Expressway lanes to be increased to six

Irangika RANGE

The Ports and Highways Ministry plans to increase the number of lanes of the Southern Expressway from four to six in the near future, Southern Expressway project director Nimal Chandrasiri said.

During an observation tour for journalists to the Southern Expressway yesterday, Chandrasiri said new lands have been acquired and compensation payments have already been made for the expansion of the Southern highway.

The expressway is equipped with an emergency lane and strategically located service areas. The service areas will retail fuel from CPC and Indian Oil as well as have a special police division for traffic control, paramedics and separate fire brigade.

Chandrasiri said that arrangements have been made to introduce an electronic card system for vehicle users of the Southern Highway to pay their toll fees. Initially toll charges will be collected manually.

A toll will be charged based on the total distance of vehicles on the Southern Highway. The access controlled expressway will have eight interchanges, such as Kottawa, Kahatuduwa, Gelanigama, Dodangoda, Welipenna, Kurundugaha, Nayapamula and Pinnaduwa for vehicles to enter.

Vehicles will be allowed to enter or exit the highway only through interchanges. He said tickets would be issued for vehicles at entry points, while road users would have to pay the toll fee at the highway’s exit points.

The minimum toll fee will be Rs. 100 while the toll for the full distance from Kottawa to Pinnaduwa will be Rs. 400.

The maximum speed limit of the expressway is 100km/hr. Once the project is completed the travel time between Colombo and Matara will be reduced from four hours to 1.5 hours.