Lake Drive debacle 

To give a brief history, Lake Drive was a bylane, like any other in Rajagiriya, with a dead end.  It is a fashionable neighbourhood, boasting of quite a few big names living there. Ex-CJs, ex-ministers, MPs and party leaders, ex-military officers , ex- LTTEers, to name a few. Royal Park, Sri Lanka’s first ever luxury condominium, popped up there, drawing as many as 250 families to make it their home. When the pre 2015 government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, under the relentless leadership of Gotabaya as the head of the UDA, earmarked it for developing it as a thorough road, as expected, there was strong resistance from the powerful residents. But, typical Gota style, nothing/nobody could stop him and as expected, it got developed, beautified, and, most importantly, connected, to many main roads, from the other end, like Kirimandala Mawatha, Narahenpita Road, Kirula Road, Baseline Road, Nawala Road, etc. Making a huge short cut and time saving, not just for the residents, but all motorists who want to bypass busy junctions, like the General Cemetery Kanatta junction, Horton Place junction, Kirula junction, Narahenpita junction or Welikada  junction, etc. In 2015, Sri Lanka decided on a new government and though Lake Drive development was too far gone to be halted, it got dragged out, and the residents resentment popped out on it in the form of many a hump that adorn it now, trying to pull it back to the quiet bylane it once was, and stopping it being the major thorough road it was designed to be. I also think the UDA had grand plans for Colombo’s waterways to become transport channels, and the ‘lakes’ of Lake Drive were to play a major part of it. It looks like that idea has been successfully scuttled by construction of giant sluice gates across the waters of the Kinda canal, at the beginning of Lake Drive, for whose purpose is anybody’s guess. Most obvious reason is an attempt to stop flood waters affecting the few big houses down the road!

But, my purpose in writing this is to draw attention to the latest debacle of Lake Drive; the Rajagiriya police in their wisdom, have blocked off the entry to it from Colombo! The whole purpose of its development is brought to a naught by the four simple police cones across its entry, from the Colombo side! The police seem to be keen on keeping the traffic chock-a-block on the main parliament road as long as possible, as they have blocked off the next turn off, too, veritably ensuring all traffic needing to turn off to Lake Drive has to carry on to Welikada junction to turn back and join the traffic coming back all the way to Lake Drive again. At peak times, this is an addition of 30- 45 minutes to all who wants to use Lake Drive as an end destination, or a bypass to other parts of Colombo. Millions spent developing and widening its bridges, constructing pavements, extending them, is a waste of money with the police action of blocking it off. Since there are two roads, on either side of the lake, connected with a bridge, further down Lake Drive, it can be so easily made one-way entry and exit roads. With the busy pedestrian crossing in the middle of these two roads, it can be timed and coordinated to perfection and made into a very smooth junction if only the police have the capacity to see the possibilities as well as  the intention of easing traffic off the main Battaramulla/ parliament road. But they seem to be dense or uncaring in their traffic management. There are many police officers manning this stretch of the road, with Ayurveda junction as the hub, but none of them are coordinated and they actually create a jam. Also by not allowing traffic to turn right to Battaramulla from Lake Drive, which can be easily done there, a huge jam is created at the Ayurveda junction in the morning, squeezing it tight with all the vehicles from Lake Drive crossing to the right lane and going the 100 meters to turn back towards Battaramulla at the Ayurveda junction.  I hope this will catch the eye of some city planner/traffic police authority and Lake Drive will be made use of, not blocked off, to ease traffic from the main arterial roads as it was intended by its massive development.

Citizen S