President William Ruto is expected to break ground on the proposed Nairobi-Thika Expressway within the next two months, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has said, signalling that the long-promised project is nearing the construction stage.

Speaking in Kiambu County on Wednesday, October 28, where he flagged off the Kimbo-Matangi road, Kindiki said the government was finalising details of the project.

"Between one and two months, the President will come here for the groundbreaking of the road's construction," Kindiki said.

Elevated road from Thika to Museum Hill

The planned expressway will run for about 60 kilometres, linking Thika town to Nairobi at Museum Hill. It is meant to ease congestion on the busy corridor serving Thika, Juja and Ruiru, whose residents commute daily into the capital.

"We want to construct an expressway that links Thika town to Nairobi at Museum Hill," the Deputy President said.

Kindiki said the road would be elevated, allowing motorists who choose to use it to do so while others continue using the existing Thika Superhighway below. He cited the Nairobi Expressway, which runs from JKIA to James Gichuru Road in Westlands, as the model.

He said the Thika Superhighway built under former President Mwai Kibaki had not ended traffic jams because the number of vehicles on the road had kept growing. "Former President Mwai Kibaki built the Thika Superhighway, but people still experience traffic jams," he said.

Cost and financing

About a month ago, the government engaged experts to carry out a feasibility and design study for the project, covering route options, engineering, traffic capacity, construction costs, environmental and social impacts, and land needs.

Preliminary estimates put the cost at between Sh150 billion and Sh200 billion. The government is expected to fund it through a Public-Private Partnership, similar to the arrangement used for the Nairobi Expressway, where a private investor builds the road and recovers costs through tolls.

The timeline has slipped before. In February, President Ruto said construction would begin in September 2026.

Muthaiga-Kiambu road upgrade

Kindiki also said the contract for the Muthaiga-Kiambu road had been signed and that the contractor was expected to move to site. The road, running from Muthaiga Police Station to Ndumberi in Kiambu, is being upgraded from a single carriageway to a dual carriageway to cut peak-hour jams for motorists travelling between Kiambu town and Nairobi.

Photos: Kenyans.co.ke (Nairobi Expressway); Xelawafs via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.