The countdown has begun for the inauguration of the Mteza Bridge in Mombasa, which will change forever the access to the south coast of Kenya and the border with Tanzania, as well as to the tourist resorts of Tiwi, Diani Beach and Shimoni.
Few believed that before August 2022 the bridge would be completed, but the Japanese company that took the contract is proceeding at full speed trying to accommodate the desire of President Kenyatta to inaugurate it shortly before the next elections, set for August 8.
The project is part of the ring road that will connect the Malindi-Mombasa highway to the Moi International Airport and from there directly to Likoni, i.e. on the other side of the Mombasa port channel, which today can only be crossed by ferry. The opening of the bridge will therefore allow travelers to completely skip the busy city, both to access the airport and to continue towards the south coast and Tanzania. But also to the traffic coming from Nairobi and directed beyond the second city of Kenya and to the tourists who arrive in Mombasa by plane and are directed to Diani Beach and surroundings.
This should give a further tourist boost to Kenya's southern coast and its seaside resorts. There are also, and above all, economic reasons, as well as viability and development: in Kwale County two important dams and energy poles will be built and the mining area of Ukunda is in continuous expansion.
The bridge will be three times as long as the one in Nyali, it is designed for the transit of both cars and trucks, but also for pedestrians and bicycles. It will completely dispose of the current ferry traffic, which daily carries over 300,000 pedestrians and over 6,000 vehicles per day, with only two vehicles in operation.