Chanaka Bandarage
Sri Lanka has one of Asia’s worst
traffic problems. Prior to Corona, it was a nightmarish exercise to drive
around Colombo during peak hours. In Colombo, people spent long hours in vehicles
to travel from one place to another. Eg: prior to Corona, it took about 120
minutes to drive from Athurugiriya to Colombo Fort during peak hours. It is a
distance of mere 21 km. Thanks to Corona the traffic flow has drastically
reduced. But, Corona is only a temporary
solution.
Traffic is common to many world’s big
cities. But, modern cities have well coped with the problem. Colombo is
notorious for its bumper to bumper traffic. This is common in all areas of the
city even now; it is particularly bad in Duplication Road, Wellawatte, Dehiwela,
Borella, Orugodawatta, Rajagiriya and Colombo 12 -15 areas. The problem in these areas is that traffic
stays stagnant for extra-ordinarily long times or move exceptionally slowly.
After the war, the governments
believed that building of expressways was the best solution to solve Sri
Lanka’s traffic problem; they also foolishly thought that expressways would bring
economic prosperity. It has now been proven that this belief was misconceived.
Despite the expressways, the major cities continue to have major traffic
problems. And, the economy did not improve.
True, expressways did solve some transport
problems. Eg: a person can now drive from
Kottawa to Mathara within 2 hours (this used to be a 4 hour trip). Then, the
travel time between Peliyagoda interchange to Katunayake airport is now about
30 minutes (this used to be a 90 minute trip).
Work on the Kandy expressway and the
Colombo Outer Circular Road is largely finished.
The Katunayake (Airport) expressway
was a must; it was a long felt need. It was completed in 2013. The then
government must be congratulated for doing it successfully.
But, the fact of the matter is that expressways
have caused enormous economic and environmental problems. In some instances expressways
have created new traffic problems.
This paper intends to analyse the expressways’
negative impact on Sri Lanka and how they can be used to effectively solve Sri
Lanka’s massive traffic problem.
All recent governments rushed to
believe that expressways is the solution to enhance the country’s GDP growth.
They borrowed money heavily from overseas banks on high interest rates.
Again, expressways failed to deliver
the rapid economic development that the governments had anticipated.
The governments failed to realise that
like tea, rubber, fishery, garments, agriculture, small industry etc roads
cannot bring in direct foreign investment ($) to the country. Expressways is a non-essential
capital investment. Subject to strict environmental guidelines, they are good
to build when the country’s economy is healthy. Today, the country is struggling
to feed its people due to lack of foreign currency ($) to import essential
foods like sugar, wheat and onions etc.
In such a situation it is insane to go spending billions of rupees to
build more and more expressways.
Instead of spending the borrowed
dollars on expressways (some expressway projects are white elephants), if they
were given as micro loans to disadvantaged people to start self-employment
projects, that would have been very healthy to the GDP. But, corrupt politicians
are obsessed with building these concrete jungles, they are an easy way for
them to steal part of the borrowed money to fatten their bank accounts.
The writer states that expressways
have benefitted only a privileged minority. It is a fact that more than 60% of
the country’s vehicles are excluded from expressways. This issue is addressed in
detail later.
It was reported in the media that the present
government intends to construct/extend at least four expressways. As stated
before, the burning transport problem of Sri Lanka is not the lack of
expressways but the lengthy traffic jams in major cities especially Colombo. Not
only that the expressways have failed to solve this massive problem; they have
created bottlenecks that acerbated the existing problem.
In Colombo, reaching the expressway
entry points is a herculean task. It took 90/120 minutes for a person to drive
from Borella to Athurugiriya/Kottawa Southern expressway entry points (prior to
Corona). The time saved by faster driving on the Southern expressway is wasted
by the enormous extra driving one has to make, also the lengthy delays at entry
points.
We are neither a continent nor a large
country; but a tiny island nation in the size of 65,600 sq km. Sri Lanka only
has a maximum length of 268 miles (432 km) and a maximum width of 139 (224 km)
miles. Expressways are best for large countries.
What Sri Lanka requires is a well carpeted network of roads everywhere,
including in rural areas. Preferably they should at least be dual track each
side on main highways (this is what they are currently doing everywhere in Galle
Road). There are lots of dilapidated roads in the interior that requires
immediate attention.
Instead of spending large amounts of
money on expressways that will extend to very remote areas, the governments
should have given top priority to fixing the traffic problem in Colombo and
other major cities like Kandy, Kurunegala, Galle, Mathara, Negambo etc.
To ease the huge traffic congestion in
major cities especially Colombo we require efficient, computerized traffic
lights, wider streets, new alternative roads/overhead bridges (flyovers). We
must consider building underground road tunnels and sometimes overhead roads. The Colombo Outer Circular Road is a good initiative.
Parking should be banned on all main roads. The road side parking spaces should
be amalgamated to main roads. New multi-storey car parks as private ventures must
be erected to park vehicles.
