After many false starts, Sri Lanka appointed China Metallurgical Construction Corporation (MCC), to design and build the expressway, after the Chinese Exim Bank agreed to fund it through a soft loan.
Costing around 200 million dollars, the 26 kilometer roadway which leads the island's sole international airport, is expected to cut travel time and boost the country's image among arriving investors and tourists.
Once cabinet approves the financial proposal, construction could begin within three months with the road being opened for traffic by 2009.
The 4-lane expressway, is estimated to require around 4-million cubic meters of sand and rubble through the 3-year construction period.
To be operated as a government owned toll road, t