TRANSPORT PLAN
FOR
AVISSAWELLA TOWN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY & FINAL REPORT
Prepared by:
Transportation Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
Urban Development Authority, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
August 1999 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. BACKGROUND ...... 1
1.1 SCOPE ...... 1
1.2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... 2
1.3 STUDY TEAM ...... 2
2. INTRODUCTION ...... 3
2.1 LOCATION ...... 3
2.2 DEMOGRAPHIC ...... 3
2.3 LAND USE ...... 3
2.4 EMPLOYMENT ...... 6
2.5 ECONOMIC ...... 6
2.6 TRANSPORT ...... 6
2.7 TRAFFIC ...... 6
3. DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS ...... 8
3.1 PREVIOUS STUDIES & REPORTS ...... 8
3.2 TRAFFIC SURVEYS ...... 8
3.3 PUBLIC TRANSPORT SURVEYS ...... 9
3.4 SURVEYS ON TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS OF INDUSTRIAL ESTATES ...... 12
3.5 ROAD NETWORK DETAILS ...... 13
3.6 VEHICLE OWNERSHIP ...... 14
3.6 REGIONAL SOCIOECONOMIC DATA ...... 15
3.7 DATA ON THE SIE & ASSOCIATED DEVELOPMENT ...... 16
4. PRESENT TRANSPORT ISSUES ...... 17
4.1 UNDER-UTILISATION OF THE RAILWAYS ...... 17
4.2 PARKING PROBLEMS IN TOWN CENTRE ...... 18
4.3 INADEQUATE FACILITIES FOR PEDESTRIANS ...... 20
4.4 IMPORTANCE OF BUS TRANSPORT ...... 20 1 4.5 LACK OF PRIORITY FOR BUSES IN TOWN AREA ...... 20
4.6 POOR LAYOUT & FACILITIES AT BUS TERMINALS ...... 23
4.7 POOR ACCESS/MOBILITY FROM CATCHMENT AREA ...... 23
4.8 FLOODING OF MAJOR ROADS ...... 28
4.9 TALDUWA MARKET ...... 28
5. FUTURE ISSUES IN GROWTH & SUSTAINABILITY ...... 29
5.1 ISSUES PERTAINING TO THE LOCATION OF SIE ...... 29
5.2 ACCESS TO THE SIE ...... 29
5.3 ISSUES DUE TO EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES CREATED BY SIE ...... 31
5.4 TRANSPORT & TRAFFIC GENERATION BY SIE ...... 32
5.5 IMPACTS ON TRAFFIC FLOW ...... 35
5.6. BUS ROUTING & TERMINALS ...... 36
APPENDIX I: TRAFFIC SURVEYS ...... 1
APPENDIX II : BUS ROUTES OPERATED BY AVISSAWELLA RTC DEPOT ...... 6
APPENDIX III: BUS TRANSPORT SURVEYS ...... 7
APPENDIX IV: SURVEY FORM USED FOR TRAVEL DETAILS OF INDUSTRIAL ESTATE WORKERS ...... 10
APPENDIX V: VEHICLE MOVEMENTS OBSERVED AT BIYAGAMA FTZ ...... 13
APPENDIX VI: SOCIOECONOMIC & TRANSPORT DETAILS BY GRAMA NILADARI DIVISION (1999) ...... 16
APPENDIX VII: ASSOCIATED DEVELOPMENTS OF SIE ...... 18
APPENDIX VIII : SKETCHES OF INTERSECTION IMPROVMENTS FOR AVISSAWELLA TOWN AREA ...... 20
2 LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1: LOCATION OF AVISSAWELLA ...... 4
FIGURE 2: THE CATCHMENT AREA FOR AVISSAWELLA AS DEFINED BY THE UDA ...... 5
FIGURE 3: ROAD NETWORK IN AVISSAWELLA TOWN AREA ...... 7
FIGURE 4: BUS SERVICES OPERATED FROM AVISSAWELLA...... 11
FIGURE 5: SIE & PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS ...... 16
FIGURE 6: PARKING PROBLEMS IN AVISSAWELLA TOWN CENTRE ...... 18
FIGURE 7: HOURLY PARKING DEMAND AT AVISSAWELLA TOWN CENTRE (12 HOUR AVERAGE BY LINK) ...... 19
FIGURE 8: 12 HOUR PEDESTRIAN FLOW AT AVISSAWELLA TOWN CENTRE 21
FIGURE 9: BUS TERMINAL, MOVEMENTS AND STOPS ...... 22
FIGURE 10: RTC BUS TERMINAL AND TRADE ACTIVITIES WITHIN TERMINAL AREA ...... 24
FIGURE 11: PRIVATE BUS TERMINAL WITH POOR PEDESTRIAN/BUS INTERFACE ...... 25
FIGURE 12: FLOODING ON TRUNK ROADS ...... 27
FIGURE 13: TALDUWA POLA AND ITS IMPACT ON ROAD TRAFFIC ...... 28
FIGURE 14: LOCATION OF SIE ...... 30
FIGURE 15: TRAVEL THRESHOLD BASED CATCHMENT AREA FOR SIE ...... 33
3 LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 1: BUSES LEAVING AVISSAWELLA AND BOARDING OF PASSENGERS BY ROUTE AND OPERATOR ...... 9
TABLE 2: SUMMARY OF BUS SERVICE PENETRATION BY GND ...... 12
TABLE 3: MODES OF TRAVEL TO WORK AND THEIR ATTRIBUTES ...... 13
TABLE 4: TRAVEL ATTRIBUTES OF EMPLOYEES (ONE-WAY TRAVEL) ...... 13
TABLE 5: SUMMARY OF ROAD LENGTHS IN CATCHMENT AREA ...... 13
TABLE 6: FLOODING ON TRUNK ROADS ...... 14
TABLE 7: VEHICLE OWNERSHIP RATES ...... 15
TABLE 8: TRENDS IN GROWTH OF VEHICLE FLEET (1992-98) ...... 15
TABLE 9: BUS & RAIL PASSENGERS IN THE COLOMBO DIRECTION AT AVISSAWELLA ...... 17
TABLE 10: ROAD DENSITY OF CATCHMENT AREA BY COMPARISON WITH OTHER AREAS ...... 26
TABLE 11: ESTIMATES OF TRAVEL TO WORK FOR SIE ...... 34
TABLE 12: TRAFFIC GENERATION FROM SIE & ASSOCIATED DEVELOPMENTS ...... 34
4 Abbreviations
RTC : Regional Transport Company SIE : Seethawaka Industrial Estate IMC-CPT : Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Co-ordination & Planning of Transport CMR : Colombo Metropolitan Region AHN : Avissawella – Hatton – Nuwara Eliya NCC : New Commercial Centre UDA : Urban Development Authority RDA : Road Development Authority MID : Ministry of Industrial Development WPRTA : Western Province Road Transport Authority ATC : Avissawella Town Council WPC : Western Provincial Council DSD : Divisional Secretariat Division FTZ : Free Trade Zone PCU : Passenger Car Unit
5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY & ACTION PLAN
The Transport Plan for the Avissawella Town Development has been compiled after a comprehensive study and analysis of the existing and future transport issues. This report discusses the Transport Plan with respect to: • Identifying Issues • Recommending Solutions • Action Plan for Implementation
The following issues have been identified with respect to the transport problems of Avissawella Town.