Improvement of public transport is a
must to reduce the traffic flow. Then, people will leave their vehicles home
and start using SLTB/private buses and trains. Currently the public transport facilities
are most appalling. We still have a 1970/80 style public transport system. In this
2021, people travel in rickety old buses and trains, jampacked. Surely they
deserve better. The governments should
ensure that every passenger will have a seat in public transport (Malaysia is
an example).
An underground Metro rail system is
good but the cost of such a project is astronomical. The advantage of the underground
Metros is that they are linked with the existing railway system.
Light
rail will not solve Colombo’s traffic problem. It is unlikely that people will
leave cars at home and board the light rail to travel to work. People are
obsessed with their cars and are too lazy to substitute car travel with any
other mode of transport.
Empirical evidence shows that those who
are addicted to cars will continue to use them whatever the good alternative
provided to them. This same rationale applies to motorcycle/scooter riders. Mumbai,
Bangkok, Kuala Lampur – all have above the ground Light Rail. They still have very bad vehicular traffic
problems.
What Light Rail would do is to take over
some of the existing omnibus loads. This means if Light Rail is to reduce
Colombo’s traffic that would only be in relation to reducing some omnibus
operations. It is not worthwhile to spend such a lot of money for such a small
advantage.
Light
Rail will cause huge environmental and logistical problems. It will take
several years to complete the 1st stage of the Light Rail. During
the construction period, the traffic problem from Malabe to Fort via Rajagiriya
and Borella would increase by tenfold. This congestion will flow on to other
parts of the City.
Due to
lack of sunlight the ground underneath the Light Rail concrete slab is always
dark; also that valuable area is unproductive (note areas under Colombo
flyovers – Dematagoda, Nugegoda, Dehiwala; under the Katunayake expressway in
Ragama; under the Light Rail tracks in Mumbai/Bangkok). Light Rail introduces a
new darkness to the environment; the brightness in the townships will end.
Large, dark swaths of land that lie
under the giant concrete structures of the Southern and Katunayake expressways
(due to lack of sunlight) are now unproductive and cannot be used for any
purpose. They are eyesores too.
Sri Lanka’s traffic jams are a major
impediment in attracting foreign investment and tourists. No one wants to spend
long hours in traffic jams.
The governments have been slack on
developing/upgrading interior roads of towns/villages. The previous
government’s ‘Gamperaliya’ project which was introduced in its final year did a
good job in this regard.
As outlined before, most of the rural
roads are still not tarmacked/concreted. They are in pathetic condition
especially after torrential rains.
When town/rural roads are improved,
farmers are able to sell their produce speedily at reasonable prices as trucks
and lorries would be able to reach villages directly/easily.
Owing to the Southern expressway one
could see how fertile rubber estates and paddy fields have been divided into
two. As a result, apart from the environmental degradation, the adverse impact to
the economy is huge. Some of these estates have become more or less useless in
value.
As the expressways cut forest lands
into two, wildlife become stuck on both sides. This has serious problems in
their mating and reaching breeding grounds. Some try to cross the expressways
and die after becoming hit by speeding motor vehicles. It is sad to see
carcasses of dead wildlife, especially of various alligators, iguanas,
peacocks, butterflies, stray dogs, snake type serpents frequently on the
expressways.
Now that a long road has been cut
through the Sinharaja National Park – a World Heritage Site, one day it too
could be connected to the Southern expressway. Then, that could be the end of
Sinharaja?
A similar road is being constructed in
Meemure in the Knuckles range. Meemure is dubbed Sri Lanka’s remotest village.
The new Buttala – Kataragama road
(B35) that was built after the war (around 2012) has resulted in causing
massive damage/disturbance to Yala wildlife, including wild elephants.
Cutting across vehicular roads through
nature reserves means the gradual ending of them.
Due to the Southern expressway, the
roadside businesses, especially restaurants that operate on the Galle Road had
a huge economic setback. Even the temples such as Kaluthara Bodhi,
Wewurukannala in Mathara and Tissamaharamaya now attract less pilgrims. These
temples depend on public donations for survival and their revenues have
significantly dwindled since inception of the Southern expressway.
It has been reported that the loss of
agricultural land as a result of the Kandy expressway is far worse than the Southern
and Katunayake expressways combined together. These are some of Sri Lanka’s
best fertile lands. Acres of valuable paddy, coconut and tea lands have been acquiesced
for the project. Many people living on the sides of this expressway have lost
valuable crop trees – coconut, jack, mango, coffee, cocoa and various spice
crops such as cloves, cardamom, and pepper vines. The value of the lost produce
is priceless. For many people these valuable trees were their livelihood. People
have lost houses and some were uprooted from their original habitats and were settled
elsewhere.
After the present government came to
power a decision was taken to build an expressway from Kadawatha to Kurunegala.
For this large swaths of very fertile private paddy, rubber lands and the natural
environment went under the concrete and rubble. A person who travels by train
from Veyangoda to Mirigama (especially on the right hand side) could see the
damage this project has caused. The beautiful serene, natural environment that
existed is gone/hidden. They are taken over by ugly concrete structures and the
new tarmacked road. Some waterways,
anicuts, wildlife have obviously been badly affected. Local residents complain
of massive flooding after major rains. Even Gampaha town submerges after massive
rains. This has not happened before.
