The dreaded CHOGM is almost upon us. Every two years this meeting of heads of state and their entourages snarls traffic in some host country, and this year its us. What we’ve done is taken this text traffic plan (thanks SueKiri) and drawn it on a map and written it out in a table. The parts marked dark red are officially going to be closed or blocked at random times. The parts in light red are connecting roads we assume will be bad as well.
GIF For Friday November 15th
On Friday, the VIPs will go to Nelum Pokuna, making Town Hall inaccessible for the rest of Colombo.
Executive Summary
Stay in your home or leave Colombo.
| Dates | Days | Disasters |
|---|---|---|
| 12th-14th | Tue-Thur | Avoid anything between airports and hotels. Airports means Katunayake and Ratmalana. |
| 13th-14th | Wed-Thur | Avoid BMICH |
| 15th | Friday | Avoid Nelum Pokuna (Town Hall) and BMICH |
| 16th | Saturday | Avoid Waters Edge and BMICH |
| 17th | Sunday | Avoid BMICH |
Full Detail
We’ve translated this directly from the Police press release. Please excuse small typos and spelling differences. This is the somewhat exact closure times and what roads/junctions will be closed.
| INDEX | PLACES OF CLOSURE | 15 Nov | 16 Nov | 17 Nov |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slave Island Police Roundabout | 08.45-09.45 | 07.00-08.00 | 07.00-08.00 |
| 2 | Road Near Regal Cinema | 08.45-09.45 | 07.00-08.00 | 07.00-08.00 |
| 3 | D. R Wijewardhana, Gamini Roundabout will be closed for vehicles coming from Pettah | 08.45-09.45 | 07.00-08.00 | 07.00-08.00 |
| 4 | C.T.C. Junction | 08.45-09.45 | 07.00-08.00 | 07.00-08.00 |
| 5 | York Street, Chatham Street Junction | 08.45-09.45 | 07.00-08.00 | 07.00-08.00 |
| 6 | All vehicles that enter Galle Road between Old Parliament roundabout to Kollupitiya Junction | 08.45-09.45 | 07.00-08.00 | 07.00-08.00 |
| 7 | Elephant House Roundabout | 08.45-09.45 | 07.00-08.00 | 07.00-08.00 |
| 8 | Old J. O. C. Cambridge Junction | 08.00-12.00 | ||
| 9 | From Liberty Junction to Duplication Road Junction | 08.45-09.45 | ||
| 10 | Both sides of Flower Road, Ananda Cumaraswamy Road | 08.00-12.00 | ||
| 11 | Both sides of Pittala Junction, Flower Road | 08.00-10.30 | 07.00-08.00 | 07.30-08.30 |
| 12 | Hunupitiya Cross Road can exit to Dharmapala Mawatha | 08.00-10.00 | 07.00-08.00 | 07.30-08.30 |
| 13 | Park Street Dharmapala Mawatha Junction (residents only) | 08.00-10.00 | 07.00-08.00 | 07.30-08.30 |
| 14 | Lipton Circus – Only buses, residents and invitees can enter | 08.00-12.00 | ||
| 15 | Soyza roundabout – Only residents, invitees and mosque-goers can enter | 08.00-12.00 | ||
| 16 | Thummulla, Thurstan Road, 175/177 buses should go through Thummulla Road, Rajakeeya Mawatha, Reid Mawatha, Stanley Wijesundara Mawatha | 08.30-10.15 | ||
| 17 | Both sides of Colonel Jayawardene Mawatha, Dharmapala Mawatha, Ananda Cumaraswamy Mawatha | 08.45-10.00 | 07.00-8.00 | 07.30-08.30 |
| 18 | Reid Mawatha (Philip Gunawardene Mawatha), Rajakeeya Junction | 08.00-12.00 | ||
| 19 | Vidya, Wijerama Junction (residents and employees of the institutes only) | 08.00-12.00 | ||
| 20 | Gregory, Wijerama Junction (Residents and employees of the institutes only) | 08.00-12.00 | ||
| 21 | Baudhdhaloka Mawatha, Thunmulla (Stanmore Crescent Junction) | |||
| 22 | Bullers, Jawaththa Road Junction, Consistent Road, Bullers Lane (Residents and employees of the institutes only) | 11.00-12.00 | ||
| 23 | Bullers, Torrington Junction (Residents only) | 10.00-12.00 | 11.00-12.00 | 11.00-12.00 |
| 24 | Bullers, Longdon, Longdon Place Junction, Opposite SLBC (Residents and employees of the institutes only) | 10.00-12.00 | ||
| 25 | Sarana Road, Malalasekara Mawatha Junction, Entering Bullers Road | 10.00-12.00 | ||
| 26 | Bullers Road, Gregory Road Junction | 11.00-12.00 | ||
| 27 | Cemetery roundabout (Residents only) | 11.00-12.00 | ||
| 28 | De Saram Mawatha, Barnes Place | 09.00-09.45 | ||
| 29 | Kynsey Rd, Rosemead Place Junction, De Saram Road, Rosmead Place Junction | 14th till Prince Charles departs | ||
| 30 | Wijerama Road, Ward Place and Horton Place | 09.00-09.45 | ||
| 31 | Poldoowa, Subhuthi Pura Junction | 07.45-09.00 | 08.00-09.00 | |
| 32 | Sethsiripaya, Subhuthi Pura Junction (Entrance only for residents and those who go to the function) | 07.45-09.00 | 08.00-09.00 | |
