Express-Way Updates

[Le Sabre]

Havent heard much news on the southern expressway, colombo-katu , colombo -kandy and outer circular road projects.

Anybody has any updates on these projects so far.

Edited July 7, 2010 by Le Sabre

[nexus]

also last month a trishaw carrying 5 people illegally entered the highway at Dodangoda. The trishaw driver was not used to high speed driving and lost control near Munamalwatta, skidded off the road and crashed into a bowser which was parked on the expressway. Two are dead and three are severely injured from that crash.

what was that foolish three wheeler Idiot thinking that he can reach top speed limit in that road.

[harshansenadhir]

hahahaha....what a naive statement to make...what you think they have highways only in europe?? and only euros have high safety ratings and built for high speeds?...i bet you have bought a euro and waiting for the value to increase now....GOOD LUCK WITH THAT

I suggest you read and comprehend my post again. Ever missed the part high end cars in my post? Dude, not every city running econobox suits highway driving. Even if it does, its not optimized for highway driving. Most Japanese cars popular in SL aren't meant and build for long distances, however, the bashed lot, such as crowns, primeras will prove themselves to be as economical as an AE100 on highway driving. For your record, an average 406 does well above 15 on highway driving as they're designed and optimized for that. Dont be silly and judge euro owners in the context of penny wise pound foolish econobox owners where only objective of owning a vehicle is to sell quickly with a profit.

Won't waste time anymore wrestle a pig

[Supra_Natural]

Hey idiot. Learn to read and understand things before commenting. kthnxbye.

His join date is the 1st of April... Says it all really.

[Californikan]

Speed is not the point genius, even a Maruti 800 is capable of reaching the speeds required for our expressway. What matters most for safe highway driving are things like stability and handling prowess, both areas in which the Prius and it's ilk aren't really noted for.

which is why the germans always make good highway cars.

Point of posting the video was not speed. That the 3rd gen Prius can go over 180kmph is common knowledge. Point was to show that the Prius can be cruised comfortably and safely at 180+kmph. Something I've personally done on several occasions.

With regard to the Southern expressway, all this is all meaningless anyway. The initial speed limit is going to be only 80kmh.

[Californikan]

At which point, as proved by Jeremy, a BMW M3 would be burning less fuel.

I guess the Prii would prefer to stick to the old road and go in the stop/start traffic there.

I wouldn't use Top Gear for factual information. That program is an entertainment program for entertainment purposes, and often misleads in order to create an exciting entertaining program. They are being sued by Tesla for rigging their test of the Tesla Roadster in order to create entertaining but misleading results, and they are in hot water with Nissan for rigging their test of the Leaf.

Fuel economy while driving around a racetrack at 100% is a completely different story from fuel economy when driving on an expressway - for many reasons.

The Prius gets slightly lower fuel economy on the expressway (about 20kmpl at 100kmph) than it does in city driving. That number is still better than most any car on the road.

[Californikan]

[jdnet]

google pappa is now going to make us sick of seeing the highway pics.

[Supra_Natural]

google pappa is now going to make us sick of seeing the highway pics.

+1

[Andrew_GTR]

The initial speed limit is going to be only 80kmh.

The initial speed limit will be set at 100kmh and then subsequently increased to 120kmh within two years. The point being for motorists to learn about highway driving and entry/exit methods. Certain section's of the highway have 70kmh/90kmh limits due to curves or narrowing of lanes. The estimated time to Galle is 1 hour whereas the highway was built for a 45min drive at a 120kmh speed limit to Galle. The eventual idea of the highway is to wrap around Sri Lanka BUT that is a 15-20 year projection. Just so you know.....

[terrabytetango]

I wonder if its time I traded in my Townace for something slightly faster. I rarely push it past 80, and I fear I will be at a disadvantage by simply trying to merge into the highway (0-60 next tuesday).

[Gayan Weerakoon]

Any date given for the official opening?

[Supra_Natural]

Any date given for the official opening?

September 2nd as per today's Daily Mirror. Guess we'll have to wait and see though since opening dates have been announced before.

[harshansenadhir]

I wonder if its time I traded in my Townace for something slightly faster. I rarely push it past 80, and I fear I will be at a disadvantage by simply trying to merge into the highway (0-60 next tuesday).

Rarely push it past 80 ? I reckon it's the time for an engine re-build and a diesel pump repair We had a townace CR26 with 1C engine and I've touched 120 manier times, usually on Moratuwa - Panadura stretch and passing 80 was just nothing in 5th, still remember how the 5th pulled the van above 60. Check the diesel pump settings for fuel flow and throttle openning limit. In ours I've changed all from standard settings, with those seals

Make sure the van got some wide tires preferebly with alloys and some weight in the back, such as a set of after market seats at least Not a must but this will help in negotiating those bends in the highway in higher speeds

[dinurulz]

When is this to be open?