Present Issues
Present transport sector issues may be summarised as follows:
1. The railway is presently greatly under utilised. But it does not offer a cost –effective mode of transport to passenger traffic, especially in the face of competition from bus transport which is faster and cheaper. In the case of goods traffic, there is greater potential. However, the level of investment needed to set up loading facilities at the Seethawaka Industrial Estate and the strengthening of track and bridges would be substantial. This may be differed for a longer-term project, contingent on the railway carrying containers elsewhere on its network.
2. Parking is presently a problem, as the demand far exceeds the available off street parking spaces available. Road space required for traffic movement is often taken by parking contributing to traffic congestion.
3. Avissawella is heavily patronised by bus passengers numbering nearly 60,000 movements daily. Over 75% of the passengers are those transferring between buses. This transport function appears to provide a significant proportion of employment opportunities in the Avissawella town. It is an important feature that should be preserved and developed for the future.
4. The layout within the bus terminals, the separation of bus terminals, the facilities for pedestrians, the entry points for buses and the arrangements for bus parking are all very poor both from a functional, as well as aesthetic aspect.
5. The linear development of the commercial areas along the trunk roads has resulted in heavy pedestrian traffic along the main road network. Presently very few facilities exist for pedestrians. Lack of pedestrian sidewalks, crossings and parking of vehicles are problems to the pedestrian travel within the town area.
6. While an extensive bus route network exists centred on Avissawella, the quality of the service on the vast majority of these routes is far from satisfactory to provide reliability in travel for those living in the surrounding areas. Most routes have less than 5 scheduled trips per day. Most of these routes are uneconomical to operate. Due to its social commitments and political pressure for the RTCs to operate many uneconomical routes, even the scheduled trips cannot be operated satisfactorily as more and more buses are deployed for new services. As opposed to the RTCs, the private sector is concentrated on the profitable and popular routes.
i
7. Bus travel is slow due to poor operating practises, including the non-adherence to time tables and the poor condition of roads.
8. There are several locations on the A7 and one location on the A4, which go under water on a regular basis. While some of these occur for major floods other become impassable even for minor floods.
Future Issues
The existing transport issues and new issues created by the operation of the Seethawaka Industrial Estate (SIE) and its associated developments will give rise to a number of problems wherein growth and sustainability in and around Avissawella, would be in conflict. The growth in development is anticipated to create the following transport related issues in the future.
1. The location of the SIE within an urban area and close to a major nodal point in the national trunk road system has advantages for the success of the SIE. It also has problems relating to creating congestion on the road system in its immediate neighbourhood, to an extent that its own success could eventually lead to its downfall.
2. The present transport network in and around Avissawella, which is formed by the road system and the public transport services appears incapable of attracting the desired number of employees. This is because, the catchment area based on a maximum two hour travel to work threshold, appears smaller than that defined by the UDA in its Avissawella Town Development Plan.
3. It is similar closer to the trunk roads, but is much smaller in areas where transport facilities are poor. This raises a number of questions regarding the access to the very areas in which present accessibility is low and higher unemployment can be anticipated. Thus it is most probable that large parts of the catchment area wherein actual unemployment occurs will still remain inaccessible to the SIE and the opportunities it will create.
4. In order to enable full employment at the SIE, it is apparent that transport network should be improved to increase the extent of the geographic area covered in the travel to work threshold for prospective employees to the SIE. This requires improvement in the road network as well as the bus service.
5. In addition, some effort should be taken to facilitate and encourage hostels and lodging places both within walking distances of up to 2 kms from the entrances of the SIE and within commuting distances of up to 10 kms.
6. The overall vehicular traffic generated by the activity of the SIE will result in a predominantly bus based, travel to work peak period and an overall increase in vehicular activity due to the operations of the factories including the movement of freight vehicles. In addition to these, there would also be the traffic generated by the secondary impacts based on the increased indirect employment created in the town area.
7. The total traffic generated by the SIE and the associated indirect employment is estimated at over 3,600 pedestrian movements, 3,000 bicycle trips, 1,500 smaller motorised vehicles and over 750 heavy vehicles including 25 containers per day.
ii 8. The impact on the traffic flow under the ‘ do-nothing’ approach will be several. These are:
(i). The creation of a peak traffic flow period based on the travel to work feature and the resulting traffic congestion.
(ii). An overall increase of 50% in traffic levels at the Kudagama junction on the A4 trunk road and a 150% increase during a peak period of one-hour. This will cause some delays throughout the day and cause severe congestion during the peak periods.
(iii). The traffic flow in the town area is estimated to increase by around 200% in general, with a phenomenal 500% increase during the evening peak. A minimum of three lanes of traffic flow is required to accommodate this flow. Considerable widening of both road sections and intersections would be required in the town centre.
(iv). The parking spaces required, which is already unavailable, will be further aggravated with parking demand set to increase by 100%. Off street parking spaces would be required in order to enable a better utilisation of available road space for traffic circulation.
(v). The interruptions to long-distance travel can be minimised by improving facilities between the Kudagama junction and Rest House junction. If so, traffic on the Colombo-Ratnapura road will have minimal effects due to the SIE. However, there would be a significant increase in delays to the traffic on Colombo-Hatton road as well as traffic proceeding to Kegalle and Nittambuwa.
(vi). The facilities for pedestrians, which are very poor at present, will become even more urgent when pedestrian activity, also increases by 100%. There is also a danger of high pedestrian flows between the bus terminal and the SIE if local feeder buses do not run direct to the SIE and terminates at the town centre, as is the present practice.
A summary of the impacts and their intensities is given as follows:
Present Future w/o SIE With SIE 1998/99 2000/1 Population of A’wela Town 22,000 27,500 Jobs in A’wela Town 3,000 32,000 Vehicles in Hanwella DSD 5,821 9,000 Peak hr. Bus Movement 170 250 -350 Peak hr. Traffic Flow at Junctions 1,460 to 2,470 3,400 to 5,000 Hourly Pedestrian Movements 2,205 3,500 to 12,000 Hourly Parking Demand 130 spaces 200 spaces Traffic Speeds in Town 15 to 20 kms/hr. 5 – 10 kms/hr.
