We were heading to Negombo and looking for the coastal road. Instead, where Google Maps showed a navigable motorway, we saw instead a huge construction site. This was the Katunayake Expressway, currently under construction.
The road is elevated and you can drive along a canal right under it. There are no on-ramps yet, just a packed dirt hill. Finding no other way to get around the thing, we decided to just get on it.
So here are some photos of some of the first civilians to drive the Katunayake Expressway. It looks like it will be beautiful – catching glimpses of the lagoon and some stunning sunsets – and fast and wide. The project is due to be completed this August and should reduce travel time from Colombo to the Airport to 20 minutes.
Right now we were only able to travel about 400 meters (the wrong way) before some friendly construction workers honked for us to turn around. We didn’t want to end our trip Thelma And Louise style off a cliff so we got back onto the main road.
We’re looking forward to the highway, but the best road round those parts (for touring at least) remains the Old Colombo coastal road. We’ll have a post on that tomorrow.
