Sh1 billion set aside for Nairobi BRT plan 

The State has allocated Sh1.17 billion to finance implementation of the Nairobi bus rapid transport (BRT) project in the financial year starting July.

The national government will provide Sh1.05 billion while the balance will be footed through foreign financing, the National Treasury said in its expenditure plan for the new fiscal year.

This will make a substantial improvement compared to the current financial year where Sh700 million was approved for use on the project, which seeks to help decongest traffic within the Nairobi central business district and its environs.

For the BRT, Nairobi Metropolitan Area Authority has gazetted 12 mobility corridors, seven of them for core mass rapid transportation linking Limuru, Ngong Town, Kenol, Murang’a, Kiambu, Ruai, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Konza techno city.

The remaining five comprise rapid transport corridors along Line 2, which have been contracted and works on them will begin soon.

Line 1 is to run from James Gichuru Road/Waiyaki Way to JKIA — a distance of 20 kilometres, while Line 2, which is 31 kilometres long, will run from Lang’ata Road to Ngong Road as well as Juja Road and Komarock Road to Ruiru. It will have major stops at Dandora, Kariobangi, and near Gikomba Market.

Line 3 will run from Githurai through Thika Road to Moi Avenue in the CBD and terminate at Kenyatta National Hospital. Line 4 will cover 14 kilometres from T-Mall to Jogoo Road while Line 5 will cover Outer Ring Road.

Priority corridors are the JKIA to Likoni, James Gichuru-Rironi, and Bomas to Ruiru roads.

The 27-kilometre Kasarani-Kenyatta National Hospital line that’s expected to be operational by June is part of the second corridor that runs from Kenol to Rongai.