Summary of Transport & Traffic Impacts Due to the SIE
9. The nature of the bus terminal operations would change significantly from having 75% transfers at present to 50% transfers. This would cause some conflict in operations between the local feeder routes necessary for the SIE and the feeder/transfer interchange for other trips.
iii RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations are made in order to satisfactorily address, the transport- related issues that exist at present are anticipated to aggravate with the SIE and its associated developments.
Submission of Transport Action Plan to IMC-CPT
In order to proceed with the implementation of recommendations, it would be important for the UDA to submit the Transport Action Plan to the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Co- ordination & Planning of Transport (IMC-CPT) for further study (where necessary), funding, design and construction. It would be most advantageous for a special committee to be appointed to formulate a strategic approach to implement the proposed Transport Action Plan for Avissawella Town. Alternatively, it could be taken up under the new Committee for Infrastructure Development set up for the CMR.
Two Entry Points to SIE
It is clear that the SIE requires two entry access points. While certain custom facilities and staffing would have to be increased, the benefits of having two access points are several fold. These can be listed as it:
(a) Reduces the travel time to work by at least 15 minutes for almost one half of all prospective employees. This process would also significantly increase the employee catchment area, which appears inadequate at present.
(b) Enables buses to ply direct up to the gates of the SIE without having to enter the town area thus reducing travel time of employees even further.
(c) Provides an access point to the Talduwa- Meewitigammana- Amithirigala- Nittambuwa- Katunayake road for direct access to the airport without having to go through the congested Avissawella town centre.
(d) Provides more productivity for a shuttle service within the SIE.
New By-Pass Road & Bridge
A site for a new bridge has been tentatively chosen by the RDA across from site E13 of the SIE at its north-east corner. This bridge is then be connected to the Talduwa- Meewitigammana- Amithirigala - Nittambuwa road at around the 4th km post. This would be useful for the purpose of freight transport to the port via the Kandy Road as well as to the airport. In the case of passenger transport, the preliminary analysis of population distribution and access indicates that the commuting work force would come in near equal numbers from the directions of Dehiowita, Amithirigala, Pugoda, Thunmodara, Eheliyagoda and Hanwella.
This particular bridge and road as proposed by the RDA would therefore, be useful only to one of the six catchment areas. Moreover, it will not help in adding capacity to the town road network as only the traffic into the SIE from the Amithirigala direction could use this bridge.
It is further proposed to connect this bridge to the Kudagama Road via the peripheral road, which runs around the boundary of the SIE. But this road has extremely poor alignment and iv is only 2 ½ to 4 metres wide. In addition, the length of around 2-3 kms will not be attractive to by pass traffic. The alternatives of a new trace to Kudagama Road around the SIE, instead of the existing peripheral road also does not seem feasible as the density of housing is high in this area. The other alternative of a new road trace along the river bank road to Kudagama road and widening of the latter will be expensive as all of that terrain would be on a flood plain.
The study has investigated an alternative trace that would achieve ∑ better distribution of access to the SIE; ∑ better redistribution of traffic on the road network in the town area; ∑ provide an alternate route to the flood prone sections of the Hatton (AHN) road and ∑ provide a better framework for town development.
In this study it is recommended that a bridge be located across the Seethawaka Ganga around 100 metres due south of the Kelani Valley Club which is around 900 metres from the Talduwa junction on the Amithirigala Road.
It is then more amenable to use as a by-pass by the traffic on the Dehiowita road. This trace can then run around the south east corner of the SIE (where the recommended 2 nd gate could be located) and thereafter follow the 50 feet contour line to reach the rear of the Avissawella Base Hospital on the Weralupitiya Road.
This section is around 1.5 kms in length and would cost almost the same as the access proposed by the RDA opposite site E13. There are no houses to be visible on this stretch. Around 300 metres of this section is in flood level, while the rest can be managed with cut and fill to the most part. The Weralupitiya end of this recommended by-pass has hospital land and an existing road with sufficient right of way for a well-designed standard two-lane road.
A further eastwards extension to this new link is possible by following the same 50 foot contour either along the northern side or southern sides of the hill known as Kiriammalakanda to meet the Dehiowita Road (A7) at around the 3 rd km post. The length of such a road would be around 3-4 kms and is located mostly through bare land or rubber plantations and does not appear to affect more than five or six houses at most. This new link would then form a by-pass of the most flood prone locations of the AHN and also divert a substantial portion of traffic away from the Avissawella Town centre.
These two new road links proposed in this study will also create the opening up of important land areas necessary for housing and other services in and around the SIE. For example, a triangle formed by the new link between the Amithirigala Road, Dehiowita Road and the New Road would be excellent for housing. Furthermore, the land lying south to this new road and just North of the present Town Centre is presently very poorly accessible. It would then provide vital access for towns centre expansion so that the continuity of the present town also remains. Furthermore, it provides an excellent linkage to the proposal for the New Commercial Centre, since it then creates an important intersection in the trunk road network close to the proposed development centre.
From a consideration of public transport operations also, this is a highly advantageous recommendation, since buses operating in the Dehiowita and Amithirigala directions can then approach the town via the SIE and the New Commercial Centre.
Hence, a New by Pass Road Trace & Bridge as outlined above and given in the Figure I is recommended to achieve the following;
v (a) Provide an additional access to the SIE, which would split its traffic in a manner, that traffic, levels at both Kudagama Junction as well as on the town road network is reduced greatly.
(b) Provide a by-pass to traffic from Colombo direction proceeding on the Hatton Road, Kegalle Road and towards Nittambuwa on the Talduwa-Meewitigammana Road.
(c) By providing the by-pass on a contour above the major flood level, the impacts due to flooding on the A4 can be minimised to a great extent.
(d) The by-pass will also enable some buses to be re-routed in order to provide services directly to the SIE without entering the town centre.
(e) The by-pass will open up land presently inaccessible to provide planned expansion of the town area so that the present town area can be sustained.
Spread Work Shifts at the SIE
Shift work at the SIE would also contribute to reducing the congestion at Kudagama junction as well as in the town area, since the traffic peaks can then be spread over a longer period so that the impact is minimised. This would be of special benefit in the evening peak. It is recommended that the morning start times at the SIE vary from 6:00 am to 9:00 in steps of 15 minutes or half hour. In this manner both themorning travel to work peak as well as that of the evening, would be spread over three hours. Otherwise, the sharp travel to work peaks can have a very heavy and dispruptive impact on the traffic flow.
Provide Internal Transport Services within the SIE.
