Ocr Project

Le Sabre · November 22, 2009

Outer circular highway to start soon

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to officially flag-off the commencement of work of the much protracted Outer Circular Highway Project (OCHP) with the laying of the foundation stone on December 7, 2009.

Cabinet approved a memorandum submitted by Minister of Highways and Road Development, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, to award the Rs.25 billion contract for the Stage One of OCHP to China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) Ltd.

“The work on Outer Circular Highway will officially commence with the laying of foundation stone on December 7, with the participation of the President. Stage One stretches from Kottawa to Kaduwela, while currently the feasibility study of the second stage extending from Kaduwela to Kadawatha, is nearing its completion,” a high ranking official of the Road Development Authority (RDA) told The Nation.

Funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Outer Circular Highway is a fully access highway, linking Colombo-Katunayake Expressway at the Kerawalapitiya Interchange, Southern Expressway at the Kottawa Interchange and the Kandy Highway at the Kadawatha Interchange.

It will be constructed in three phases – Kottawa-Kaduwela, Kaduwela-Kadawata and Kadawata-Kerawalapitiya. RDA believes that it will connect the North and South more quickly, acting as a bypass to the Colombo City and disperse traffic from Colombo more effectively, easing traffic congestions in the Colombo Metropolitan Region.

Construction of the 29 km (18 mile) long outer circular road network will take three and a half years to complete, ending by mid 2013. Access will be provided to all “A” class roads via interchanges and the OCH will have an operational speed limit of 80 km/h and is to be built with four lanes, with provisions to upgrade the road for six lanes of traffic.

The outer circular highway will not only provide an effective bypass for North-South bound traffic and to reduce through-traffic in the city of Colombo, while providing passenger transport to destinations in a minimum time period, and a quick passenger and goods transport facility from airport.

RDA says in the pre-feasibility study carried out in 1992, five alternative traces have been studied, and the feasibility study was carried out in 1999 under grant aid assistance from the Government of Japan, in which nine alternative traces have been considered.

Initially, although a 10 km wide belt was considered in studying traces with the help of maps and aerial photographs, a corridor confining to a width of a kilometre on either side of the centre line has been identified for detailed study to minimise the social and environmental damages.

In the feasibility study, the alignment that has been selected to pass through Kerawelapitiya, Mattumagala, Kadawatha, Hewagama, Makumbura (Kottawa), Rerukana and Nalluruwa has been recommended as the most appropriate alignment.

Interchanges to the Outer Circular Highway have been proposed for “A” class roads and other expressways at Kerawalapitiya (Colombo-Katunayake Expressway)

Mattumagala (Peliyagoda-Puttalam Road), Kadawatha (Colombo-Kandy A1 Road and proposed Colombo-Kandy Expressway), Biyagama (Kelaniya-Mudungoda Road), Kaduwela (Colombo-Hanwella Low Level Road), Makumbura (Colombo-Ratnapura A4 Road and proposed Southern Expressway).

The project had to be temporarily suspended in November 2001 due to inability to carry out ground surveys due to protests raised by the residents of the area, and with alternative deviations for the OCH route been proposed by the affected residents.

An RDA official added that the treasury bills would be received by affected residents in lieu of compensation.

Edited November 22, 2009 by Le Sabre