{"id":120518,"date":"2021-11-21T18:09:20","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T01:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=120518"},"modified":"2021-11-21T18:09:20","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T01:09:20","slug":"expressways-have-failed-to-solve-sri-lankas-traffic-problem-but-they-can-be-a-major-solution-if-governments-are-bold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/11\/21\/expressways-have-failed-to-solve-sri-lankas-traffic-problem-but-they-can-be-a-major-solution-if-governments-are-bold\/","title":{"rendered":"Expressways have failed to solve Sri Lanka\u2019s traffic problem; but, they can be a major solution if governments are bold"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Sri Lanka has one of Asia\u2019s worst\ntraffic problems. Prior to Corona, it was a nightmarish exercise to drive\naround Colombo during peak hours. In Colombo, people spent long hours in vehicles\nto travel from one place to another. Eg: prior to Corona, it took about 120\nminutes to drive from Athurugiriya to Colombo Fort during peak hours. It is a\ndistance of mere 21 km.  Thanks to   Corona the traffic flow has drastically\nreduced.  But, Corona is only a temporary\nsolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traffic is common to many world\u2019s big\ncities. But, modern cities have well coped with the problem. Colombo is\nnotorious for its bumper to bumper traffic. This is common in all areas of the\ncity even now; it is particularly bad in Duplication Road, Wellawatte, Dehiwela,\nBorella, Orugodawatta, Rajagiriya and Colombo 12 -15 areas.  The problem in these areas is that traffic\nstays stagnant for extra-ordinarily long times or move exceptionally slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the war, the governments\nbelieved that building of expressways was the best solution to solve Sri\nLanka\u2019s traffic problem; they also foolishly thought that expressways would bring\neconomic prosperity. It has now been proven that this belief was misconceived.\nDespite the expressways, the major cities continue to have major traffic\nproblems. And, the economy did not improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True, expressways did solve some transport\nproblems.  Eg: a person can now drive from\nKottawa to Mathara within 2 hours (this used to be a 4 hour trip). Then, the\ntravel time between Peliyagoda interchange to Katunayake airport is now about\n30 minutes (this used to be a 90 minute trip). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work on the Kandy expressway and the\nColombo Outer Circular Road is largely finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Katunayake (Airport) expressway\nwas a must; it was a long felt need. It was completed in 2013. The then\ngovernment must be congratulated for doing it successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, the fact of the matter is that expressways\nhave caused enormous economic and environmental problems. In some instances expressways\nhave created new traffic problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This paper intends to analyse the expressways\u2019\nnegative impact on Sri Lanka and how they can be used to effectively solve Sri\nLanka\u2019s massive traffic problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All recent governments rushed to\nbelieve that expressways is the solution to enhance the country\u2019s GDP growth.\nThey borrowed money heavily from overseas banks on high interest rates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, expressways failed to deliver\nthe rapid economic development that the governments had anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The governments failed to realise that\nlike tea, rubber, fishery, garments, agriculture, small industry etc roads\ncannot bring in direct foreign investment ($) to the country. Expressways is a non-essential\ncapital investment. Subject to strict environmental guidelines, they are good\nto build when the country\u2019s economy is healthy. Today, the country is struggling\nto feed its people due to lack of foreign currency ($) to import essential\nfoods like sugar, wheat and onions etc. \nIn such a situation it is insane to go spending billions of rupees to\nbuild more and more expressways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of spending the borrowed\ndollars on expressways (some expressway projects are white elephants), if they\nwere given as micro loans to disadvantaged people to start self-employment\nprojects, that would have been very healthy to the GDP. But, corrupt politicians\nare obsessed with building these concrete jungles, they are an easy way for\nthem to steal part of the borrowed money to fatten their bank accounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writer states that expressways\nhave benefitted only a privileged minority. It is a fact that more than 60% of\nthe country\u2019s vehicles are excluded from expressways. This issue is addressed in\ndetail later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was reported in the media that the present\ngovernment intends to construct\/extend at least four expressways. As stated\nbefore, the burning transport problem of Sri Lanka is not the lack of\nexpressways but the