Express-Way Updates

[Le Sabre]

Havent heard much news on the southern expressway, colombo-katu , colombo -kandy and outer circular road projects.

Anybody has any updates on these projects so far.

Edited July 7, 2010 by Le Sabre

[terrabytetango]

Due to a lull in the festive activities last night, I'm sober enough to post on A/L. I noticed three Ashok Leylands travelling on the E01 during my aforesaid trip to Galle, they appeared to be well behaved, but honestly they don't have enough room in their lane to have a comfortable enough drive, it's more like driving a slot car. There was only one dog, right at the Pinnaduwa exit when the left lane merges with the right; most carcasses were of 'mugatiyas' (mongoose), and saw quite a few crossing the road as well. There was also one Yaris driver who straddled the both lanes and simply did not afford us an opportunity to pass him; he would drift into the left lane at the last moment and was oblivious to our flashing headlights and frantic honking. Finally managed to overtake him on a right hand bend when he went into the shoulder and nearly hit the railing. Picture can be posted upon request. Also came across a green Maruti 800 straddling the right hand lane doing 80 or less, forcing us to overtake them from the left. We saw him move into the left hand lane after we shot him dirty looks while overtaking. I should also add, the said Maruti was in very bad nick, the left rear tire was bouncing like mad, I had assumed the POS would have shook itself to bits by the time it arrived in Colombo. The most common affliction of many drivers is that, while they do signal before pulling into the right lane, they either don't look in their mirrors before doing so, or lack the ability to judge how fast the car in the mirror is travelling. Of course there could be the a third and more obvious reason, but that just pisses me off.

Edited December 29, 2011 by terrabytetango

[jami]

one of my friend driven his 650cc Alto in E01, and he manage to drive at 100km/h, but he has noticed dark smoke coming from the silencer and then he had reduce the speed to 80 km/h. so 650cc can go with 80 km/h without any truble

[jami]

Due to a lull in the festive activities last night, I'm sober enough to post on A/L. I noticed three Ashok Leylands travelling on the E01 during my aforesaid trip to Galle, they appeared to be well behaved, but honestly they don't have enough room in their lane to have a comfortable enough drive, it's more like driving a slot car. There was only one dog, right at the Pinnaduwa exit when the left lane merges with the right; most carcasses were of 'mugatiyas' (mongoose), and saw quite a few crossing the road as well. There was also one Yaris driver who straddled the both lanes and simply did not afford us an opportunity to pass him; he would drift into the left lane at the last moment and was oblivious to our flashing headlights and frantic honking. Finally managed to overtake him on a right hand bend when he went into the shoulder and nearly hit the railing. Picture can be posted upon request. Also came across a green Maruti 800 straddling the right hand lane doing 80 or less, forcing us to overtake them from the left. We saw him move into the left hand lane after we shot him dirty looks while overtaking. I should also add, the said Maruti was in very bad nick, the left rear tire was bouncing like mad, I had assumed the POS would have shook itself to bits by the time it arrived in Colombo. The most common affliction of many drivers is that, while they do signal before pulling into the right lane, they either don't look in their mirrors before doing so, or lack the ability to judge how fast the car in the mirror is travelling. Of course there could be the a third and more obvious reason, but that just pisses me off.

Leyland at E01 OR no....... lately they will rent the EO1

[varunatech]

Real high way accidents..........

[varunatech]

http://youtu.be/oD6XdvARIVg

[The Don]

one of my friend driven his 650cc Alto in E01, and he manage to drive at 100km/h, but he has noticed dark smoke coming from the silencer and then he had reduce the speed to 80 km/h. so 650cc can go with 80 km/h without any truble

Sounds like your friends Alto might need new valve seals. Was it bluish white smoke?

[jami]

Sounds like your friends Alto might need new valve seals. Was it bluish white smoke?

it has appear few times after he reached to 100km/h. and he has noticed the vehicle controlling is nt easy and raise dwn the speed

[The Don]

it has appear few times after he reached to 100km/h. and he has noticed the vehicle controlling is nt easy and raise dwn the speed

It's good to slow down to a manageable speed. But tell him to have his car checked as it might be burning oil.

[miniace]

Was on it today for the first time and saw the buses, and a few more 'suspicious' looking 'trip' buses...

Saw few Leyland giant buses on E01. Took few pics will upload soon.

MINIACE

[Mani]

http://youtu.be/oD6XdvARIVg

If the idiot filming had enough sense to get the hell out of the hammer lane, the BMW driver wouldn't have to make that boneheaded move. They are both idiots.

[terrabytetango]

The next big issue needing to be addressed will be the inevitable breakdown (already in process, imho) of highway etiquette, and the subsequent free for all that will ensue. The current police presence is simply few and far in between, and the clincher will be the narrow shoulder; the carpeted road leading to Devata has a wider shoulder than the highway itself.

[Velocity]

Real high way accidents..........

Damn i hate rear wheel drives. either that jag did not have traction control or T/C or it was too late when T/C kicked in.

[4age]

judging from the state of the railing the jag wasnt the only car to go off on that bend...

and just a word of advice to anyone taking the E01 .... when your on your way back towards kottawa comming to the end of the highway there are boards lights speed breakers and what not asking you to slow down.. so pls SLOW THE F DOWN because your approaching a 90degree bend... its extremely dangerous and i saw two cars that ignored this and actually locked up before taking the bend ..

[The Stig]

:mosking:

[SeanD]

Damn i hate rear wheel drives. either that jag did not have traction control or T/C or it was too late when T/C kicked in.