The SIE coves an extent of 168 ha. The centre of the premises is located around 2 kms from the main gate. The furthest factories are over 3 kms from the gate. This distance is further than what is comfortable to walk for the employees. Unless internal transport facilities are provided within the SIE, employees would not arrive in a condition fit to work. Walking 1-2 kms also takes 15-30 mts., which is a large slice of the travel time threshold. Therefore, two separate proposals are made in this report:
Internal Shuttle Bus Service
Of the 20,000 employees, it may be assumed that about 20% would be willing to walk to their factories. The balance 16,000 would require approximately, 240 bus trips at an average load of 75 passengers per bus. If an average round trip time takes 15 mts., then one bus can undertake four trips per hour. On this basis, if the factories were all to commence within one hour, a bus fleet of 60 would be required.
If there are two entrances, this would reduce much further with only around 12,000 needing internal transport. The buses too could carry passengers in both directions. Even if round trip time increases to 20 minutes, then the fleet size reduces to about 30 buses.
vi Figure I : Trace for Recommended By-Pass and New Bridge (and New Bus Terminal)
vii This too may be too much of an undertaking. In which case, spreading of shift work as recommended, should be considered where the start times are spread over three hours or so. In this case, the bus fleet size would reduce to about 10 buses.
Popularise Bicycle Travel
An alternative and complementary proposal would be to encourage bicycle travel. Since the topography is conducive for this, it is expected that a reasonable percentage of employees would take up to cycling, which would solve both the external and internal transport problems. In this respect, the SIE could take some positive steps to popularise bicycling, as it is often considered as befitting in status or unacceptable for women. Making soft loans available for purchase of bicycles and providing for parking facilities would strongly encourage bicycle use.
Another variation of this recommendation would be to provide bicycles for internal travel only. This would be actually as an alternative to providing a bus service. Specially designed bicycles could be freely made available within the SIE for internal travel. They can be conspicuously designed and painted such that they cannot be ridden outside.
New Bus Terminal Near SIE/Hospital/NCC
With the SIE and the associated developments, it is clear that the basic pattern of bus passenger activity at Avissawella would change considerably. It would change from a predominantly transfer (transit) point to an end-point. It was previously pointed out, that in order to maintain both functions, it appears most advantageous to have another terminal in close proximity to the SIE. The vicinity of the hospital, which is already a major attractor of bus passenger trips and the proposed New Commercial Centre (NCC) would make it a logical choice. To begin with, the terminal would be mostly used during the peak periods of the SIE. As other developments take place, the terminal would become used throughout the day.
The proposed New Bus Terminal could be most advantageously used, if the by-pass recommended is also constructed. In this case, passengers and buses would have a built in incentive to using the new terminal and thereby avoid travel through the busy town centre.
Therefore, locating the New Bus Terminal off Weralupitiya Road and by the side of the Hospital would be most strategic. This location would be at the centre of a triangle between the SIE, the hospital and the proposed New Commercial Centre.
However, if the New Bus Terminal were to be located at Manikkawatta as proposed by the UDA, it would be used only by the SIE employees and would in all probability become a peak period terminal only.
The present bus routes would also have to be re-routed accordingly. A tentative proposal is a given below, noting that while these are general routing patterns some routes would have to be split up to start from both terminals.
viii Service /Route Terminal Local Buses • Colombo Road At Town Centre with roadside stop near Railway Station • Horana Road At Town Centre with roadside stop near Railway Station • Kegalle Road At Town Centre but passing through the New Bus Terminal • Hatton Road At Town Centre but passing through the New Bus Terminal • Meewitigammana Road At Town Centre but passing through New Bus Terminal • Ratnapura Road At New Bus Terminal and passing through town. Long Distance Buses • Starting at Avissawella At Town Centre with roadside stop near Railway Station. • Passing Through A’wella Stops at Town Centre Proposed Re-routing with New Bus Terminal
Redesign Present Bus Terminal
The present bus stand needs immediate attention to provide its users a decent level of service. The two stands that are presently separated should be combined, with well- designed access and bus circulation patterns. The platforms should be located to facilitate the easy transfer between buses, which would continue to be a predominant function at this bus terminal.
The commercial activity should be separated from the bus-side of the terminal so that pedestrians and bus movements are separated and conflicts avoided. With the availability of adequate land, much scope exists for a functionally well designed bus terminal to be constructed here.
In this respect, special attention should also be given to the ease of access that buses need to enter the terminal. It is recommended that a single two-way access road be built from the bus terminal to the Ratnapura-Colombo by-pass road, as shown in the following figure. This would enable buses plying on both the Ratnapura and Colombo Roads to enter and leave the terminal without travel through the one-way gyratory road system at the centre of the town.
Road Side Bus Stop Near Railway Station
A roadside bus stop of three-bus length should be designed and constructed in each direction of travel opposite the Railway Station premises. The space available from the former road trace as well as that below the Railway Station can be utilised for this purpose.
Due to the terrain of this location, a pedestrian overpass, rather than an underpass seems most appropriate.
ix Figure II : Redesign of Present Bus Terminal and Proposed Parking Areas
x
Figure III : Terrain at Proposed Over Pass Near Bus Stop Opposite Railway Station
Provide Off-Street Parking
The parking requirement for the Avissawella Town appears to be around 250 spaces in the short term. In the long-term, with increasing vehicle ownership it would be necessary to plan for at least 400 spaces. However, the space available for parking is limited. The following locations are recommended (Figure II).
(i) The space presently used as the RTC bus terminal; the private bus terminal and the Bus Park need to be redeveloped. In this process, it would be possible to provide around 100 spaces of parking.
(ii) State land between the Ratnapura Road and the existing by pass to the immediate east of the bus park could also be converted in part as commercial space, with at least another 50 spaces added.
(iii) The New Commercial centre should have adequate parking, so that businesses that require parking facilities can be relocated to the New Commercial Centre. This area should have at least 100 car parking spaces.
(iv) Newly approved constructions have parking space in front that is often unutilised because of the convenience of using on-street parking. At least 50 such parking spaces exist. The owners should be asked to begin to use them.
(v) A total of 50 three wheeler-parking spaces should be provided at the periphery of the bus terminals.
(vi) A further 50 on-street parking spaces for three wheelers should be located where there is space (such as at the Rest House junction, railway Station Junction, Kudagama Junction etc). xi
Most importantly, on-street parking should be progressively banned. Otherwise there would be no incentive for encouraging and implementing off-street parking.
The immediate vicinity of the bus stand should be completely free of on street parking, so that bus-priority can be provided for improving bus and pedestrian movements.
Road and Intersection Improvements for Town Centre
The road and intersection improvements required for the towns centre without a by-pass (as recommended) would be extremely severe. However, given that a by-pass would be constructed, it would be possible to maintain an acceptable traffic flow within the town area with the following improvements. Sketches of each of these improvements are given in Appendix
• Widening of Colombo Road to a Four Lane Facility between Kudagama Junction and the Rest House Junction.
