General Peter Mundinia said in a notice.
Already, there have been traffic snarl-ups along Mombasa Road, Uhuru Highway and Waiyaki Way caused by the construction of the Nairobi Expressway.
Motorists using Mombasa Road and Uhuru Highway have been forced to use either Industrial Area, Jogoo Road or South B as alternative routes into and out of town.
The 27-kilometre Expressway from Mlolongo to the James Gichuru Junction in Westlands will cost about Sh62 billion.
In February this year, the Ministry of Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said that the JKIA-Westlands Expressway will be completed by the end of 2021.
The Nairobi Expressway will be a four-lane and six-lane dual carriageway within the existing median of Mombasa Road/Uhuru Highway/Waiyaki Way and 10 interchanges.
