The government is going to pay for the renovation of the Mombasa road that was damaged during the construction of the Nairobi Expressway.

Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen on Friday told the Senate that the contractor is expected to start the work in the next few months.

The CS stated that the repairs which will be done for only seven hours a day to reduce any inconvenience along the busy highway would attract a budget of Ksh.3.5 billion.

“In the contract, we committed to renovating the roads after we moved all the utility lines like water, sewage and electricity and in doing that the road was damaged so we have to bear the cost of repairs,” he said.

“It became practical and we asked ourselves if the initial Ksh. 9 billion was going to be very elaborate with certain beautification. We worked with a budget of Ksh.3.5 billion to bring back the road to certain standards and good drainage so that later we can add these other additional issues.”

The 27 KM Nairobi Expressway which starts from Westlands and stretches to Mlolongo in Machakos County was commissioned by former President Uhuru Kenyatta last year.

The Public Private Partnership funded project is said to have cost Ksh. 88 billion.