Traffic on a section of the Nairobi-Nakuru road will be rerouted from Monday to facilitate the expansion of the busy highway.
In a bid to ease traffic to and from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and around Nairobi, and also decongest the city centre, the road is being converted into a major six-lane thoroughfare, complete with interchanges as well as service and bus lanes, among other features.
Kenya National Highways Authority and China Wu Yi Company Ltd, the contractor upgrading the James Gichuru junction road to Rironi stretch, on Saturday announced that traffic would be temporarily diverted.
"The authority will divert traffic on the section of the road from Monday July 9. This is to facilitate the rehabilitation of the road," KeNHA said in a statement, adding that the works would cost Sh1.6 billion.
The 1.2 kilometre diversion will start at Kamandura underpass in Limuru, with Nakuru-bound traffic expected to use the old Naivasha road.
China Wu Yi's administrator Edison Wang said motorists heading to Nairobi would divert at Kabuku stretch and return to the highway in Rironi, while those heading towards Nakuru would take the diversion in Rironi.
KeNHA Director-General Peter Mundinia asked road users, particularly drivers and motorbike riders to observe the Highway Code, adding that traffic police would be around to guide them.
