A quick ride to the airport

Airlines generally advise their passengers to be at the airport at least three hours before the departure time of their flight. It can be a little more flexible if you have checked in online (web check in) but generally it is better to be at the airport well ahead of your departure time.

In the case of the Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake, this is compounded by the woeful traffic on the highly congested Colombo-Negombo Road. It is never a good idea to delay your start when you have to travel to the airport on this notoriously traffic-filled road. I have sometimes spent well over two hours just to get to the airport from Peliyagoda, even though I had (thankfully) given myself a wide berth with regard to the departure time.

Very soon, there will be an alternative way to reach the airport - the 28 Km Colombo-Katunayake Expressway (CKE), also known as E-03, built in around four years with Chinese aid.

The Colombo-Galle Southern Expressway has given us a foretaste of what we can expect. That expressway has shortened the journey time to Galle from Kottawa to a mere one hour. It too will be extended to Matara and then to Hambantota, shortening journey times further.

The US$ 350 million CKE is getting its final touches, in preparation for the official opening on October 27. This is only the second expressway constructed in Sri Lanka and will create a faster road link between the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake and Colombo. In fact, it will be possible to reach the BIA in just 20 minutes from Colombo (travelling at a speed of 100 Km/h), which is impossible on the current road facility.

It will be of immense help to airline passengers and crews, apart from those living at the five interchanges on the way. It will also speed up air cargo, which is especially crucial for the transport of perishable goods.

The CKE will be a great fillip for the tourism industry, which is aiming to attract 2.5 million tourists in the short term. A quick link to the city centre often impresses visitors and also gives them more time to spend for other things.

Interchange

The Kerawalapitiya interchange of the CKE will connect to the Colombo Outer Circular Expressway which in turn is connected to the Southern Expressway. Once all the expressways are complete, there will be a direct link through expressways from to BIA to Matara, with an extension to the Hambantota Rajapaksa International Airport.

It will then be possible to travel from one airport to the other in a couple of hours. This will be part of a larger network of highways connecting major cities throughout the country including Kandy, Kurunegala, Kalpitiya, Jaffna and Batticaloa. Therefore, the CKE will be a vital link in the extensive road system that is being constructed all over the island.

Expressways were not a familiar concept to Sri Lankans until 2011, except for the comparatively few who had driven on expressways abroad. Now that most Sri Lankans have experienced the Southern Expressway, (which is turning two years on November 27) the CKE will not be an all-new experience. Nevertheless, a sustained media campaign (especially TV and radio) should be launched on the safety and other aspects of the CKE, similar to the campaign undertaken for the Southern Expressway.

One alarming aspect in that regard is the regular occurrence of fatal accidents on the Southern Expressway, which we hope will not permeate to the CKE. It seems that some drivers still do not adhere to the rules that are specifically tailored to the expressway, such as the speed limit, overtaking method, the relevant lane etc.

Police deployed at both expressways must also increase vigilance - i.e, check whether drivers and passengers are wearing seatbelts and whether the vehicle is in a sound condition. Drivers too must complete their own check-list with regard to safety aspects before embarking on an expressway journey. Speeding to catch a flight makes no sense if it results in injury or death.

The CKE has been a long-felt need. In fact, when attempts were made decades ago to build an airport expressway, it was shot down on the basis of high costs.

Had it been allowed to be built, the country could have saved billions of rupees in terms of construction costs, land acquisition, manpower and of course, fuel. Just imagine the thousands of litres of fuel that go waste when motorists sit idle in their cars on the Colombo-Negombo Road. For its modern incarnation, feasibility studies were carried out as early as 1996. Despite several initiatives, successive governments were unable or unwilling to initiate the project until the present Government gave the go-ahead.

Luggage

We also hope that transport authorities will have a new bus service to the airport on the expressway. The buses should have plenty of room for luggage as well, at least until we build a city check-in service for passengers. A direct city-airport public transport link is essential to promote Colombo as a hub destination. A better, more reliable taxi service is also required. It is also essential to build a direct rail link to the airport.

The expressway will have only two toll gates. However, the authorities should expedite the introduction of the proposed Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system at both expressways. That will help smoothen the flow of traffic and end the long queues at toll gates.

A cash toll gate must also be maintained for those who might not have subscribed to the ETC.

It is also heartening to note that the expressway has been constructed with as little as possible impact on the environment. The CKE will help flood control since it has established a proper culvert system in the area.

A balance has to be struck between environmental and developmental concerns and a compromise solution is sometimes necessary in the case of mega developmental projects. After all, roads are the main arteries that keep the economy flowing in the correct direction.