The tarmacking of 31-kilometer Juja Farm road in Kiambu County has finally started after decades of false starts and empty political pledges.
The road which links the villages of Athi, Mastore, Kalimoni, and Juja Farm among others with the busy Thika superhighway is hoped to end after decades of false starts and perennial headache to residents over its poor state.
Initially, the government had set aside Sh 3.9 billion for the tarmacking of six kilometers but a change of plan has since been initiated which will result in tarmacking of more kilometers to link the interior parts of Juja with Thika.
With the new development, motorists wishing to ply via Garissa Highway will be relieved off major traffic snarl-ups that they grapple with at the entry of Thika town as the road whose tarmacking commenced yesterday will serve as a major bypass through Ma-store, Athi and Gatuanyaga in Thika and ultimately to the busy highway.
The road, which is being constructed by the national government under Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) through H. Young contractor, will use low volume technology and is expected to be complete by June next year.
Speaking yesterday when the tarmacking was starting, area residents and leaders acclaimed the government for finally moving in to end their longstanding woes.
They said that despite the area being the main producer of construction materials and immensely contributing revenue to Kiambu County and national governments, the road which is commonly used by trucks that ferry building stone from local quarries has remained in deplorable state for decades.
Led by Wairagu Naituri, the locals narrated a terrible experience that the pathetic state of the road pushed them through including a heavy cloud of dust that has skyrocketed asthma among other dust-related ailments.
They recounted that for many years, they have been relying on motorbikes for movement as the only vehicles that ply along the route have been surcharging them forcing them to dig their pockets deeper.
Their farm produce, they lamented, has been rotting in the farms as means of transport to the markets has been in a sorry state.
Despite enabling investors who had bought plots in the area to invest, the residents said the major road will spur other economic developments in the area.
Kalimoni MCA Godfrey Mucheke and whose area will benefit most in the project thanked the government for awarding the road to a worthy contractor who he commended for his speed.
In what appeared like a false start in 2019, the then Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu had launched a similar project that was to cost Sh 280 million purportedly from the county government coffers but it never kicked off despite having a purported contractor on ground.