I think his tyre burst, which seems to be the case if you look closely. That also seems to be a dangerous corner as that road railing is already broken. Musta had underinflated tyres...kindof like 90% of the Sri Lankan road going vehicles...

[MasterDon]

Damn i hate rear wheel drives. either that jag did not have traction control or T/C or it was too late when T/C kicked in.

Yeah.but there's nothing like driving a rwd on the edge,amirite beemer drivers? ..I remember coming down from Hatton in the pouring rain,One of the scariest things I've ever done.The rx7's back kept kicking out(it had worn tyres too)...My dad's ingenious soloution was to put some big rocks in the boot,and it worked!

[varunatech]

I think his tyre burst, which seems to be the case if you look closely. That also seems to be a dangerous corner as that road railing is already broken. Musta had underinflated tyres...kindof like 90% of the Sri Lankan road going vehicles...

Ha ha, like your quote......"90%" of Sri Lankan vehicle tyres are under inflated".............so true, and they do not know the out come in long continuous drive. The tyre temp rises and it may burst............

[Pericles]

Yeah.but there's nothing like driving a rwd on the edge,amirite beemer drivers? ..I remember coming down from Hatton in the pouring rain,One of the scariest things I've ever done.The rx7's back kept kicking out(it had worn tyres too)...My dad's ingenious soloution was to put some big rocks in the boot,and it worked!

Velo knows. He had an RX8.

[rangerover]

Yeah.but there's nothing like driving a rwd on the edge,amirite beemer drivers?

For sure! But i wouldn't take my chances on snow though. Have personal experience on how bad RWD's are on snow/icy roads

[Velocity]

Velo knows. He had an RX8.

and i fishtailed 4 times at 50 on wet weather with T/C off ( Luckily T/C kicked in and saved me ) . fuc***** charlie. what a scary feeling.

[VVTi]

I once took the Thumulla roundabout in the E39 (coming from Bullers and turning towards Queens Rd ) a bit too fast on a rainy day and lost it...

Don't ask what I did, the car went side ways forwards for about 100 yards before it straightened itself out. The look on the face of the driver that came from the Havelock road side was priceless... I

RWD is fun, as long as you are skilled or lucky.

Edited December 31, 2011 by VVTi

[madmax]

For sure! But i wouldn't take my chances on snow though. Have personal experience on how bad RWD's are on snow/icy roads

I drive a 300bhp RWD all year round including some of the nastiest snow. You need as set of dedicated winter tires, and some careful driving. True, it takes a bit more skill than a FWD and AWD car. The only time the car got stuck in snow was when wifey went out during a blizzard. I had to go and drive her out of it. In fact I had to turn the DSC into limited mode to get the car moving, which did the trick.

Edited December 31, 2011 by madmax

[VVTi]

I noticed the that ASC in the E39 does jack all. I seem to have more say on how te car drives when it is off....

[Pericles]

You guys are missing the point. Madmax is just trying to emphasize what a fantastic driver he is. He has had that weird idea even back when we did far more driving on the streets of NFS than in real cars

[Sajith83]

Hi everyone and a very happy new year to all of you!

I'm somewhat just an observer on these forums and this thread has been one of my favs, Only expressway in the country and it's fun to read what people post about their experiences on it!

So 31st went to Galle and back and here's my experience of it:

In short, it's fantastic! I drive a Swift and got on the highway at 9am and kept a steady 100 all the way through. Occasionally u find the needle going to 120-130 and u gotta correct urself though. Cameras at every intersection and patrol cars every so often with their residents chewing their beatle. No accidents and only one breakdown did we see there and back, and a couple of instances where roadworks wr going on, but service vehicles clearly marking which lane to get into etc. Signboarding is unmistakable and clear, I dunno what paint/sticker they use but it's like a light turning on when ur heads hit them.

Road ettiquette was extremely good and you feel safe overtaking and getting back into lanes. One or 2 vans which might have been doing 60kmph while another Vios was straddling both lanes causing the one and only downshift to 4th the entire trip. Coming back there was a private Leyland (189 route number, but obviously on a trip) doing about 90, and that was a bit scary overtaking him at 100 cos u really feel the narrow overtaking lane width cos the bus pretty much fills the entire lane... so bit scary to think of buses on E01, and even scarier to think of having to overtake container trucks. Only one incident of being overtaken at 100 by a convoy of 3 land crusiers, a KS no. Benz and an Allion which might easily have been doing well over 160kmph. One idiot in a Kenari who I passed started to keep up with me and wasn't keeping enough of a gap behind me was pretty disconcerting, and no matter if I sped up to increase the gap the fool kept closing in... moron wasn't overtaking either for at least 5km until I think he got it and pulled past me and went.

Road kill noticed just 2 dead dogs (pretty gruesome) and passed one meandering Thalagoya and 2 other brave doggies who wr oncoming down the shoulder.

The scenery is simply breathtaking... it truly is stunning during the day with changing landscapes, not the same terrain throughout. Coming back at about 6pm getting onto the expressway was beautiful too, with the sunset giving a superb backglow to the treelines.

All in all very very happy with the road, and proud to be Sri Lankan! only downside I see and that maybe just me cos this was my first experience driving on a road like this - the drive is not relaxing... you can't relax, I guess cos of the speed u really have to keep ur senses on edge, but I suppose you can always drive around 60-80 then.

Looking through the posts and all the safety tips, might I add to check your wiperblades, cos visibility can be pretty badly impaired if you get the slightest streaking on the windshield.

Hope everyone had a rocking 31st and best wishes for 2012!