A timely move

Worldwide, flyovers are used as a solution to beat the traffic. By allowing part of the traffic to literally soar above the road-bound traffic, they ease congestion on main roads. Sri Lanka now has quite a few of them - in Ragama, Kelaniya, Pannipitiya, Nugegoda, Dehiwela etc.

However, there are a few bottlenecks that still do not have flyovers. Rajagiriya is one such location that suffers from chronic traffic congestion, from around 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. especially on weekdays. The fast developing town is a hub from which roads lead to Nawala, Borella, Battaramulla, Pita Kotte and Gothatuwa.

Rajagiriya is generally a traffic nightmare for motorists as well as Police. Even the new bridge over the Diyawanna Oya has not been able to reduce the flow of traffic.

Police have taken various measures such as opening a lane on the other side depending on the time of day, one-way schemes and turning the traffic lights off and controlling traffic manually. But nothing has really worked to end the gridlock, which costs time, energy and money for all road users.

Unfortunately, plans to build a flyover by the previous Government never materialized due to undisclosed reasons even though Nugegoda and Dehiwela got steel flyovers. The proposed flyover at Havelock Town was another victim.

However, that neglect has proved to be beneficial in the end because the sheer amount of traffic at Rajagiriya would have been a massive strain on the type of steel flyover constructed at Dehiwela and Nugegoda. In fact, heavy vehicles are not allowed on some of the steel/pre-fab flyovers which are suited only for lighter traffic.

Thus Rajagiriya had to endure traffic woes for seven more years, but now it is getting the real works - a multi-lane concrete flyover that would cost Rs.4.3 billion. Funded by the Government of Spain, it is designed to drastically reduce traffic congestion and cut travel times at least by half.

Work on the massive project started last week and is due to go on for the next 16 months until construction of one bridge is completed.

Built with Spanish expertise and fully supervised by the Road Development Authority (RDA), the 533 metre long flyover will consist of two parallel bridges with two lanes on each bridge which will be constructed in two phases from Battaramulla to Borella along the New Parliament Road. According to the RDA, the first phase of the flyover is to be completed by November 2017.

Under the second phase another two lane flyover will be constructed in parallel to the first flyover to be completed by December 2018. It would have been ideal if the flyover could have been extended all the way to the Airport Expressway entrance at Peliyagoda, but one has to be content with what is possible amidst the present circumstances.

The RDA has advised road users to avoid the Welikada Junction in Rajagiriya if possible and use alternative routes as there will be heavy traffic congestion in this area due to the construction.

For example, motorists travelling to Battaramulla can take the Nugegoda-Ethul Kotte-Madiwela-Battaramulla road, which is a bit of a detour but it will avoid the chaos at Welikada.

This brings us to the question whether it is prudent to widen roads and add more roads all the time without actually making an effort to reduce the number of cars on the road.

The only way to do this is to build clean, efficient, punctual and comfortable public transport links, that could take some cars off the road. Indeed, the Western Province Megapolis Plan calls for such Light Rail Transit (LRT) projects on highly congested traffic corridors such as Malabe-Colombo.

This route (along with the Horana route) is notorious for not having an alternative to road transport. If a good LRT/MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) can be built, more people living on this route will opt to keep their cars at home.

The Rajagiriya flyover is one of the several flyovers and road projects currently underway. Two more flyovers are being constructed in Ganemulla and Polgahawela, also with Spanish assistance, to reduce congestion mainly caused by the railway crossings.

The two projects, estimated to cost Rs 4 billion, are expected to be completed this year itself. The authorities should consider building connected flyovers as seen in other countries, instead of straight A to B flyovers which are only a partial solution to traffic woes.

The Central Expressway from Colombo to Kandy, whose construction is now underway, is due to be extended to Dambulla and eventually Jaffna in the North. A new 74 km expressway called Ruwanpura Expressway is to be built from the Kahathuduwa Interchange of the Southern Expressway to Pelmadulla, to provide faster (just 45 minutes) access to Ratnapura.

The Southern Expressway itself is being extended to Hambantota in line with the Government's plans to make the region a shipping and aviation hub.The Outer Circular Highway too is being extended until it provides a seamless connection to the Katunayake Expressway.

There should also be a bigger focus on Rural C and D category road development. The Central and provincial authorities should work closely in this regard. Almost every TV news bulletin has a story about a remote village which lacks even a basic road where children have to tread through shrub jungle and wade knee-deep through rivers and streams to reach their schools.

Some private organisations have begun initiatives to build roads and bridges in these villages as the local bodies in these areas lack funds for such projects. Such lacunae in road development must be identified and corrective action taken. Roads are vital to the economy of any nation.

Although relatively small in size, Sri Lanka is ranked 42nd in the world in terms of the cumulative length of its motorable road network, without including gravel roads. Since existing roads cannot be widened in some cases, the flyover is the next best solution.

The authorities should identify more junctions and areas where flyovers may be needed, taking future traffic projections into consideration. That will go a long way towards addressing our traffic problems.