Government allocates KES. 1.5B for link roads to ease Thika traffic.

Thika MP Eng. Patrick Wainaina (second left) with Kenya Urban Roads Authority. Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) Senior Surveyor Victor Biko (extreme left) trying to read a map showing the road corridors earmarked for construction in Thika.

The government will spend Sh1.5 billion in opening the about 25-kilometre link roads within Thika Town Constituency in a bid to decongest the town and stimulate the region’s economy.

This revelation was unveiled by Kenya Urban Roads Authority. Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) Central Kenya Regional Manager Jacinta Mwangi at a stakeholders meeting at a Thika hotel.

Mwangi said that the project that has been divided into two phases will take about 24 months to complete.

Other than opening up new road bypasses around the traffic-clogged industrial and business hub, the project will see the construction of a 40 metre wide bridge at the Haile Selassie Road near Blue Post Hotel.

Phase I will cover 10Km from the Del Monte shop along the Nairobi-Nyeri Highway through Imani School, Del Monte factory, link up with Oloitiptip Road and join Thika Garissa Highway at the BAT junction.

Phase II will see the upgrading of the BAT-Kiganjo to Kiganjo Corner 1, another link road starting from Kivulini (Kisii Estate) to cut across Kang’oki and then end at Kiganjo Corner 1 with another road starting at Engen Petrol Station via Kiang’ombe and to join the bypass from Corner 1.

This road stretch through Athena, behind Kiandutu and join Thika Superhighway near the former Castle Industry. There will be a link road to the same emanating from Broadway High School and through Kiandutu that will link up with the bypass near Athena Estate.

Area MP Eng. Patrick Wainaina (Jungle) admitted that the proposed construction routes will help ease traffic on the existing Thika roads, which he said were already operating beyond capacity.

Speaking after touring the link roads, the legislator said that traffic jams have become the order of the day in the town, especially during rush hours, costing the area’s economy billions of shilling annually in wasted man-hours.

Wainaina pointed out that his priority was to complete Phase II roads first as this will significantly relieve traffic congestion in the town and provide important upgrades to ensure other existing roads were fit and assisted to build an economy that worked for everyone.

“These project will substantially and dramatically improve our road network system and traffic in the region because roads play a significant part in everyday life linking people with jobs and businesses with customers. We therefore thank the government for this initiative,” said the MP.

The MP and the team from KURA surveying the on-going construction of the Engen-Kiang'ombe-Kiganjo bypass.

He added that his office was making elaborate plans to open up Kenyatta Highway from the UTI junction to ensure it links up the Thika-Garissa Highway at Leather Industries. He noted that the opening of Kenyatta Highway will free Garissa Road to a great extent as those getting from the town to areas like Umoja, Kisii and Landless estates will not be required to use the highway as they will only link up with it near Leather Industries Limited.

“Kenyatta Highway is the main road that links virtually all the estates and industries in the town. If we open it up from UTI all the way to Kivulini, we will have eased the gridlocks that have been the order of the day in Makongeni area,” explained Wainaina.

The MP added that once this project is complete, he will then lobby for more funds to link Kiganjo to Juja and Witeithie as well as to link up Thika to the Eastern By-Pass via Komo and Juja Farm. This, he said, will create a shortcut for all those heading to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) from Thika East and Ukambani region.

Wainaina also said that he would also lobby to have Garissa Highway to be upgraded to a dual-carriage road all the way to Matuu in order to open up the economic activities in the region and boost trade with Machakos, Kitui and Garissa Counties.