Battling congestion in urban centres

The Colombo District Development Committee (CDDC) has highlighted the urgent need for a comprehensive public parking plan and multi-storey parking structures to alleviate severe congestion in urban centers like Nugegoda, which has been exacerbated by the proliferation of commercial establishments. Traffic experts stress that parking facilities alone cannot address the root causes of congestion, which stem from the inefficient use of existing road space and the interaction of various vehicles and pedestrians.

The World Bank has identified private vehicle ownership growth as a primary cause of congestion in Colombo, and deficient public transport contributing to the reliance on private vehicles. Buses and trains are often unreliable and poorly coordinated, and major roads frequently serve both through traffic and local destinations, creating unnecessary interaction between vehicle types.

Inadequate road infrastructure, including the lack of orbital links and secondary roads, hampers traffic flow, as do overly congested intersections that disrupt through traffic. Redesigning junctions, improving signal coordination, and implementing modern traffic-management systems can help alleviate these issues. On-street parking and vehicles stopping on the carriageway also contribute to congestion, which the CDDC has pointed out as an avoidable problem.

Experts advocate for consistent enforcement of traffic regulations, potentially aided by traffic cameras, to prevent illegal parking and other violations. Haphazard development, particularly in areas like Nugegoda with high-rise apartment complexes on narrow lanes, generates significant additional traffic that overwhelms congested roads and intersections.

The CDDC calls for a follow-up study to review and update previous transport studies and master plans, proposing a comprehensive strategy to ease congestion and prevent further fuel and man-hour waste, which is estimated to cost Sri Lanka tens of billions of rupees annually.