Colombo - Galle ready by April:

Highways to stimulate development

By Shirajiv SIRIMANE

Fulfilling one of the key requirements of taking the country towards the ‘wonder of Asia’ the much awaited and long overdue first stage of the Colombo-Matara highway up to Galle would be opened next April.

The 96 kilometre first stretch to Galle starting from Kottawa will take a commuter to Galle in less than one hour and 20 minutes as against the present three hours.

The second stage of the project up to Matara, a further 30 kilo meters is expected to be completed by the end of next year. The speed limit of the express highway is 120km/hr. The present travel time of five hours to Matara would be pruned down to one hour and 20 minutes.

The government is planning to introduce a third stage to the project by extending this highway up to Hambantota to connect the new Harbour and the Mattala Airport.

The four lane highway which is being built to meet all international safety standards and guaranteed for a period of 80 years, is expected to cost nearly Rs. 8 billion.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with 36,000 Yen, Asian Development Bank (ADB) (US $ 200 million) China Exim Bank (US $ 15 million) and Sri Lanka Government with nearly Rs. 25 billion will fund this gigantic project.

The Government has now commenced work of the stalled Colombo Katunayake highway starting from Peliyagoda taking the passenger to the airport in less than 45 minutes. In addition, plans are underway to construct a new highway from Colombo to Kandy.

In line with these projects a new outer circular road would be built to connect these expressways to the present road network, said Project Director, Southern Development Authority, S. Meihandan.

The Southern Highway project was divided into two sections for financing purposes, the first section from Kottawa (a suburb in Colombo) to Kurundugahahetekma, the second section from Kurundugahahetekma to Matara.

The ADB-funded section or the road from Kurundugahahetekma to Matara, Godagama was contracted to Kumagai Gumi of Japan.

The expressway between Kottawa and Kurundugahahetekma is 66.5km and is nearing completion.

He said that the Colombo Matara Expressway would be having 10 access points. These would link the expressway with Kotte and Dehiwela, Moratuwa, Panadura and Wadduwa, Kalutara and Matugama, Beruwala and Bentota, Balapitiya and Ambalangoda, Hikkaduwa, Galle, Weligama and to Godagama linking the city of Matara.

A total of 22 bridges is being constructed along the expressway. The Kalu Ganga bridge, the Welipenna Bridge and the Benthara Ganga bridge and several other bridges have already been completed.

All these access points would have a toll collecting centre and the government is now considering a proposal to allow buses to run without a toll so that the passengers would not have to pay an additional fee to travel to their destinations along the highway.

This would be a very welcome move especially for office workers who travel daily to Colombo.

He said that a new Express Authority would be setup soon to take policy decisions and lay guidelines for the project. The Southern Highway will have positive influences on the development of the southern region and it would help them to open new doors of opportunity.

It is also estimated that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Southern Province will increase to 10%+ in the near future and would also help to narrow the regional disparity. Already over 1,500 have found direct employment from the project and a further 5,000 have found indirect employment.

Agriculture, fisheries and tourism would be one of the first industries to reap benefits from the Expressway.

One of the main complains a tourist had was he or she was wasting almost five hours on the road soon after arriving at the airport to reach the Southern coast.

With the completion of the first stage expressway up to Galle a tourist can come to Bentota in one and a half hours and Unawatuna in less than two hours.

This can be done when the tourist takes the Colombo Katunayake Highway to Peliyagoda and then use the outer circular road to Kottawa and then connect to the Southern Highway.

A decision has also been taken to allow containers to use the highway and this would enable the Southern entrepreneurs to send their produce to Colombo and even to the airport and harbour in less than two hours minimizing post harvest loss. In addition land values too have gone up.

The four highways also have provision to widen to six lanes as and when there is a demand.

Safeguarding the Environment, resettlement and Safety have been some of the prime concerns of the project and these issues have been addressed successfully.

Some 1300 families have been moved because of this project. Most of these families have been provided with new land to build their houses.

An unfortunate incident occurred when a teenager succumbed to his injuries passing a construction site near Baddegama.

Though his life was priceless and could not be measured by money the constructor stepped in and a sum of Rs. Five million was paid as compensation and this is one of the highest paid for a death of this nature in Sri Lanka.

Though Sri Lanka had achieved major success in the field of IT, irrigation, Power generation and some other Sectors, highways was only a dream to the country.

Road transport is vital for the development of the country and the completion of the expressway which is no longer a dream will elevate the status of the country even to greater heights wooing more foreign direct investments to the country.

Southern Highway is Sri Lanka’s first access controlled expressway, connecting Kottawa in Colombo suburbs to Matara in the Southern Province with an access road from the highway to Galle.Access to the expressway is only through eleven interchanges, which are located at places where expressway crosses major roads/highways.

Interchanges in major destinations

Makumbura To Kotte and Dehiwela

Kahatuduwa To Moratuwa

Gelanigama To Panadura and Wadduwa

Dodangoda To Kalutara and Matugama

Lewanduwa To Beruwala and Bentota

Kurundugahahetekma To Balapitiya and Ambalangoda

Nayapamula To Hikkaduwa

Pinnaduwa To Galle

Deegoda To Weligama

Kokmaduwa To Weligama

Godagama To Matara