The 95 kilometre southern expressway, linking the capital Colombo with the southern port town of Galle, is designed for 100 kilometres per hour speeds and will sharply cut travel time and cost.
A Japanese embassy statement said the 95km long section from Kottawa, a Colombo suburb, to Pinnaduwa in Galle, was co-financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Asian Development Bank.
"It will contribute to growth of tourism, better logistics, mitigation of traffic congestion, and then regional economic development.
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Initially only a manually operated toll system will be used for collection of road-tolls, payable at exit, based on the distance travelled on the access-controlled four-lane expressway.
"The system will be expanded to include a touch-and-go card system and ETC (electronic toll collection), which is also financed by JICA, in the near future," the embassy statement said.
Toll plazas and toll office facilities are built at the 11 interchanges for toll col