This would be the section with the highest flow. Furthermore, the improved facility would give the long-distance travel a better facility up to the Rest House Junction, from which point, the existing By-pass would provide adequate capacity. This section is 400 metres in length and the land required for widening is fully State owned. A centre median with well-designed pedestrian and bicycle facilities would make it functional and safe.
• Signalise Kudagama Junction
The Kudagama Junction would require signalising due to the increased traffic flow, the heavy turn movements are the movement of a large number of heavy vehicles including an estimated 50 container truck movements a day. Some widening is required on the Colombo direction up to a distance of 50 metres to accommodate a turning lane. A width of 3 metres on either side would be adequate (Sketch 1 of Appendix VIII).
• Signalise or Mini Roundabout at Rest House Junction
The Rest House Junction would also have more flow than what can be handles in its present state. As shown in Sketch 2 of Appendix VIII, a mini roundabout could be constructed if it provides an acceptable level of service. If not, this junction too would have to be signalised.
• Channellise Buddha Statute Junction
This junction has adequate capacity but requires chanellisation by providing a centre triangle for a one-way gyratory flow pattern. This is given in Sketch 3 of Appendix VIII
• Channellise Bank of Ceylon Junction
This junction which is similar to the Buddha Statue Junction also requires a similar improvement using chanellisation. This is shown in Sketch 4 of Appendix VIII.
xii
• Improve Turning Radius at Bus Stand Junction
The Bus Stand Junction has a sharp turn for movement from Colombo to Ratnapura. This corner has to be widened up to 6 metres from its present position (Sketch 5 of Appendix VIII).
• Safety Improvements at Police Station Junction
This junction has adequate capacity, but is a vulnerable location for accidents. A safety related improvement should be undertaken with some widening as shown in Sketch 6 of Appendix VIII.
Road Improvements for Increasing Catchment Area
It was shown earlier that the travel to work threshold of one and half-hours does not cover an adequate geographical area that would ensure that the required number of employees for the SIE would be found within this area. One solution to overcome this problem is to improve the road network so that the travel speeds would improve, such that a bus speeds can improve and that employees from further away can commute to work.
In this respect all the trunk roads leading to Avissawella are in generally acceptable condition. The Talduwa- Meewitigammana road is presently been rehabilitated to improve travel speeds significantly. However, most of the Provincial and Local Authority Roads remains in poor condition. Hence, the most strategic improvements should be to the Provincial Council Roads, as they are the ones on which the feeder bus services operate. While lack of maintenance is a frequent occurrence, most roads also have severe design problems such as sharp bends, insufficient crossing facilities, poor culverts etc.
The roads listed in the following table and shown in the Figure IV, are recommended for improvement on the basis that an improved road would be within walking distance (i.e. within 1.5 kms) to most villages. Such improvements should include:
• Widening of carriageway within existing right of way; • Straightening curves; • Reducing gradients; • Improving drainage; • Improving the riding surface;
Anguruwella – Warakapola Anguruwella – Galigomuwa Ruwanwella – Waharaka Amithirigala – Kirindiwela Puwakpitiya – Labugama Getahetta – Nambapana Eheliyagoda – Kiriella Avissawella – Parakaduwa (via Maniyamwatte) Dehiowita – Digowa (via Deraniyagala) Dehiowita – Eheliyagoda
Roads Recommended for Improvement
xiii The total length of the roads recommended for improvement is around 200 kms. These fall within all the DS Divisions of the Avissawella region.
Bus Service Improvements for Increasing Catchment Area
Over and above the road improvements, bus service improvements will also have a significant impact on the extension of the catchment area. In this regard, the speed of bus travel is of critical importance. Private buses in particular do not adhere to given timetables. They travel at the speed that maximises their revenue. Often this falls to speeds of a bicycle or even less. Present bus travel speeds on Provincial Council Roads, average around 12 km/h. This can only be improved by either (a) more regulation and enforcement of timetables and/or (b) increase of the RTC operations on such routes.
Furthermore, the regulator should ensure that the scheduled ‘first bus’ for the day and the ‘last bus’ for the day are always operated. Often private regulators shun these services, as they cannot get a full compliment of passengers. However, from an economic perspective, it is critical that such services operate so that employee such as at the SIE can regularly attend work. This increases both the access to employment opportunities as well as reliability of reporting for work.
It is further recommended that the services as shown below, can be classified as ‘core services’. Such a service should ensure that the ‘first’ and ‘last’ buses are always operated and that the service frequency especially in the morning and evenings does not reduce to less than three buses per hour. If the RTCs alone are to provide these services, an additional 75 buses would be required for the Avissawella Depot.
Avissawella- Hanwella Avissawella-Colombo Avissawella- Ratnapura Avissawella-Eheliyagoda Avissawella-Warakapola Avissawella-Yatiyantota Avissawella-Hatton Avissawella- Kegalle (via Hettimulla) Avissawella-Galigomuwa Avissawella-Waharaka Avissawella –Urapola (via Amithirigala) Avissawella – Kirindiwela (via Ami thirigala) Avissawella – Pugoda Ferry Avissawella – Pugoda (via Hanwella) Avissawella – Labugama (via Puwakpitiya) Avissawella - Nambapana (via Kalatuwawa) Avissawella - Kiriella (via Eheliyagoda) Avissawella – Parakaduwa (via Maniyamwatte) Avissawella – Deraniyagala ( and Digowa) Dehiowita – Eheliyagoda Proposed Core Bus Services
Reconsideration of Present Proposals
The following recommendations are made with respect to proposals that have been presented for transport in Avissawella. xiv
xv Figure IV : Roads Recommended for Improvement
xvi
• New By-pass for Ratnapura Road A previous study has suggested a by-pass of the Colombo-Ratnapura Road from Puwakpitiya to Getahetta. While this would reduce travel time considerably, its contribution to reducing the traffic impacts at the town centre would be minimal. This proposal should be considered only as a long-term measure.
• Location of New Bridge Site A foundation stone has been placed for a new bridge from the peripheral road that is around the SIE opposite site E13 that is at the north-east corner of the estate. This bridge crossing the Seethawaka Ganga is to be connected by a new road of 2-km length to the Talduwa-Meewitigammana Road at the 4 th km post.
This location is not suitable since:
• The peripheral road is not usable for through traffic, as it is too long, too winding, too narrow and slow. Large vehicles, especially containers would not be able to use it at all.
• The road section connecting the bridge to the Talduwa-Meewitigammana Road is in a flood plane and is likely to go under water even during a minor flood. • The Talduwa-Meewitigammana Road itself will go under water on both sides of this location.
Because of these limitations, the bridge and the proposed site is not recommended. It should be relocated just south of the Kelani valley Sport Club, which is near the 2 nd km on the Talduwa- Meewitigammana Road.
