The South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Port Access Elevated Highway (PAEH) project, which is constructing approximately 5.3 km of an elevated toll highway with related facilities between New Kelani Bridge (NKB) and Galle Face, has resumed following some issues with criminal gangs and other drawbacks, officials said.
This Rs.28 billion project will provide a direct link to the city centre and the port from the Colombo – Katunayake Motorway (CKE) via NKB, followed by an extension of the motorway network into the city, alleviating traffic congestion in Colombo’s densely populated areas, improving last-mile connectivity from the country’s motorway network to the international port in Colombo, providing better logistics services for freight operations, and facilitating regional trade. The project commenced in 2019 and was originally planned to be completed in 2023 but was delayed due to unavoidable reasons. Officials said the project suffered various setbacks commencing with the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdown with the biggest obstacle being theft by drug addicts, the impact of criminal gangs operating in the area and being amidst a major inter-gang war shootout since September 2022. However, the police stepped in and several arrests were made enabling the authorities to restart work on the project.
Source: Sunday times
