Four pedestrian underpasses to link Green Park matatu terminal
Matatus at Green Park terminal in Nairobi.
The Kenya National Highways Authority has invited bids for the construction of pedestrian underpasses linking the newly constructed Sh250 million Green Park matatu terminal and the Nairobi central business district(CBD).
A project blueprint shows that the terminal will have a network of four underpasses with eight exit and entry passages for pedestrians either accessing the CBD or the terminus.
The network of underpasses will address the inconvenience of traffic disruption on the adjacent Uhuru Highway and Haile Selassie Avenue by commuters entering and exiting the terminal.
“The main purpose of the project is to provide safe crossing for pedestrians while reducing conflict with vehicular traffic,” KeNHA said.
Each underpass will have the capacity to handle 2,500 persons per hour-meter as derived from the data from the pedestrian traffic studies performed by Nairobi Metropolitan Services(NMS).
“According to the NMS traffic survey data, the peak period of each direction (17:30–18:30) is estimated at 29,000 people per hour,” the agency said.
KeNHA said the pedestrian traffic is expected to rise once the operations of the Greenpark Terminus commence, and the vehicular and pedestrian conflict is expected to increase.
“Additionally, the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) is implementing the Nairobi Railway City project aimed at creating a transit hub with multi-modal transport facilities, regenerating the area around the Nairobi Central Station, expanding Nairobi to the South East, providing a liveable and sustainable urban space, and providing iconic development to position Nairobi as a leading world city and commercial hub,” it said.
“This major undertaking will increase the number of people transiting through the Haile Selassie Roundabout. Subsequently, the Greenpark Underpass Project is critical for enhancing connectivity between the different modes of transport available within the project area” it added.
Decongestion strategy
The terminus is among the newly designated termini constructed by NMS as part of the Nairobi Integrated Urban Development master plan and decongestion strategy which will see PSVs terminate outside Nairobi city centre as part of plans to streamline a sector synonymous with congestion and disorder. Others include Desai and Park Road termini; Fig Tree terminus, Muthurwa terminus, and one at the junction of Bunyala and Workshop Road.
It can accommodate between 300 and 350 vehicles at any one time, processing about 1,000 cars per hour and up to 20,000 per day.
In January 2021, NMS expanded the terminus to accommodate bodaboda and taxis as part of plans to make them available to commuters to offer last-mile connectivity once they alight from matatus at the stage.
Only three matatus per Sacco will be allowed to access the Green Park terminal at any given time as part of new regulations to govern operations.
