Residents and motorists in Western and Northern parts of Nairobi County have something to smile about following the substantial completion of the new Waiyaki Way-Red Hill link Road. The 4.5km dual road links James Gichuru Road with Limuru Road. At 93% progress,

the road has transformed the leafy suburbs opening up for re-development and has dramatically eased congestion in the City. Residents working for United Nations Nairobi Office and its environs can now comfortably live in Karen or Dagoretti area.

The construction was funded by the Government of Kenya at a cost of KSh3.01 billion and implemented by China Wu Yi with APEC Consortium undertaking supervisory and consultancy services. Scope of works include; walkways, bridges, culverts, overpasses, underpasses, drainage works, street lightings, landscaping and slope protection works.

Benefits of this road are already being experienced as it takes a short time to travel from Westlands to Limuru road via Kitisuru and Loresho. Traffic congestion within the normally jam packed Westlands area has reduced due to the provided link road that acts as an effective alternative. Already a shift in corporate offices is being witnessed. According to Hass Consult, corporate offices are slowly shifting base from the Central Business District to Westlands area owing to the major road infrastructure developments such as this current link road and the Ring Road-Parklands connection. This goes a long way to prove that road infrastructure impacts positively on the economic growth of an urban area.

Included in the project is the re-carpeting of roads crossing the project, namely: Grevillea Road, Kyuna Road, Loresho Ridge Road and Kirawa Backside Road. Road markings and installation of road signage is also almost complete.

The current traffic snarl up experienced at the point where the Link road joins Waiyaki Way will ease as plans are underway to construct an Interchange that will see traffic coming via Waiyaki way –Red Hill link road smoothly joining James Gichuru without any interruptions.

Ongoing works include the construction of footpaths/walkways and access routes, repairs of broken kerbs and drains, installation of guard rails for safety, street lighting and restoration of the aesthetics to complement this beautiful master piece art like landscaping, re-planting of trees grass and flowers.

This is just one among the numerous road projects that the Authority is doing to ensure there is seamless connectivity and integrated network in urban areas, with the ripple effect being lower cost of production, low transport costs, less travel time and improved living standards as envisaged in Vision 2030 and Agenda 4. …ends