Southern expressway brings Matara closer to Colombo

By Ranil Wijayapala

I can still remember how excited I was when I got a chance to travel on the Sri Lanka's first expressway, Southern expressway from Kottawa to Galle before it was ceremonially opened on November 27, 2011 by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. We were enthralled to see how Sri Lanka could achieve that task after struggling for decades to make that experience a reality.

The 'Nilwala Gate' getting the final touches

The latest addition to E01

From Matara...

The old Galle - Matara Road

A steady climb

The new stretch

It was an amazing experience for us to reach the southern town of Galle in just one hour after entering the expressway from Kottawa interchange which was then a simple entry exit point with few structures. The intention of our visit was to educate the general public the way it has been constructed and the way people should make use of the road for their travelling purposes and also to educate the motorists about the rules they have to follow when they were using the expressway.

When we had that experience we never thought that the expressways will become normal for the people of this country. After nearly two and half years of that first experience, last week I embarked on yet another journey to reach the southern town of Matara in the shortest possible time.

E01 lit up

The greenery

Unlike the last time I did not need to reach Kottawa to enter the expressway from Kottawa as one end of that expressway has already reached my home town Kaduwela as the southern expressway has already been connected with the Outer Circular expressway with the opening of its first phase by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on March 8 marking yet another milestone in the road development in the country.

So it was easy for us to enter the southern expressway through the outer circular expressway from Kothalawala entry point via Malabe - Kaduwela Road. Though entering into a expressway was a novel experience for motorists two years back now it has become such a normal experience for them to take the toll ticket from the entry point and enter the expressway like entering yet another road.

For any motorists who enter the Outer Circular Expressway from Kothalawala entry point it takes only seven minutes to reach Kottawa interchange to enter southern expressway. Though we are travelling on two expressways they are continuing like one expressway as two expressways have been interconnected through the Kottawa interchange by improving it into a complex but user friendly interchange facilitating the entry and exit from both expressways while connecting both expressways to the Colombo Avissawella road at Kottawa. This has become a familiar experience for the general public also as they can travel to Galle with ease after boarding a bus from Maharagama town. With the extension of the expressway up to Kaduwela through the first phase of the Outer Circular expressway the new bus service will cater for the public who start their journey from Kaduwela also take a bus to reach Galle through the expressway.

The decision by the National Transport Commission to revise fares on the bus services on the highway will spur more people to use these buses. The decision to revise the bus fares has been taken after President Mahinda Rajapaksa looked in to the issue of high bus fares for these bus services.

The new fares came into operation from yesterday after President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared open the Galle to Matara Section of the Southern Highway at the Godagama Junction.

Accordingly, the revised fares from Kaduwela to Galle and from Kottawa to Galle will be Rs 420. The bus fare from Kaduwela to Matara and also from Kottawa to Matara will be 500 rupees.

It will become a fascinating experience for the general public to travel between Colombo and Galle in such a short period of time leaving aside their time consuming journeys along the Galle Road amidst heavy traffic saving their valuable time.

This time our aim was not reaching Galle but Matara in the shortest possible time. By the time you read this article continuing that journey will be an uninterrupted one along the southern expressway with the opening of the Galle Matara section of the expressway by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on March 15. We had to discontinue our journey at Pinnaduwa interchange to re-enter the road that was not open to the public. But we lost only a few minutes to re-enter the road through a temporary entry from Galle - Udugama Road which was intended only for the construction period.

From today it will take only one and half hours to travel between Kottawa and Matara, drastically reducing the travel time between Colombo and Matara. No wonder this will fast track the business activities in the Matara and in the South as a whole.

Though we reached the new section of the road at sunset it was yet another picturesque scene to observe the road flowing through the greenery of the southern province and the tea plantations creating a soothing effect to our eyes.

Like the other section of the expressway, the Galle-Matara section also connects the expressway with other southern roads.

After Pinnaduwa interchange, Imaduwa interchange connects the expressway with Galle - Deniyaya - Madampe Road. The interchange at Kokmaduwa connects the expressway with Imaduwa Kananke road.

According to M.G.D. Jeewanie one of the project engineers serving at the project, this section of the expressway was originally planned as a two-lane road and initial construction work been completed by a Japanese contractor.

After it was decided to improve this section of the expressway also into a four lane expressway, China National Technical Import and Export Corporation undertook the construction work in the year 2011 and started the construction work only at the latter part of 2011.

"China National Technical Import and Export Corporation, the new contractor undertook the project under two packages to develop the road into the four lane road; package one from Pinnaduwa to Kodagoda and package two from Kodagoda to Godagama", she said.

Though the project was due to be completed in April 2013 it was postponed due to various reasons. One major reason for the delay was due to the readjustment of the Godagama end of the expressway to facilitate the continuation of the road up to Hambantota via Beliatta.

Although there are only two interchanges between Pinnaduwa and Godagama end of the expressway between Galle and Matara there is space for two other interchanges in the future.

There will be another interchange at between Pinnaduwa and Imaduwa in Danduwana area to connect the expressway with Bogahagoda - Hiyara road.

Another interchange between Kokmaduwa and Godagama will be developed in Udukawa area.

"Although there is no interchange at present at Godagama end, there will be an interchange in Godagama once the southern expressway extension is in progress.

That will connect the expressway with Matara - Akuressa Road", she said.

To facilitate this section of the expressway there are seven road and river bridges and 46 underpasses.

"We have improved all the roads that have been affected by the expressway and provided alternative roads to replace the roads that have been removed", she said.

The project has also been done considering the inconvenience caused to the residents living by the side of the expressway by compensating for the damages caused to their properties during the construction period and paying rents for alternative places if they need to be evacuated during the construction period.

"We also help the people to remove the mud when the houses are flooded with mud as it was difficult to avoid such situation during rainy season.

We have also helped people to remove mud from the paddy fields when the paddy lands are filled with mud during the construction period", she said.

"Over 1,500 work force from all sections of the project make their contribution day and night to make this project a success", she said.

With improvement of the access road to Matara from Godagama end of the expressway Matara town is easily accessible to the motorists to reach Matara within a few minutes. Therefore, there is no doubt that the expressway will create speedy changes in the South heralding a new future for the southerners and the rest of the country.