lengthy traffic jams in major cities especially Colombo. Not\nonly that the expressways have failed to solve this massive problem; they have\ncreated bottlenecks that acerbated the existing problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Colombo, reaching the expressway\nentry points is a herculean task. It took 90\/120 minutes for a person to drive\nfrom Borella to Athurugiriya\/Kottawa Southern expressway entry points (prior to\nCorona). The time saved by faster driving on the Southern expressway is wasted\nby the enormous extra driving one has to make, also the lengthy delays at entry\npoints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are neither a continent nor a large\ncountry; but a tiny island nation in the size of 65,600 sq km. Sri Lanka only\nhas a maximum length of 268 miles (432 km) and a maximum width of 139 (224 km)\nmiles.  Expressways are best for large countries.\nWhat Sri Lanka requires is a well carpeted network of roads everywhere,\nincluding in rural areas. Preferably they should at least be dual track each\nside on main highways (this is what they are currently doing everywhere in Galle\nRoad). There are lots of dilapidated roads in the interior that requires\nimmediate attention.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of spending large amounts of\nmoney on expressways that will extend to very remote areas, the governments\nshould have given top priority to fixing the traffic problem in Colombo and\nother major cities like Kandy, Kurunegala, Galle, Mathara, Negambo etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To ease the huge traffic congestion in\nmajor cities especially Colombo we require efficient, computerized traffic\nlights, wider streets, new alternative roads\/overhead bridges (flyovers). We\nmust consider building underground road tunnels and sometimes overhead roads.  The Colombo Outer Circular Road is a good initiative.\nParking should be banned on all main roads. The road side parking spaces should\nbe amalgamated to main roads. New multi-storey car parks as private ventures must\nbe erected to park vehicles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improvement of public transport is a\nmust to reduce the traffic flow. Then, people will leave their vehicles home\nand start using SLTB\/private buses and trains. Currently the public transport facilities\nare most appalling. We still have a 1970\/80 style public transport system. In this\n2021, people travel in rickety old buses and trains, jampacked. Surely they\ndeserve better.  The governments should\nensure that every passenger will have a seat in public transport (Malaysia is\nan example). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An underground Metro rail system is\ngood but the cost of such a project is astronomical. The advantage of the underground\nMetros is that they are linked with the existing railway system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Light\nrail will not solve Colombo\u2019s traffic problem. It is unlikely that people will\nleave cars at home and board the light rail to travel to work. People are\nobsessed with their cars and are too lazy to substitute car travel with any\nother mode of transport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empirical evidence shows that those who\nare addicted to cars will continue to use them whatever the good alternative\nprovided to them. This same rationale applies to motorcycle\/scooter riders. Mumbai,\nBangkok, Kuala Lampur \u2013 all have above the ground Light Rail.  They still have very bad vehicular traffic\nproblems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Light Rail would do is to take over\nsome of the existing omnibus loads. This means if Light Rail is to reduce\nColombo\u2019s traffic that would only be in relation to reducing some omnibus\noperations. It is not worthwhile to spend such a lot of money for such a small\nadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Light\nRail will cause huge environmental and logistical problems. It will take\nseveral years to complete the 1st <\/sup>stage of the Light Rail. During\nthe construction period, the traffic problem from Malabe to Fort via Rajagiriya\nand Borella would increase by tenfold. This congestion will flow on to other\nparts of the City.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to\nlack of sunlight the ground underneath the Light Rail concrete slab is always\ndark; also that valuable area is unproductive (note areas under Colombo\nflyovers \u2013 Dematagoda, Nugegoda, Dehiwala; under the Katunayake expressway in\nRagama; under the Light Rail tracks in Mumbai\/Bangkok). Light Rail introduces a\nnew darkness to the environment; the brightness in the townships will end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large, dark swaths of land that lie\nunder the giant concrete structures of the Southern and Katunayake expressways\n(due to lack of sunlight) are now unproductive and cannot be used for any\npurpose. They are eyesores too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s traffic jams are a major\nimpediment in attracting foreign investment and tourists. No one wants to spend\nlong hours in traffic jams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The governments have been slack on\ndeveloping\/upgrading