• Use of the Peripheral Road
The peripheral road is located all round the SIE. It follows the boundary of the SIE and is therefore winding. It varies in width from 2.5 metres to around 4 metres. Passing of vehicles is difficult and restricted to a few locations. The total length of this peripheral road is 5 kms. To get to Kudagama junction from the furthest (north-east) corner of the SIE, it is about 5 kms, which takes a good 10-15 mts. even by car.
• Proposed Pedestrian Subway near Railway Station
It has been proposed that a pedestrian subway be constructed opposite the Railway Station. While this location requires a separate pedestrian facility, the terrain of the location indicates that an overpass is more suitable.
• Proposed Bus Terminal near Manikkawatta
The Bus terminal is better located at the centre between the SIE, the hospital and the New Commercial Centre. A possible location exists on the Weralupitiya Road close to the hospital or alternatively, on the new by-pass road.
xvii Figure V : Proposed Core Bus Services
xviii • Construction of Internal Road Network of Manikkawatta
The construction of the internal road network within Manikkawatta should take in to consideration the proposals that have been made in this report. The set of one way roads initially suggested by the UDA does not appear to be feasible with the present proposals. The internal road network should be planned after other decisions with respect to the by-pass and the bus stand are finalised.
• Realignment of Railways
Substantial rail improvements are not recommended in the short-term. Improvements to the railway in the longer term should be accompanied with a strategic plan to increase ridership of passengers and increase carriage of freight.
xix ACTION PLAN
No. Recommendation Description Organisation Responsible 1 Submission of Transport Action Plan For adoption as a plan for implementation UDA 2 Two gates to SIE To plan, design and provide for the operation of two gates at the MID SIE 3 New By-Pass Road & Bridge To plan, design and construct the proposed a New By-Pass RDA Road & bridge 4 Spread Work Shifts a SIE To spread shifts by slightly changing start times of factories MID 5 Provide for a Fleet of Buses for Up to 10 buses would be required for a reasonable operation MID Internal Transport 6 Popularise Bicycle Transport for In order to encourage more workers to use bicycles MID Employees of SIE 7 New Bus Terminal To design, plan, fund and construct a New Bus Terminal close to UDA/ WPRTA the SIE, hospital and NCC 8 Redesign Present Bus Terminal To completely redesign the existing bus terminal UDLIHP 9 Roadside Bus Stop near Railway To design and construct a 3 bus stop UDA/WPRTA Station 10 Provide Off-Street parking Facilities To design and plan for a parking strategy for Avissawella UDA/ATC 11 Road & Intersection Improvements in To design and construct the town centre road network with RDA Town Area improvements to junctions identified and one section for widening 12 Improve Access Roads in Catchment To improve an extent of around 200 kms of identified roads for WPC Area greater speeds 13 Improve Bus Services in Catchment To improve a set of 20 routes to provide core bus services. This WPRTA/ RTC Area requires an additional 75 buses
xx 1. BACKGROUND
The Urban Development Authority (UDA) is engaged in preparing the Avissawella Town Development Plan. This work is undertaken in conjunction with the development of the Seethawaka Industrial Estate (SIE) which ids located within the Avissawella Town are. The University of Moratuwa (UoM) was invited to undertake a study on the transport requirements for the Avissawella Town particularly with respect to issues arising from the SIE. This study follows an earlier study on transport that was part of the Avissawella Town Development Study.
1.1 SCOPE
As per letter of acceptance of this study, the UoM has defined the scope of the study as:
(A) Bus Transport
∑ Bus routing, fleet growth, new routes to meet development needs of Avissawella. ∑ Bus Terminal location, traffic/pedestrian access arrangement and functional design requirements (to inter-face though, feeder and town services)
(B) Rail Transport
∑ Rail service requirements for both passenger and possible goods movements ∑ Rail station redesign requirements (interface with buses, pedestrian and bicycle access, park and ride facilities)
(C) Traffic Management
∑ Control of intersections (type of design) ∑ Control of parking on trunk roads ∑ Control of access of trunk roads (development of service roads, parallel roads, etc.) ∑ Traffic plan for city centre (one way streets, turning restrictions, parking bans, bus stops, pedestrian areas, and pedestrian crossings) ∑ Traffic plan for surrounding areas (residential complex and industrial estate)
(D) Bicycles
∑ Locations and design of bicycle paths through town area, residential and industrial areas.
(E) Pedestrian
∑ Design of pedestrian facilities (sidewalk widths, crossings, pedestrian areas)
(F) Industrial Area
∑ Design of multi mode access facilities to industrial area(pedestrian, bicycle, buses, private vehicles, heavy vehicles)
(g) Parking
∑ Location for general parking areas (with required extent) ∑ Three wheeler . Taxi parks 1 (h) Roads
∑ Widening and other improvements required for roads in Avissawella. ∑ New Road links required ∑ Requirements for development of all roads connecting surrounding areas
(i) Heavy (Goods ) Vehicles
∑ Designation of heavy vehicle routes
1.2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The study acknowledges the support rendered by many officers, without whose assistance the study would have been impossible. Special mention is made of Mr. Prasanna Silva, Director (WP), UDA; Mr. H.A. Dayananda and Mr. Ratnayake, also of the UDA. The contributions made by the following are also gratefully acknowledged; Mr. S.H.M. Samarasinghe, Managing Director (Avissawella RTC Depot); Mr Beneragama of the Ministry of Industrial Development, Mr. H.A. Wickremasinghe, Executive Engineer of the Road Development Authority, the Management of the Biyagama Free Trade Zone, the Divisional Secretary of Hanwella, Mr A. Ramanayake, the Divisional Secretary of Yatiyantota, Mr. R.A.R.K. Ranawake, the Divisional Secretary of Dehiowita, the Divisional Secretary of Deraniyagala, Mr. V.W. Danasena, the Divisional Secretary of Horana, the Divisional Secretary of Ruwanwella, Mr. M. Ranasinghe; the Divisional Secretary of Weke/Dompe, Mr. Premapriya.
1.3 STUDY TEAM
The study was undertaken by Dr. Amal S. Kumarage, Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering of the University of Moratuwa. He was assisted by Mr. Gunatileke Banda, Transport Planner, UDA, Ms M.D.R. P. Jayaratne, Technical Officer, UoM, Mr. Pradeep Nalaka, Research Assistant, UoM and Mr. Gireesha Vidyaratne Research Assistant, Transportation Engineering Division, UoM.
2 2. INTRODUCTION
2.1 LOCATION
The urban area of Avissawella is located 57kms east of Colombo at the periphery of the Western Province. It is situated at the intersection of two of the main roads in the country, the A4 that connects Colombo to Ratnapura and thereafter proceeds eastwards and the A7 that proceeds to Hatton and Nuwera Eliya from Avissawella. It is also connected to Kegalle through the A21 (Figure 1).
