The Kenol-Sagana-Marua carriageway is set to be partially opened before the end of the year. Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia made the announcement and said the highway will be opened in December to give reprieve to motorists and pedestrians.
Construction of the 84km Kenol Marua dual carriageway is also scheduled to be fully completed a year earlier. The Sh14 billion project which was to be completed in 2023 will now end next year. The dual carriageway is the country’s second most expensive road after Thika superhighway. It will connect the Northern Corridor from Nairobi to the Lapsset Corridor in Isiolo, an African Development Bank (AfDB) financed project that is expected to link Kenya to Ethiopia.
The carriageway project
The road project starts 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. 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.
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. The President is expected to inspect the project and will commission it once completed. He has been frequently assessing its progress.
