Inside Nairobi's Sh2b Greenpark underpass set to serve 21,000 pedestrians daily

Pedestrians who frequent the Haile Selassie, Mombasa Road Uhuru Highway and Ngong Road roundabout will soon be required to use an underpass so as not to interrupt traffic flow at the busy intersection.

The Greenpark terminus pedestrian underpass network worth Sh2 billion is now at 97 percent complete and is expected to be open to the public before the end of the year.

This was revealed on Thursday, during a tour by the Parliamentary Transport Committee organised by Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA).

The project being constructed by China Roads and Bridge Corporation as part of smart city initiative comes with outstanding features for pedestrians divided into four tunnels with a total length of 176 metres.

Underpass 1 cuts from Haile Selassie towards Railways, underpass 2 cuts through Mombasa Road, underpass 3 leads to Upper Hill and underpass 4 leads passengers towards Westlands.

For differently abled people, the facility has seven elevators and tactile tiles to guide people with visual impairment.

The underpass has 39 stalls and shops that are expected to boost security around and to provide a business environment.

"Two major things that normally cause Kenyans not to want to use an underpass, is matters of security, and also matters of, say, flooding and cleanliness and safety," Kenya National Highways Authority engineer Victor Njiru explained.

Adding that, "In terms of the physical attributes of the underpass, we have eight metres of visuals provided at each underpass. Six metres is actually for pedestrians to walk through, and it's quite spacious, then the stalls occupy the remaining two metres meaning eight metre wide underpass,"

The height from the ceiling to the floor is three metres to make it spacious and aerated.

Apart from enhancing safety of the pedestrians, the project that started in December 2023 is also aimed at reducing travel times leading to faster and efficient transport services and improved logistics.

It is expected that the facility will serve 21,000 pedestrians on a daily basis on a 24 hour basis with police officers on patrol to enhance security around the area.

"We are below the road surface by one metre meaning the underpass walls are quite thick. They are 500 mm, and we used a grade 40 of concrete," the engineer added.

The other features include two ablution blocks with washrooms, both for males and females and an equipment room.

Around the facility, there are two water tanks that have a capacity of 150,000 litres.

"The equipment room has been well-fitted and has water pumps in case of any flooding, in case any water, during like an El Nino period, finds its way into the underpass, we have water sumps that are 3 metre by 3 metres by 3 metresdeep," Njiru added.

The Members of Parliamentary Transport Committee who toured the underpass pressed the roads authority on the safety and security issues for the pedestrians.

One of the Members, Nakuru West Mp, Samuel Arama, inquired how those relying on wheelchairs would move around in case of power outages owing to lack of ramps leading to the underpass.

The Engineers however said since this was a pilot project adding that there were generators on standby and solar panels power supplies to light the tunnels in case of a blackout.

“We will ensure that’ the people will utilize this facility with ease and we will look into the issues that have been raised and incorporate those that can be accommodated,” Principal Secretary Joseph Mbugua sated.

“We expect the management contractor to put in place issues to do with safety including police desk around here and surveillance by by security forces because this is a 24 hour facility,” he added.

Once completed the facility management will be required to oversee the underpass including maintaining hygiene and cleanliness of the tiled areas including fumigation and pest control within the underpass.

They will also be required to ensure guarding of each entry and exit of the underpasses, provide tenant management services, proper lighting and ensure 24 hour functioning of the CCTV surveillance systems.