President Uhuru Kenyatta has said the Nairobi expressway will be operational for use from May 14.
Speaking on Sunday during the City Marathon, Uhuru said the expressway will be open for trial.
“We will allow Kenyans to use the expressway so that we see the loopholes that exist before we officially launch it,” he said.
“From Saturday, the expressway will be on use so that we continue to build Nairobi and Kenya as a whole.”
The road is expected to reduce travel time in Nairobi and its environs especially for those who will use the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) service.
Motorists can choose to use either the Manual Toll Collection (MTC) or the ETC once they reach the service centers.
Other than the ban on photography, skaters, pedestrians, two and three-wheeled vehicles (tuk tuks), wheelbarrows and bicycles are also banned from using the 27 kilometer way.
On April 17, the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) urged motorists to make arrangements to access the highway ahead of its commissioning dates.
Motorists will pay up to Sh350 to use the road.
Last week, the government revised toll rates up for the yet to be commissioned expressway by 16 per cent, meaning that motorists will have to pay more to access the road.
This was done to reflect foreign exchange changes for the dollar-denominated charges, following the weakening of the Kenyan shilling.
The toll rates are set for future adjustments based on not just the prevailing exchange rate, but also changes in the Consumer Price Index.
The Sh88 billion expressway has 11 interchanges at Mlolongo, Standard Gauge Railway, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Eastern Bypass, Southern Bypass, Capital Centre, Haile Selassie Avenue, Museum Hill, Westlands and James Gichuru Road.
The expressway, with 18.2km on the ground and 8.9km elevated, is a class A four-lane dual carriageway with a design speed of 80km per hour.
In the new rates, salon cars using the yet-to-be-commissioned Nairobi Expressway from Mlolongo to the James Gichuru and exiting in Westlands will pay Sh360 from the initial Sh310.