The Avissawella Urban Council area is 19.4 sq. kms in extent. It is bounded by the Kelani Ganga to the north and east with the boundary of the Western Province to its west and the Seethawaka Pradeshiya Sabhas to the south. It is made up of 12 administrative wards. The physical development of Avissawella town is concentrated in a core area around the junction of the Colombo-Ratnapura Road and the Avissawella-Hatton Road. It has intermittent ribbon development between the 51 st and 62 nd km post along the Colombo-Ratnapura road and on the Avissawella-Hatton Road up to Talduwa junction.
Avissawella UC area is located within the Hanwella Divisional Secretariat (DS) Division. The UDA has designated a ‘catchment area’ for Avissawella comprising the DS Divisions adjoining the Hanwella DSD. This catchment area is comprised of the nine DSD areas of Hanwella, Weke, Attanagalla, Ruwanwella, Yatiyantota, Dehiowita, Deraniyagala, Eheliyagoda and Horana (Figure 2). It is 1,589 sq. kms in extent.
2.2 DEMOGRAPHIC
The population of Avissawella UC at the last census in 1981 is recorded as 14,147. The population projections by the Department of Census & Statistics and the UDA, estimates it at 25,175 for 1997. It is assumed to increase at a natural growth rate of around 3.3% per annum. The population by the year 2010 would then reach 37,200. The total population of the entire catchment area is estimated at 822,000 in 1994 and set to increase at different rates of growth ranging between 0.09% to 1.67% p.a. The total population of this area is anticipated to increase to 956,000 by 2010.
2.3 LAND USE
According to the land use maps, over two thirds of the land area within the Avissawella UC is under agriculture. Twenty percent is under residential usage, while ten percent is bare and unutilised. The balance land area of less than two percent is put to industrial, recreational and commercial usage. In the case of the wider catchment area, the land use patterns remain relatively unchanged except for a slight increase in residential use and a decrease in bare lands and forest areas.
3 Figure 1: Location of Avissawella
4 Figure 2: The Catchment Area for Avissawella as defined by the UDA
5 2.4 EMPLOYMENT
The UDA has estimated that the unemployment in the catchment region is around 43,000. The unemployed number ranges from 2,000 persons in the relatively smaller DSD of Deraniyagala to over 10,000 in the largest DSD, which is Attanagalla. These figures are also shown in Figure 2.
2.5 ECONOMIC
There is no data on the income distribution in the area.
2.6 TRANSPORT
Avissawella is served by both road and rail transport. Although the Kelani Ganga and Seethawaka Ganga border Avissawella, they are not used extensively for transport. Passenger transport is pre-dominated by bus travel that is provided by the Avissawella Depot of the Sabaragamuwa Bus Company and a number of private operators. Due to its strategic positioning as a transport nodal point, Avissawella is a convenient transfer point to many long-distance bus passengers. There are separate bus terminals for RTC and private buses although in close proximity to each other in Avissawella. It is a transfer point to many commuters between Colombo and Ratnapura Districts.
Private vehicle ownership in the area is still low and mostly confined to the urbanised centres such as Avissawella and Hanwella town limits. Avissawella is served by the Kelani Valley railway line, which was formerly narrow gauge and has been broad gauged in recent times. However, train travel is not popular as only a handful of trains operate. More importantly, the railway alignment is such that travel by train is slow and unattractive to passengers other than those provided with discounted season tickets.
2.7 TRAFFIC
The road system in Avissawella town as shown in Figure 3, is made up of an one way gyratory system at the town centre. These roads range in width between 8 to 12 metres within the core. They generally accommodate one to two lanes of traffic and parking on both sides. Parked vehicles occupy much of the curb length of the roads in the town during the day. A significant proportion of such vehicles is made up of three wheelers, vans and trucks available for hire.
The railway right of way beyond the Avissawella station has been converted to a new road alignment to provide a by-pass of Avissawella Town for the Colombo-Ratnapura Road. This has reduced travel delays on the A4 and has contributed to less traffic in the town centre. However, traffic on A7 is still required to travel through the town centre.
The bus stand, which generates a large amount of traffic, is poorly accessible for both pedestrians and buses. This results in heavy circulation of both buses and pedestrians around the town centre. Moreover, pedestrian activity spills out on to the roads due to the absence of sidewalks and where available, its occupation for vehicle parking and trade- related activities.
6 Figure 3: Road Network in Avissawella Town Area
7 3. DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS
The data required for the transport study of Avissawella was collected from various sources. The details of which are discussed in the following sections.
3.1 PREVIOUS STUDIES & REPORTS
The socio-economic data pertaining to the region in terms of its demographic and land use features was obtained from the Consultancy Report on the Avissawella Town Development Report as well as from the UDA’s report on the SIE. The employment estimates as well as the geographic area used as a ‘catchment’ for such employee was obtained from the UDA report. The same report has been used for estimating of future employment.
3.2 TRAFFIC SURVEYS
Several traffic surveys were carried out in and around Avissawella town. The ‘town’ was considered as the area from Kudagama Junction to the Police Station Junction. A schematic diagram indicating the intersections and links and the numbers assigned for the purpose of the survey is given in Figure 3.
Pedestrian Flows in town area
One hourly pedestrian flow counts were carried out in the town area. The pedestrian flow in both directions on each of the links in the town area was recorded for the daytime period from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The flow observations are given in Table 1 of Appendix I.
Traffic Flow at Intersections in town area
Traffic flows classified by vehicle type and turning movement were observed at each of the intersections in the Avissawella Town. This was based on a single half-hour survey, since detailed data was available from a previous survey. This data is given as Table 2 of Appendix I.
Travel Speeds on Trunk Roads in the area
Travel speed for each km of road from Avissawella town centre was recorded from a single pass under relatively free flow traffic conditions. This is given as Table 3 of Appendix I.
Parking Survey in town area
A survey was conducted to determine the number of vehicles parked in the town centre at one-hour intervals. This was done for each link for the period 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. This gives the demand for parking spaces on an hourly basis. The detailed data is presented in Table 4 of Appendix I.
8 3.3 PUBLIC TRANSPORT SURVEYS
Bus Service Network
There is a wide network of bus routes that radiate from Avissawella. Figure 4 shows the major bus routes from Avissawella. The Avissawella Depot operates around 120 buses per day on 66 routes. The basic route details such as class of service, frequency, distance and travel speed of the services are given in Appendix II.
