Infrastructure

Nairobi Bets on New Viaducts and Flyover to Beat Gridlock

Nairobi’s skyline shifts as new viaducts and a flyover rise to ease traffic.

Updated on

September 1, 2025

Ongoing road work at Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi. (Photo: Courtesy)

Nairobi’s traffic-weary motorists are set for relief as two massive viaducts rise across the city centre, part of efforts to ease congestion between the city centre and Upper Hill.

The elevated roads — designed to carry vehicles above the crush of ground-level traffic — mirror the Nairobi Expressway’s raised sections and are among the most ambitious upgrades to the capital’s transport network in years.

One viaduct will run from the Integrity Centre towards the Serena Hotel on Valley Road, while the second will link the Milimani Law Courts to the National Library area on Ngong Road.

Together, they form the backbone of the Valley Road–Kenyatta Avenue/Ngong/Nyerere Interchange and the Upper Hill–Haile Selassie Overpass projects.

“A viaduct is an elevated road over land, like what we have in an expressway. It integrates very well in an urban environment so that the visual intrusion is not interfered with. We were also expanding the walkways all the way from Valley Road to CBD,” said Benjamin Asin, Assistant Director at the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA)’s Directorate of Urban Design.

The improvements go beyond roadworks for vehicles, with wider walkways, cycling lanes and new street lighting planned between Upper Hill and the CBD to enhance safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

The works come as KURA intensifies upgrades on key Nairobi roads. Rehabilitation is underway along Valley Road–Kenyatta Avenue and sections of Ngong Road, part of a broader campaign to modernise the city’s road network.

At the Ngong Road–Naivasha Road junction, near Junction Mall, work is already underway on a major four-lane flyover designed to ease one of the city’s worst choke points.

The four-lane structure will come with improved junctions, pedestrian walkways and cycling lanes, all aimed at easing congestion.

“Construction of the Ngong Rd–Naivasha Rd (Junction Mall) Flyover is well underway… Completion is set for July 2027,” KURA said in its latest update.

The Authority has promised to revive stalled road projects countrywide, part of a wider drive to expand and modernise infrastructure as Nairobi’s transport demands continue to rise.