Marine drive to be extended to Panadura

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The most popular and widely used marine drive which is running between Wellawatta and Kollupitiya will be extended up to Panadura to ease the heavy traffic congestion.

Under the first phase of the program, the Highways Ministry expects to commence the road extension work from Wellawatta to Mt. Lavinia, while the second stage will be commenced from Mt. Lavinia to Panadura.

Highways Deputy Minister Nirmala Kotalawela told the Sunday Observer that both stages of the project will be completed before December 2012. The Deputy Minister said a feasibility report on this massive project is now being prepared by relevant authorities attached to the Highways Ministry, the Road Development Authority (RDA) and the respective Local Government authorities. He said the feasibility report will give a full description on properties that have to be acquired and the details of the payments to be paid by the Government to construct the highway road.

Deputy Minister Kotalawela said for the first time his Ministry has planned to supervise the countrywide highways every nine months period by deploying special teams of officials.

The supervising officials will ensure the good shape of the highways throughout the country, Deputy Minister said.