interior roads of towns\/villages. The previous\ngovernment\u2019s \u2018Gamperaliya\u2019 project which was introduced in its final year did a\ngood job in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As outlined before, most of the rural\nroads are still not tarmacked\/concreted. They are in pathetic condition\nespecially after torrential rains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When town\/rural roads are improved,\nfarmers are able to sell their produce speedily at reasonable prices as trucks\nand lorries would be able to reach villages directly\/easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owing to the Southern expressway one\ncould see how fertile rubber estates and paddy fields have been divided into\ntwo. As a result, apart from the environmental degradation, the adverse impact to\nthe economy is huge. Some of these estates have become more or less useless in\nvalue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the expressways cut forest lands\ninto two, wildlife become stuck on both sides. This has serious problems in\ntheir mating and reaching breeding grounds. Some try to cross the expressways\nand die after becoming hit by speeding motor vehicles. It is sad to see\ncarcasses of dead wildlife, especially of various alligators, iguanas,\npeacocks, butterflies, stray dogs, snake type serpents frequently on the\nexpressways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that a long road has been cut\nthrough the Sinharaja National Park – a World Heritage Site, one day it too\ncould be connected to the Southern expressway. Then, that could be the end of\nSinharaja? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar road is being constructed in\nMeemure in the Knuckles range. Meemure is dubbed Sri Lanka\u2019s remotest village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Buttala \u2013 Kataragama road\n(B35) that was built after the war (around 2012) has resulted in causing\nmassive damage\/disturbance to Yala wildlife, including wild elephants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cutting across vehicular roads through\nnature reserves means the gradual ending of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the Southern expressway, the\nroadside businesses, especially restaurants that operate on the Galle Road had\na huge economic setback. Even the temples such as Kaluthara Bodhi,\nWewurukannala in Mathara and Tissamaharamaya now attract less pilgrims. These\ntemples depend on public donations for survival and their revenues have\nsignificantly dwindled since inception of the Southern expressway.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been reported that the loss of\nagricultural land as a result of the Kandy expressway is far worse than the Southern\nand Katunayake expressways combined together. These are some of Sri Lanka\u2019s\nbest fertile lands. Acres of valuable paddy, coconut and tea lands have been acquiesced\nfor the project. Many people living on the sides of this expressway have lost\nvaluable crop trees – coconut, jack, mango, coffee, cocoa and various spice\ncrops such as cloves, cardamom, and pepper vines. The value of the lost produce\nis priceless. For many people these valuable trees were their livelihood. People\nhave lost houses and some were uprooted from their original habitats and were settled\nelsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the present government came to\npower a decision was taken to build an expressway from Kadawatha to Kurunegala.\nFor this large swaths of very fertile private paddy, rubber lands and the natural\nenvironment went under the concrete and rubble. A person who travels by train\nfrom Veyangoda to Mirigama (especially on the right hand side) could see the\ndamage this project has caused. The beautiful serene, natural environment that\nexisted is gone\/hidden. They are taken over by ugly concrete structures and the\nnew tarmacked road.  Some waterways,\nanicuts, wildlife have obviously been badly affected. Local residents complain\nof massive flooding after major rains. Even Gampaha town submerges after massive\nrains. This has not happened before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is rumored that thanks to the Katunanayake\nexpressway, politicians\/top officials (from both sides of the politics) grabbed\nand acquired valuable state land for themselves. Even the most precious\nMuthurajawela marshy land was not spared. There are stories that the illegal\nland reclamation of Muthurajawela has secretly re-commenced. This is currently somewhat\nvisible in Jaela, Delathara, Uswetakeiyyawa, Bopitiya, Pamunugama, and\nWahatiyagama areas – how marshy lands have been filled. An Association must be\nformed urgently to stop this illegal land grab. The legal action initiated by His\nEminence the Cardinal must be highly commended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writer states that there was no\nneed to further extend the Mathara expressway. \nThere was simply not enough traffic to cater to from Mathara to\nHambanthota and Mattala. The Katunayake expressway is also to be extended, the\nfinal destination is unknown. This is unnecessary. It is not necessary to\nextend the Kandy expressway beyond Kandy. There is absolutely no need to build\na Northern expressway