Kenya has borrowed Ksh.2 billion to construct the Nairobi Eastern Bypass dual carriage.
The road stretches from Mombasa Road to Thika Superhighway.
According to Treasury papers which were presented before Parliament indicate that the loan was signed on September 28, 2021 but has not been released yet with details of the project financier remaining scanty.
The road runs from Mombasa Road through City Cabanas, Pipeline, Njiru and Thika Road onwards.
According to Business Daily, the multi-billion-shilling project is aimed at easing the growing traffic jam linking motorists from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Mombasa-Nairobi highway to Thika Superhighway.
The road, one of the Vision 2030 infrastructure projects, was designed during the term of the Grand Coalition government. The construction of the 32-km bypass started in 2013.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia previously told the Business Daily that dualling of the Eastern Bypass should have been done from day one.
“They should not have done that road without dualling it,” said Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia in an interview with BD.
The dualling of the road is part of 11 infrastructure projects that the Kenyan government delegation showcased to global investors during the two-day Belt and Road Forum for International Co-operation in Beijing, China, in May 2017.
Other projects were the expansion of the Southern and Northern bypasses.
Chinese firms have increasingly won multi-billion shilling roads contracts in Kenya.
China Roads and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) is at the tail end of completing the Sh59 billion Nairobi Expressway.
CRBC is building the 27.1km double-decker highway with privately sourced funds to be recovered through toll charges by its subsidiary, Moja Expressway, which will operate the road for nearly 30 years.