It is rumored that thanks to the Katunanayake
expressway, politicians/top officials (from both sides of the politics) grabbed
and acquired valuable state land for themselves. Even the most precious
Muthurajawela marshy land was not spared. There are stories that the illegal
land reclamation of Muthurajawela has secretly re-commenced. This is currently somewhat
visible in Jaela, Delathara, Uswetakeiyyawa, Bopitiya, Pamunugama, and
Wahatiyagama areas – how marshy lands have been filled. An Association must be
formed urgently to stop this illegal land grab. The legal action initiated by His
Eminence the Cardinal must be highly commended.
The writer states that there was no
need to further extend the Mathara expressway.
There was simply not enough traffic to cater to from Mathara to
Hambanthota and Mattala. The Katunayake expressway is also to be extended, the
final destination is unknown. This is unnecessary. It is not necessary to
extend the Kandy expressway beyond Kandy. There is absolutely no need to build
a Northern expressway when vehicular traffic on the current A9, which is a well
carpeted, modern road, is minimal.
Due to the new expressways are to be
built/extended, it is feared that these forest/nature reserves, various parks,
important areas could face serious environmental damage/destruction: Udawalawe
Nature Reserve, Vitharakanda, Lunugamwehera, Madunagala, Weerawila, Kalamatiya,
Nimalawa, Bundala, Ussangoda, Kataragama, Yala, Buddhangala, Ulpassa,
Egodayaya, Mahakandarawa, Anuradhapura,
Mihintale, Ritigala, Somawathiya, Elahera, Bakamuna, Kaudulla, Chundikulama,
Wilpattu, Yodawewa, Muthurajawela, Madhu Reserve, Bibile Nilgala and
Pallekelle. Do we really want this to happen?
Contrary to what was anticipated,
foreign tourists who travel to the south prefer taking the Galle Road instead
of the Southern expressway. The former is more scenic, lively and refreshing
(runs parallel to the coast).
It is sad to note that between Ambalangoda
and Tangalle, tourist hotels and private residents have built huge boundary
walls covering the sea view that was available from Galle/Weligama/Hambanthota main
roads previously. The lack of proper regulations and vision are the reasons to
lose same.
Now, back to the discriminatory aspect
of the expressways – only about 20% of the country’s population – those who own
a car/vehicle reap the benefit of expressways. A few luxury buses (who charge a
higher fare) are allowed to carry passengers on expressways; meaning the poor
who does intercity travel on ordinary buses are excluded.
Motorcycles, three wheelers and
InterCity Buses comprise more than 60% of Sri Lanka’s registered motorized vehicles. These three categories are excluded from
expressways.
The fact that Sri Lanka’s expressways
are confined only to high income earners is a clear anomaly. This is
discriminatory (all people are paying off the massive foreign debts, borrowed
to build the expressways).
Today it is true that vehicles do ply
on expressways, but, most of the time they are empty. In the night, expressways are like ‘ghost
towns’. This is not so in developed countries. They are busy all the time. The
volume of traffic is definitely insufficient.
On the other hand the roads that feed
the expressways (ie, High Level Road, Galle Road, Kandy Road, Old (Avissawella)
Road, Negambo Road etc) are jam-packed with vehicles especially with three
wheelers, motorbikes and InterCity buses.
They should be allowed to ply on expressways.
Yes, expressways must be opened up for
these vehicles (the 3 categories mentioned herein). This could be introduced as
a pilot project for 3 months to assess the change. If successful, it should be
made permanent.
Allowing three wheelers, motorbikes
and InterCity buses to ply on the expressways will become a healthy source of
revenue for the government (the government is hugely cash strapped). This will
be a major solution to the country’s ever increasing traffic problem. The
traffic on the main roads will significantly reduce as a result.
True some of the poor man’s vehicles
may not be able to travel at the maximum speed of 100 km per hour, but it is
not a serious issue. For three wheelers,
on expressways they can be restricted to the maximum speed at 70 km per hour.
In Sri Lanka, it is not a must that
vehicles should drive on the expressways at the maximum speed. We are a small
island nation, we can reach any destination by road within a relatively short
period of time. What is required is to ensure a smooth flow of traffic on
expressways. Because there are no
traffic lights on expressways, this could be achieved.
During very busy periods (April New
Year, Christmas holidays) the three wheelers and motorbikes could largely be
confined to the left lane or their access to the expressways can be totally stopped.
In regards to Australia and New
Zealand, motorcycles and intercity buses are allowed to run on their
expressways and they do not have three wheelers. Even cyclists, huge container
lorries are allowed on their expressways. These two countries have only banned
certain land vehicles (like tractors) and pedestrians from entering the
expressways. Their highways are always busy (24/7) and earn terrific incomes
for the governments. The situation in
most western countries is similar. They build their highways for all peoples,
not just to a privileged few.