when vehicular traffic on the current A9, which is a well\ncarpeted, modern road, is minimal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the new expressways are to be\nbuilt\/extended, it is feared that these forest\/nature reserves, various parks,\nimportant areas could face serious environmental damage\/destruction: Udawalawe\nNature Reserve, Vitharakanda, Lunugamwehera, Madunagala, Weerawila, Kalamatiya,\nNimalawa, Bundala, Ussangoda, Kataragama, Yala, Buddhangala, Ulpassa,\nEgodayaya,  Mahakandarawa, Anuradhapura,\nMihintale, Ritigala, Somawathiya, Elahera, Bakamuna, Kaudulla, Chundikulama,\nWilpattu, Yodawewa, Muthurajawela, Madhu Reserve, Bibile Nilgala and\nPallekelle. Do we really want this to happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrary to what was anticipated,\nforeign tourists who travel to the south prefer taking the Galle Road instead\nof the Southern expressway. The former is more scenic, lively and refreshing\n(runs parallel to the coast). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is sad to note that between Ambalangoda\nand Tangalle, tourist hotels and private residents have built huge boundary\nwalls covering the sea view that was available from Galle\/Weligama\/Hambanthota main\nroads previously. The lack of proper regulations and vision are the reasons to\nlose same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, back to the discriminatory aspect\nof the expressways – only about 20% of the country\u2019s population \u2013 those who own\na car\/vehicle reap the benefit of expressways. A few luxury buses (who charge a\nhigher fare) are allowed to carry passengers on expressways; meaning the poor\nwho does intercity travel on ordinary buses are excluded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motorcycles, three wheelers and\nInterCity Buses comprise more than 60% of Sri Lanka\u2019s registered motorized vehicles.  These three categories are excluded from\nexpressways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that Sri Lanka\u2019s expressways\nare confined only to high income earners is a clear anomaly. This is\ndiscriminatory (all people are paying off the massive foreign debts, borrowed\nto build the expressways). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today it is true that vehicles do ply\non expressways, but, most of the time they are empty.  In the night, expressways are like \u2018ghost\ntowns\u2019. This is not so in developed countries. They are busy all the time. The\nvolume of traffic is definitely insufficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand the roads that feed\nthe expressways (ie, High Level Road, Galle Road, Kandy Road, Old (Avissawella)\nRoad, Negambo Road etc) are jam-packed with vehicles especially with three\nwheelers, motorbikes and InterCity buses. \nThey should be allowed to ply on expressways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, expressways must be opened up for\nthese vehicles (the 3 categories mentioned herein). This could be introduced as\na pilot project for 3 months to assess the change. If successful, it should be\nmade permanent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allowing three wheelers, motorbikes\nand InterCity buses to ply on the expressways will become a healthy source of\nrevenue for the government (the government is hugely cash strapped). This will\nbe a major solution to the country\u2019s ever increasing traffic problem. The\ntraffic on the main roads will significantly reduce as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True some of the poor man\u2019s vehicles\nmay not be able to travel at the maximum speed of 100 km per hour, but it is\nnot a serious issue.  For three wheelers,\non expressways they can be restricted to the maximum speed at 70 km per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sri Lanka, it is not a must that\nvehicles should drive on the expressways at the maximum speed. We are a small\nisland nation, we can reach any destination by road within a relatively short\nperiod of time. What is required is to ensure a smooth flow of traffic on\nexpressways.  Because there are no\ntraffic lights on expressways, this could be achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During very busy periods (April New\nYear, Christmas holidays) the three wheelers and motorbikes could largely be\nconfined to the left lane or their access to the expressways can be totally stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In regards to Australia and New\nZealand, motorcycles and intercity buses are allowed to run on their\nexpressways and they do not have three wheelers. Even cyclists, huge container\nlorries are allowed on their expressways. These two countries have only banned\ncertain land vehicles (like tractors) and pedestrians from entering the\nexpressways. Their highways are always busy (24\/7) and earn terrific incomes\nfor the governments.  The situation in\nmost western countries is similar. They build their highways for all peoples,\nnot just to a privileged few.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage Sri Lanka has one of Asia\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chanaka-bandarage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120518\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}