The Southern Expressway, the longest Expressway out of the proposed Expressway Network in the country, will be completed by May 201.
Earlier it was scheduled to be opened by July next year, but on the instructions of President Mahinda Rajapakse, the work has been accelerated and it will be completed by May 2011, the Highways Ministry Secretary, Wasantha Karannagoda said.
The new road will be constructed from Kottawa to Matara and also includes Galle Fort access road. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan Bank International .Cooperation (JBIC) are the main funding agencies for this project.
He said the main objective of the project was to improve transport facilities in the Southern region. “A highway acts as a catalyst in encouraging and attracting industries and services for the economic and social development of the region to develop inter-regional transport facilities. The Southern Expressway is considered as a major component of the proposed Expressway network”, he said.
Karannagoda said the travel time and traffic congestion Colombo-Matara Road would be reduced greatly once the expressway was opened. “The expressway will help to bring down the fuel cost and the benefits of the expressway will contribute to the national economy. This will attract private sector investors to the Southern region”, he said.
He said the expressway would also contribute to create job opportunities in region and it would help to expand the tourism industry which was now confined only to the coastal belt of the Southern region.