The Kenol dual carriageway is set to be opened for use in 2021. Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) Chairman Eng. Wangai Ndirangu made the announcement and said the road will be opened in December.
The dual carriageway is the country’s second most expensive road after Thika superhighway. Construction of the road is scheduled to commence commenced in July this year and is now 2% done and is being done in two phases.
The road will start from Kenol Township in Murang’a through Makutano and Sagana in Kirinyaga County, proceed to Kambiti in Machakos and end at Marua in Nyeri County. The road will also connect with the Great North Highway, an African Development Bank (AfDB) financed project that is expected to link Kenya to Ethiopia.
Scope of work
Phase one of the project will see 36 kilometres of road constructed from Sagana to Marua at a cost of Sh 6billion while the second phase will stretch for 48 kilometres from Kenol to Sagana at a cost of Sh 8billion. Eng. Wangai affirmed that the project, expected to be commissioned by President Uhuru Kenyatta will be about 80% done in a period of one year and will be partially operational.
The expansion of the Kenol-Sagana-Marua highway coded A2 is predicted to have major impact in the regions it cuts through, which are Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Machakos and Embu counties. Traveling time between Nyeri and Nairobi will be cut down by at least one hour and upon completion the highway will open up the northern corridor and create employment opportunities for thousands of residents in the agriculture, tourism, small and medium-sized enterprises sectors.
