The four-lane Katunayake expressway, which will reduce travel time between Colombo and Katunayake to 20 minutes, will be ready for traffic by November 2012.
The project which was scheduled to be completed by November 17, 2012, is being speeded up on the orders of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to create a high mobility link between Colombo and Katunayake (International Airport) which would promote outward migration of the public from Colombo and improve user benefits to the rapidly expanding transport traffic.
Read moreAccording to a Highways Ministry spokesman, the project had been initiated to strengthen and expand the country's road network with a view to fostering a greater economic development in Sri Lanka.
The project would also improve the mobility needs of the industrial development areas in the vicinity and also reduce traffic congestion on the A3 road (Peliyagoda-Puttalam road).
The expressway would be operated as a toll expressway in Sri Lanka which is 25.8 Km in length and consists of four lanes and has been designed for a speed of between 80-110 km per hour which would reduce the travelling time to 20 minutes. The expressway which commences at the new Kelani Bridge would end near the airport access road.
It has four interchanges which would act as a link to other major roads.
The four-interchange points located at the New Kelani Bridge, in Peliyagoda, Je Ela and at Katunayake, and at these points the Expressway would be connected to the Negombo road, Kandy expressway, and the outer circular highways connecting with the Matara-Colombo expressway and with other access roads.
Work on the project which was launched in year 2000 had come to a halt on January 2003 under the previous UNP government.
However, it was now taking place successfully under the Mahinda Chintana, he said.
The project was re-started on August 18, 2009, at a new estimated cost of Rs. 32,120 million.
The contract has been given to China Metallurigal Group Corporation of the Republic of China.
Daily News by Irangika Range