[heavyD]

When is this to be open?

When everything is completed! Honestly man, did you even bother reading the posts above?.

Edited August 10, 2011 by Big_D

[The Don]

Sorry chaps, I beg to differ on one particular point. I do not think that European cars are better able to navigate motorways vs Japanese built cars.

Some cars handle motorways better than others but that is not strictly based on the country of origin. But anyway lets move on ..

[SeanD]

Also last month a trishaw carrying 5 people illegally entered the highway at Dodangoda. The trishaw driver was not used to high speed driving and lost control near Munamalwatta, skidded off the road and crashed into a bowser which was parked on the expressway. Two are dead and three are severely injured from that crash.

What a foookin idiot

[volvo4life]

Interestingly the single lane picture does look good but the double lane part just looks a wee bit narrow dont you think ? sure its designed for only light vehicles but still

Any idea if there are any speed cams installed ? also did you see any road lights ?

Actually there is no single lane section. That pic was taken at a section where the road markings etc were not completed. The entire distance will be dual lane. The lanes are actually not as narrow as they look in the photos.

No speed cameras yet, I guess they will stick to the hand held ones to start with. Lighting is installed only on exits and slip roads. That's pretty much standard around the world with the exception of Belgium where all the highways in the country are lit up end to end.

[volvo4life]

Interesting that the road authorities appear to have selected uppercase lettering for destination signage rather than the upper/lower case approach in most other countries. What an excellent drive this is going to be. (Who's going to be the Autolanka first! )

Well spotted, regarding the upper case road signs.

I drove down to Galle and back in June. Wonder if I'm Autolankas' first?

[volvo4life]

Tx, Stig. So the lanes may be a little narrow, eh? Do u know if there will be a "travel in the left lane" rule enforced? Great photos, Volvo, the expressway is sure travelling though some lovely country. Photo 2 seem to show that the road follows the contours. which will make for enjoyable driving. How did u manage to get a trip so early?

Yes scenery is lovely. It is very nice being able to drive without being surrounded by road side shops, houses, walls and bill boards. The road is a lot straighter than it looks in pictures. You hardly feel you are taking a bend, unless you're doing well over 100Km/ph.

Sorry I'm not allowed to disclose how the permission was obtained, but it did not involve any money or politicians.

[Scooter]

Looks like Volvo is the first AL person to have done the expressway run! I'm jealous!

Cali, u might be interested to hear that in the UK their first electric car charging points have just been opened up on some of their motorway service areas. These first ones are all greeny and solar powered and can fastcharge a battery in an hour or so after the customer swipes a credit card and goes off for a cuppa. How fast things change with the new technologies, eh.

[vishkid]

Ummmm .. the anticipation feels great. But somehow something evil tells me that we'll sooner or later will hv to cope with highway-rage, apart from the road-rage!

[terrabytetango]

Rarely push it past 80 ? I reckon it's the time for an engine re-build and a diesel pump repair We had a townace CR26 with 1C engine and I've touched 120 manier times, usually on Moratuwa - Panadura stretch and passing 80 was just nothing in 5th, still remember how the 5th pulled the van above 60. Check the diesel pump settings for fuel flow and throttle openning limit. In ours I've changed all from standard settings, with those seals

Make sure the van got some wide tires preferebly with alloys and some weight in the back, such as a set of after market seats at least Not a must but this will help in negotiating those bends in the highway in higher speeds

Oh the engine is more than up to it, always starts on first turn. I just don't like pushing the engine that far because I've found that it does best on fuel at a constant 60-70km/h. Wheels are 14 inch 165 items, with the smallest offset possible so that they stay inside the tire wells. After market seats also installed, none of that rotatable crap though.

[harshansenadhir]

Oh the engine is more than up to it, always starts on first turn. I just don't like pushing the engine that far because I've found that it does best on fuel at a constant 60-70km/h. Wheels are 14 inch 165 items, with the smallest offset possible so that they stay inside the tire wells. After market seats also installed, none of that rotatable crap though.

oh, nothing to do with the vehicle, it's the driver then Seems the vehicle is 'used to' drive in that speed so, speeding at once can be tough but will be alright if you push the engine bit far and get it 'used to' drive in those speeds, always worked for me

[techlove]

Ummmm .. the anticipation feels great. But somehow something evil tells me that we'll sooner or later will hv to cope with highway-rage, apart from the road-rage!

Well,I have some worse feelings than yours, the shortest highway with the highest number of deadly accidents in the world...