North end: Maritini Length 17.7 km | South end: Ng’ombeni | |
History: Designated in 2015
Completion in 2018 (Expected) | ||
The Dongo Kundu Bypass Highway, also Mombasa Southern Bypass Highway , is a road under construction in Kenya. When completed, it will connect Mombasa Mainland West to Mombasa Mainland South, without entering Mombasa Island.
Contents
Location
The road starts in the neighborhood called Miritini, on the Nairobi–Mombasa Highway, approximately 11 kilometres (7 mi), northwest of the central business district of Mombasa. From there it will loop around the western edge of Mombasa International Airport to end at a neighborhood called Mache at the water's edge, west of the airport. From Mache, several bridges will carry the highway across the Port Reitz Bay to Dongo Kundu on the south-side of the bay. From Dongo Kundu the highway continues in a southeasterly direction until it ends at Ng’ombeni, on the Malindi–Bagamoyo Highway. The entire bypass highway measures approximately 17.5 kilometres (11 mi).
Overview
This road is an important transport corridor for traffic destined to and from Tanzania and that to and from the interior of Kenya and beyond. This will ease traffic pressure on the Likoni Ferry. The bypass will decongest Mombasa Island. Four bridges will be built in the swamps and across the open ocean water, as part of the highway. Other road improvements in addition to the highway include a 10.1 kilometres (6 mi) dual carriageway between Miritini and Kipevu, a road measuring 1.3 kilometres (1 mi) connecting Moi International Airport to the bypass which passes west of the airport and clover-leaf interchanges at Miritini and Kipevu. A free trade zone, the Dongo Kundu Free Trade Zone, with 6,200 sites and ability to accommodate more than 10,000 business units is part of the planned development. Kenya National Highway Authority is the developer of the project.
Funding
The construction contract was awarded to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation. The three phase project is budgeted at KSh25 billion (approx. US$251 million). The first phase of construction is the Miritini to Kipevu section, budgeted at KSh11 billion (approx. US$110.31 million), borrowed from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.