MUTUA TO BUILD AIRPORT AT NEW MACHAKOS TOWN

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Machakos County Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua approached Nema for approval to build an airport in Machakos town to boost regional trade and tourism. Located at Muvuti-Kiima-Kimwe Ward within the proposed New Machakos town, the Machakos Airport will sit on 104 hectares – about 8.5% of the planned 892-hectare town. The project involves construction of a taxiway, passenger and presidential terminals, as well as a 1.35km runway, and other amenities such as link roads and a water treatment plant. “The runway will be 1350m long and 45m wide. At both ends of the runway, a stop way will be constructed. The runway shoulders will be 7.5m wide and a Runway End Safety Area (RESA) of 180m length and 160m width will be provided at both ends of the runway,” Machakos says in its project report. The Machakos Airport’s passenger terminal, the airfield’s main terminal, will comprise 10 check-in counters, six security check points, 10 gates, six passenger boarding bridges, and immigration counters for arrival

NAIROBI EXPRESSWAY

In mid-October 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Nairobi Expressway. The expressway is a 27 Km four lane dual carriage way, which runs along the median strips of Mombasa Road (starting at Mlolongo), Uhuru Highway and Waiyaki Way, (terminating at James Gichuru Road). It is to be tolled and will have ten interchanges.


The KShs. 62 Billion development is to be undertaken as a Public Private Partnership with the China Road and Bridge Construction Corporation (Kenya) (CRBC) on a build-operate-transfer model. That is, the concessionaire, CRBC, will finance, build and operate the tolled road for 30 years during which it will recover its costs (with interest) before transferring its operation to the Kenyan National Highways Authority (KeNHA).

 When finished, it will be a 27km (17-mile) highway, some of it elevated, that will connect Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the east of the city to the Nairobi-Nakuru highway in the west.


The $550m (£410m) project is set to dramatically change the city's skyline and is meant to ease traffic flows in and out of the centre of East Africa's main commercial hub.

The partially elevated highway was proposed about 10 years ago, but delays meant it was only launched in October by President Uhuru Kenyatta.


Yet the speed of its construction is leaving many Nairobians surprised. It already looks like a giant gash through the city and the constant hum of construction noise, lorries whipping up dust and beeping car horns all add to the confusion.

It is being financed and constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) - and the Chinese firm will operate the highway under a public-private partnership.


This means the four- and six-lane dual carriageway, with 10 interchanges along the route, will not be free to use - drivers will have to reportedly pay a toll of between $2 and $3.


The aim of improving Nairobi's roads seems like a laudable cause, but some argue it could actually exacerbate the city's traffic problems and the huge social and economic divide.

But questions remain over whether these forms of transport will be able to afford the toll fees to use the highway.


It could mean they are left in the jams below the highway as the elite zoom past them above.


Another bone of contention is the environmental impact of the project. Focus internationally has been on Nairobi's famous fig tree, saved by the president after an outcry.



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