vehicle speed in Colombo 8 kmph now, but tomorrow it ll reduced 6 kmph
(Lanka-e-News -22.Dec.2016, 11.30PM) Priority has been given by Budget 2017 to ease road traffic congestion in Colombo, says Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake. The minister points out that an alternative system should be introduced soon as an additional number of vehicles are daily put into public roads. The minister stated this during a recent meeting held with ministry officials to discuss the implementation of 2017 budget proposals.
Plans are already afoot to launch the construction of two new roads, one between New Kelani Bridge and Athurugiriya and, the second road between Kelani Bridge and Colombo Port in next year. One of the main concerns of the plan is to identify 7 entry points to the city and start a light railway system from each point. This new light railway system will cover the main suburbs including Borella, Kottawa, Battaramulla, Kaduwela, Maradana, Mattakkuliya, Peliyagoda, Dematagoda, Kadawatha, Bambalapitiya and Kirullapane.
In addition, Budget 2017 has proposed a mechanism to streamline public bus service within city limits. Under this mechanism, Colombo Municipal Council, in collaboration with Road Development Authority will introduce separate lanes for public buses.
Another project will be launched to upgrade the existing railway lines in order to reduce the number of buses entering daily to the city. Accordingly, Kelani Valley Railway line will be extended up to Rathnapura and an additional line will be constructed between Polgahawela and Kurunegala. The vehicle speed limit within Colombo was between 40 to 60 kilometers per hour in 1980 but it has currently been reduced to 8 kilometers per hour. It is predicted that this speed limit will further be reduced to 6 kilometers by 2020. The main reason for this is the increasing number of vehicles on public roads.
The total vehicle population in Sri Lanka was 3,390,993 in 2008. It rose up to 6,302,141 in 2015. The length of A and B grade roads in the country is 12,173 kilometers. 250 thousand vehicles daily enter the Colombo city and this number annually increases by 25,000.
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by (2016-12-22 20:47:30)
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2 discussion on this news
The first and best thing to do is to ban the use of any official vehicles by everyone in Ministries of Road Development and Transport. Ask them to use Public Transport and then they will understand first hand the problems with the perspective of the majority who use Public transport. There a simple things like banning Busses from loitering at Bus Stands to pickup passengers, blocking the roads and wasting the time of commuters. The frequency of trains on the coastal line where there is two tracks must be increased till their are trains every 10-15 mins from early morning to late at night. These projects may earn less commissions than the roads and light rail being proposed but will significantly improve public transport in Colombo for the majority who can't afford or don't get permits to buy Cars.
-- by lakdiva on 2016-12-25
If the honorable minister wishes to learn how to reduce travel speed of 6km/h to 2 km/h thereby reducing the consumption of gasoline, please consider sending him off on a feasibility study to Bangkok. Bangkok has also built monorails.
-- by Hashimoto Suziki on 2016-12-30