| 33 | Baththaramulla Junction (Entrance only for those who go to the function and those who work in institutes.) | 07.45-09.00 | 08.00-09.00 | |
| 34 | Near the Speaker’s residence | 07.45-09.00 | 08.00-09.00 | |
| 35 | U. L. Gunasekara Mawatha | 07.45-09.00 | 08.00-09.00 | |
| 36 | Cooray Mawatha | 07.45-09.00 | 08.00-09.00 | |
| 37 | Welikada Cross Road | 07.45-09.00 | 08.00-09.00 | |
| 38 | Cotta Road, Ayurveda Hospital Junction | 07.30-09.00 | 08.00-09.00 | |
| 39 | Both sides of Model Farm Junction, Time to time you can enter from Old Bullers Road to Cotta Road | 07.30-09.00 | 08.00-09.00 | |
| 40 | Cemetery roundabout, Traveling to Borella through Baseline | 07.30-09.00 | 08.00-09.00 | |
| 41 | Cemetery roundabout, Entering Bullers Road | 11.00-12.00 | 11.00-12.00 |
General Stuff
Guests start arriving on Tuesday November 12th and continue till Thursday (the 14th). The new highway will make traffic from the Airport to Colombo not bad, but they will need to get to their hotels, messing up everything from Kelaniya on in, especially Baseline Road and Bauddhaloka Mawatha. Some private jets will also be arriving at Ratmalana Airport, messing up the Galle Road.
From the 13th there will be meetings and events at the BMICH, making traffic between there and the hotels bad. Specifically, avoid Bauddhaloka Mawatha. BMICH will be busy till the 17th.
The official opening is on the 15th, at Nelum Pokuna. This is near Town Hall and will basically mess up everything.
The main meetings are from the 16th-17th at Waters Edge in Battaramulla. This will mess up the Parliament Road for sure, and basically everything between there and the hotels.
CHOGM Event Calendar
| Date | Day | Events | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12th | Tuesday | – Heads Of State arriving from airports – Business Forum (Cinnamon Grand) |
– Airports, Hotels – Cinnamon Grand |
| 13th | Wednesday | – Heads Of State arriving – Foreign Ministers Meeting (BMICH) – Meeting on Harare Declaration (BMICH) – Business Forum (Cinnamon G) |
– Airports, Hotels – BMICH – Cinnamon Grand |
| 14th | Thursday | – Heads Of State Arriving – FMs Meeting (BMICH) – Civil Society Roundtable (BMICH) – Press Conferences (BMICH) – Business Forum (Cinnamon G) |
– Airports, Hotels – BMICH – Cinnamon Grand |
| 15th | Friday | – Opening And Conference (Nelum Pokuna) – Main Meetings (Waters Edge) – Youth Dialogue (BMICH) – Press Conferences (BMICH) |
– Nelum Pokuna – Waters Edge – BMICH |
| 16th | Saturday | – Main Meetings (Waters Edge) – Sports Breakfast (BMICH) – Press Conferences (BMICH) |
– Waters Edge – BMICH |
| 17th | Sunday | – Main Meetings (Waters Edge) – Concluding Press Conference (BMICH) |
– Waters Edge – BMICH |
Broadly, the heads of state arrive and they have to get to their hotels. Meanwhile events are starting up at BMICH. The thing kicks off on the 15th and they start having their main meetings at Waters Edge. The effect is that everything between Colombo 1 and 3 (where the hotels are) and Battaramulla and BMICH has to periodically and somewhat randomly close down to let them travel through.
CHOGM Traffic Plan (Unofficial)
| Date | Day | Locations | Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12th | Tuesday | – Airports, Hotels – Cinnamon Grand |
– Airport Highway – Baseline Road – Galle Road from Ratmalana – anything leading to a hotel (everything) |
| 13th | Wednesday | – Airports, Hotels – BMICH – Cinnamon Grand |
-Bauddhaloka Mawatha
– Airport Highway |
| 14th | Thursday | – Airports, Hotels – BMICH – Cinnamon Grand |
-Bauddhaloka Mawatha
– Airport Highway |
| 15th | Friday | – Nelum Pokuna – Waters Edge – BMICH |
Anything between the hotels Town Hall BMICH Battaramulla. Parliament Road |
| 16th | Saturday | – Waters Edge – BMICH |
Parliament Road Bauddhaloka Mawatha Union Place Ward Place Horton Place, etc. |
| 17th | Sunday | – Waters Edge – BMICH |
Parliament Road Bauddhaloka Mawatha Union Place Ward Place Horton Place, etc. |
If you take the airports, hotels, BMICH and Waters Edge as endpoints, that effectively snarls all of Colombo. The only parts that are relatively safe are Colombo 5 (Havelock Town), Wellawatte, Nugegoda, Dehiwala and Mount Lavinia.
The Out Of Town Stuff
| Dates | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 10th-14th | Peoples Forum | Hikkaduwa |
| 10th-14th | Youth Forum | Hambantota |
| 15th-16th | Spouses Programs | Colombo, Kandy, Galle |
