Eastern Bypass Dualling Project Nears Completion

Dualling of Eastern Bypass in Nairobi is currently underway, with the Chinese contractor expected to complete the 28-kilometre road project early next year.

According to the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura), the project is now almost complete with the dualling of the entire road scheduled for completion by mid-January 2023.

“The expansion of Eastern Bypass into a dual carriageway is 86% complete with completion of works date set for January 15, 2023,” Kura said in a statement.

China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) is undertaking the project for Sh12.5 billion.

The project commenced in October last year shortly after Kenya signed a Sh2 billion loan with an undisclosed financier, according to official documents.

Eastern Bypass starts at City Cabanas via Ruai towards Ruiru passing over Thika Road and joining the Northern Bypass.

The project includes the construction of five major vehicular crossings involving bridges and dualling busy sections of the road.

Eastern Bypass was planned as a single carriageway but since its opening in 2014, huge traffic volumes witnessed on the highway have prompted its expansion.

Belt and Road Forum

The Eastern Bypass dualling project was among 11 projects that Kenya showcased to global investors during the Belt and Road forum held in Beijing, China, in May 2017.

The project is expected to ease traffic congestion on the busy road that links Mombasa Road to the Thika-Nairobi highway.

It will also be a major win for the proposed Northlands City – a Sh500 billion Kenyatta family-owned mixed-use development on a farmstead between Eastern Bypass and Thika Road.

The estate, which will include residential, commercial, and industrial units, will add up to 30,000 vehicles per day onto Eastern Bypass and 27,000 vehicles daily onto Thika Road.

In 2019, Kura announced that it had factored a key interchange to connect Northlands City to the Eastern Bypass in the ongoing dualling of the road.

Planners of the project had proposed the construction of two interchanges, one linking it to the Eastern Bypass near Thika Road and another connecting to the Greater Eastern Bypass.

The roads agency, however, rejected the proposal and advised the planners to amend their plan to provide for a single interchange serving as a single junction into and out of the site.

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