The Central Expressway (E04), is an under construction road project that will link the

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n capital,

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, with

Kurunegala Kurunegala (, ; , ) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th ...

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

. It will provide a fast alternative to the existing A1 Colombo - Kandy & A6 Ambepussa - Trincomalee Highways. The Expressway starts at the Kadawatha Interchange on the E02 Outer Circular Expressway and ends in Dambulla at the A9 Kandy - Jaffna Highway, traversing through

Gampaha Gampaha (Sinhala: ගම්පහ ; Tamil: கம்பஹா ) is an urban city in Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is situated to the north-east of the capital Colombo. It is the sixth largest urban area in Western Provinc ...

& Matale Districts. A link Expressway starting from Pothuhera & ending in Galagedara will provide access to the

Kandy District Kandy District (, ) is a district of the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Its area is 1,940 km2 (750 sq mi). Administrative divisions Ethnic groups and religion Major cities Suburbs of city of Kandy * Peradeniya * Katugasto ...

. The idea was originally proposed by the UNP government under

Ranil Wickremesinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe (; ; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. He has also served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 a ...

. In 2002, a Malaysian company had discussions with the then United National Party (UNP) government over the Kandy-Colombo Expressway. However the project was not able to commence due to the elections and the fall of the UNP government. The expressway was supposed to connect the

Western Region Megapolis The Western Region Megapolis is an urban planning, zoning, and development area stretching from Negombo in the north to Beruwala in the south. It is designed to create a megapolis in Sri Lanka's Western Province by 2030. The plan was created ...

project with the "Greater Kandy Development Project" both projects were also cancelled after the fall of the government. In November 2013 the Project Minister for Highways announced that construction work on the expressway now known as the Northern Expressway would commence in January 2015. The first phase of the works will link the E03 expressway at

Kadawatha Kadawatha (or Kadawata) ( ) is a large suburb of Gampaha, in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is situated on the A1 highway, approximately away from the centre of Colombo. Industrial machines, factories, diesel motor houses, strategic inve ...

through to

via Ederamulla and

Mirigama Mirigama (also spelled Meerigama) (; ) is a suburb in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka. It is located from Colombo, from Kurunegala and from Negombo. Mirigama is the hometown of Sri Lanka's first Prime Minister, D. S. Senanayake and former speake ...

. The next stage will see the road extended to Katugastota in Kandy. The Minister advised that the expressway would be built in three stages with financial assistance from China. On 14 December 2014 the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

, launched the construction of the expressway by laying a foundation stone at the Senkadagala entrance of the expressway. The total cost of the expressway was estimated to be approximately Rs.200 billion and the works were scheduled to be completed by 2018. After the new government came into power in 2015, expressway was re-named back to the 'Central Expressway' from 'Kandy Expressway', Prime Minister

Ranil Wickramasinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe (; ; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. He has also served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 a ...

again launched the construction of the expressway by laying a foundation stone in February 2017 with the first phase expected to be completed in 2.5 years. The final environment impact assessment made by May 2016. The second stage of the project, which connects Meerigama to Kurunegala was opened to the public on 15 January 2022.

Construction

Construction of the Central Expressway will be carried out in four Stages as follows: *Stage 1 - Kadawatha (0.0 km) to Meerigama (37.1 km) *Stage 2 - Meerigama (37.1 km) to Kurunegala (76.8 km) and Ambepussa link road (9.3 km) *Stage 3 - Pothuhera (0.0 km) to Galagedara (Kandy) (32.5 km) *Stage 4 - Kurunegala (76.8 km) to Dambulla (137.1 km)

Stage 1

The construction of first stage from

will be a four lane divided carriageway (with room for a future two lanes) for a length of . There are proposed interchanges at Kadawatha,

, Veyangoda and

, with fifty overpasses and thirty underpasses along the route. The initial estimated cost of Phase One was approx. Rs. 70bn, with more recent costs estimated at Rs.130bn. Then Prime Minister, now President

launched the construction of the expressway by laying a foundation stone in August 2015 for this phase. The project completion was delayed which the Government has already incurred a loss of around Rs. 30 billion as a result.

Stage 2

Construction of the second stage of the project from

, will also be a four-lane divided carriageway for a length of , with thirty overpasses and five underpasses. Interchanges are proposed at Nakalagamuwa, Dambokka,

and Yaggapitiya. The tentative cost of construction for Phase Two is Rs. 149.0bn.

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

launched the construction of the expressway by laying a foundation stone in February 2017 for this Phase and will be completed in 2021 This Phase will be totally completed by local construction companies for the 1st time in Sri Lanka.

Stage 3

Cost for this stage 3 stretch of the expressway has been estimated at Rs.135 billion. Awarding of the contract for Central Expressway Stage III have stirred up questions and controversy. It was revealed that funding for the third phase also from commercial loan with a high interest rates. President

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (; ; born 3 September 1951) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh president of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province, S ...

had said the tender procedure was violated when awarding the contract for the expressway. In September 2017, Prime Minister

had to make a parliament statement regarding this. The construction was re-commenced in Dec. 2020 by PM Mahinda Rajapaksha.

Interchanges

References