Motorists using the Rironi-Naivasha road could soon have a smoother journey, with the government saying the ongoing expansion of the highway will be completed by October 30, 2026.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir said on Wednesday, September 9, that works on the Rironi-Naivasha section of the Rironi-Mau Summit highway had reached an advanced stage.
He said the section would be fully dualled within the next one and a half months, allowing motorists to use the upgraded road.
“By October 30 this year, from Rironi to Naivasha, we will have completed the dualling, and people will be able to pass smoothly. There will be no more traffic on that route,” Chirchir said.
The existing two-lane road is being expanded to four lanes between Rironi and Naivasha as part of the wider 175-kilometre Rironi-Mau Summit highway project.
After the Rironi-Naivasha section is completed, Chirchir said construction would move towards Gilgil, Nakuru and eventually Mau Summit.
“In the next one and a half months, it will be dualled, and then from there we will proceed to Nakuru,” he said.
The CS also highlighted work at Kamandura near Rironi, which he described as one of the most challenging sections of the route.
“There in Rironi, a place called Kamandura, it was impassable, and it was a very complex place, but we have now transformed the place,” Chirchir said.
This October deadline is even earlier than the schedule put forward by the contractor, CRBC, and KeNHA who had earlier stated that the Rironi-Mai Mahiu-Naivasha section would be completed by December 2026.
The Rironi-Mau Summit project worth Ksh183 billion is being constructed using a Public-Private Partnership model.
While CRBC is handling the construction of the road from Rironi to Naivasha, Shandong Hi-Speed Road and Bridge International Engineering will undertake the construction of the road from Gilgil-Mau Summit.
Apart from widening the road, the project will also have interchanges and bypasses at strategic points as well as toll facilities and an Intelligent Traffic Management System.
The Naivasha and Mau Summit road section is going to be widened to six lanes.
After the completion of the highway, drivers will pay tolls to drive on the highway. This will cost Ksh8 per kilometre for those driving between Rironi and Naivasha and Ksh8.50 per kilometre for those driving between Naivasha and Mau Summit.
Construction of the wider road project started in November 2025, with the full construction of the road from Rironi to Mau Summit expected to be completed by June 2027.
