President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday revealed that the Nairobi Expressway will be open to motorists from next Saturday, May 14.
Speaking while officiating the Nairobi City Marathon, President Kenyatta said the Nairobi Expressway will be open for trial before it is officially commissioned for use by all paying motorists.
“We will allow Kenyans to use the expressway so that we see the loopholes that exist before we officially launch it. From Saturday, the expressway will be on use so that we continue to build Nairobi and Kenya as a whole,” Uhuru said.
The nearly completed expressway is expected to reduce the time taken by motorists to travel along the busy Mombasa Road and Waiyaki Way between Mlolongo and Westlands.
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Motorists seeking to use the expressway have the option of using the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) or the Manual Toll Collection (MTC) when they reach the service centers.
Motorists will be expected to part with a fee of up to Sh350 to use the Nairobi Expressway with the toll fee ranging per motorist depending on their point of entry and point of exit.
The government last week hiked the toll rates by 16 per cent to match foreign exchange for the charges that are dominated by the dollar following the weakening of the Kenyan shilling.
The road built at a cost of Sh88 billion and has 11 interchanges; Mlolongo, Standard Gauge Railway, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Eastern Bypass, Southern Bypass, Capital Centre, Haile Selassie Avenue, Museum Hill, Westlands and James Gichuru Road.
Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) last month asked all interested motorists to register and pay the required fee to access the highway before its officially opened.
Photography, pedestrians, skaters, motorcycles, bicycles, tuk tuks and wheelbarrows are among those banned from accessing the 27km expressway when it is commissioned.