March 15, 2014
The second phase of the construction of the Southern Expressway (formally designated as E01) in Sri Lanka was officially completed with the opening of that segment to the public. This section of the Southern Expressway connects the major cities of Galle and Matara on Sri Lanka’s southern coast.
Construction on the Southern Expressway had begun in 2003. The first phase of this project was completed in 2011 with the inauguration of the portion between Kottawa, a suburb of Sri Lanka’s capital city of Colombo (located on the western coast), and Galle.
The third and final phase of construction of the Southern Expressway began in 2015. Maithripala Sirisena, president of Sri Lanka at the time, officiated at the inaugural ceremony for this final part of the project. This section was completed in 2020, and it connects Matara with the large town of Hambantota in the central region of Sri Lanka’s southern coast.
Measuring 138 miles (222 kilometers) in length, the Southern Expressway is by far the longest of Sri Lanka’s three expressways that have been completed to date. The Colombo Outer Circular Expressway (E02), which surrounds the capital of Sri Lanka, covers a total of 18 miles (29 kilometers). The Colombo-Katunayake Expressway (E03), spanning 16 miles (25.8 kilometers) altogether, serves as a link between the Colombo area and Bandaranaike International Airport in the town of Katunayake (likewise situated on the western coast).
Photo Credit: Shehanw (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0)
For more information on the Southern Expressway (E01), please check out E01 expressway (Sri Lanka) – Wikipedia
Transportation History 
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