On today (17), the construction of the Kadawatha-Meerigama section of the Central Expressway, which had been halted, officially resumed under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The construction of the Kadawatha interchange and the first 500 meters of the expressway will also commence. The government has allocated 8.6 billion rupees for this project.

Due to the recent economic crisis, the loan facilities allocated for the Kadawatha-Meerigama section were suspended, causing the construction to be halted in mid-2022.

While the second section of the Central Expressway, from Meerigama to Kurunegala, has been completed, the construction of the Kadawatha-Meerigama section was suspended in mid-2022 due to the economic crisis and the resulting suspension of loan facilities.

It is reported that a Yuan loan equivalent to 500 million US dollars from the Export-Import Bank of China has been approved for the resumption of this expressway’s construction.

The entire expressway project is expected to be completed by mid-2028. The distance between Kadawatha and Meerigama on this section of the road is 37 kilometers.