Bus Passenger Boarding Counts
A 12-hour count was made of all bus passengers boarding in Avissawella. The count was made by identifying the operators type (i.e.: RTC; Private), service type (i.e.; normal, A/C) and the route number. Counts were totalled for every half-hour period. The surveys covered buses starting from Avissawella as well as those that stopped to pick up passengers while passing through. A route wise summary that gives the number of buses leaving the terminals as well as the number of passengers boarding per 24 hours, is given in Table 1. The hourly details and a fuller description of the routes are given in Appendix III.
Routes by Road Buses Starting at Buses Passing Avissawella Avissawella (Pax Boarding) (Pax Boarding) RTC Private RTC Private TOTAL Buses Buses Buses Buses Colombo Road 74 (3,868) 129 (4,222) 41(602) 26 (264) 270 (8,956) Ratnapura Road 59 (2,618) 60 (2,425) 18 (260) 05 (166) 142 (5,469) Hatton Road 123 (4,974) 35 (824) 13 (163) - 171 (5,961) Kegalle Road 80 (3,056) 54 (1,326) - - 134 (4,382) Amithirigala Road 49 (2,227) 23 (754) - - 72 (2,981) Horana Road 50 (1,906) 23 (131) - 73 (2,037) TOTAL 435 (18,649) 324 (9,682) 72 (1,025) 31 (430) (862) 29,786
Table 1: Buses Leaving Avissawella and Boarding of Passengers by Route and Operator
The total bus movements on each of the principal routes are shown in Table 1. Accordingly, a total of 862 buses leave the bus terminal carrying a total of 29,786 passengers every day. The overall share of passengers carried by the private buses is only around 34% (although the national average is estimated at around 50%). As seen from the above table private operators mostly serve the popular routes, while the RTC buses serve both the popular as well as the uneconomical routes.
Bus Passenger Origin-Destination Surveys
Interviews of boarding passengers were made during the 12-hour period of the boarding counts. A total of 1,010 completed survey forms were obtained from this survey. This represents a sample size of 3.4% of all passenger boardings. The one-way origin- destination matrix is given as Table 1 of Appendix III, while the two-way –balanced matrix is given as Table 2 of the same appendix. The sample survey also showed that 34% of bus passenger trips were home based work trips as opposed to the balance being other trips. 9
10 Figure 4: Bus Services Operated from Avissawella.
11 Bus Service Penetration
A survey form completed by each Divisional Secretariat with assistance from Grama Niladaris was used to obtain the penetration of the bus service at the village level. This was measured by asking if the DSD was served by a bus service. The summary of this data is given in Table 2 below. # of Bus Service DSD # of GND Households Population % of % of HH's (HHs) GND's Weke 24 29,665 129,920 n/a n/a Hanwella 104 30,721 124,129 95% 94% Deraniyagala 26 11,213 50,503 77% 79% Dehiowita 39 18473 77,087 79% 83% Ruwanwella 38 13,185 64,916 89% 89% Yatiyantota 32 12,268 58,349 88% 89% Horana 92 31,0 32 141,907 75% 77% Table 2: Summary of Bus Service Penetration by GND
Railway Passenger Counts
Information on general use of the railway was obtained from the Avissawella Railway Station.
3.4 SURVEYS ON TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS OF INDUSTRIAL ESTATES
The travel requirement to an industrial estate has three primary attributes. These are:
• Employee Commuting to Work • Heavy vehicle Traffic • Other vehicular Traffic
These are discussed as follows:
Employee Commuting Patterns
A survey was made of the commuting patterns of industrial estate workers. For this purpose, 209 samples were collected from the Biyagama Free Trade Zone and a further 114 samples from the factories operational at the SIE. The officials at the zone administered the survey at Biyagama, while the study team administered the SIE survey. The form used for this survey is given in Appendix IV.
The questionnaire covered the distance, mode, cost and time for travel as well as information on the nature of abode and additional costs of temporary residence. The summary of results from the survey is given in Table 3 and 4.
12 Mode Percentage Mean Distance Mean Travel Mean Speed Using (kms) Time (mts.) (km/h) Walk Only 1.5 24.2 3.8 Bicycle Only 2.3 13.8 10.0 Bus 10.6 44.3 14.4 Van 9.4 34.2 16.5 Total 9.7 58.2 10.0 Table 3: Modes of travel to work and their attributes
Boarders Others Percentage of Employees One-way Distance 4.2 kms 10.5 kms One -way Travel Time 38.5 mts. 58.7 mts. Monthly Travel Expenditure Rs. 87 Rs. 380 Additional Living Expenditure Rs. 1822 n/a Table 4: Travel Attributes of Employees (one-way travel)
Traffic Generation A survey was carried out to observe the traffic generated at the Biyagama Free Trade Zone. The daily average vehicular movements to and from the zone, together with the comparative numbers of employees and factories are given in Appendix V. It was observed that the Biyagama FTZ which employees 25,000 in 61 factories generates on average 1,569 vehicle trips per day represented by 1,872 passenger car units (PCUs).
3.5 ROAD NETWORK DETAILS
Road Details in each Grama Niladari Division.
The details of all roads within each Grama Niladari Division were collected in terms of surface type, agency responsible for maintenance and length of road. The roads ranged from A to E Class roads. A summary of these by DS Divisions is given in Table 4. It appears that the ‘catchment area’ h would have a total road extent of about 1,000 kms of metalled road and 700 kms of gravel road (without counting the estate roads). By comparison with national statistics, the road density appears to be average for the Western Province and well above the national average. Road Length (km) A & B (RDA) C, D & E Roads (PC) Other Roads (PS) DSD pop km) km) Road Road Road Road Density Density Total Total Total Metal Metal Gravel Gravel kms/1000 Area (sq. kms/sq.km Population Metal Metal Metal Metal Gravel Gravel Gravel Gravel
Deraniyagala 0 38.0 50.6 9.0 10.0 63.0 60.6 123.6 50,503 126.7 2.4 1.0 16.0
Dehiowita 0 26.8 0 24.4 65.3 98.4 65.3 163.7 77,087 186.6 2.1 0.9 47.2
Yatiyantota 0 92.8 22.4 N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a 58,349 291.5 N/a N/a 92.8
Ruwanwella 0 97.3 4.8 48.5 95.5 178.4 100.3 278.7 64,916 144.7 4.3 1.9 32.6
Weke 136.2 0 81.8 275.3 264.2 275.3 53 9.4 129,920 175.9 4.2 3.1 46.2 0 Horana N/a N/a 86.7 0 13.5 0.9 N/a N/a N/a 141,907 266.6 N/a Table 5: Summary of Road Lengths in Catchment Area
Intersections
13 Road geometric details were obtained from each of the intersections in the town area.
Flooding
The different section of each trunk road, which gets flooded regularly, was identified for the study by the Executive Engineer of the RDA at Avissawella. The duration of flooding and flood depth were also obtained. The locations where such flooding occurs on the trunk roads are given in Table 6.
Roads/kms Location Major Floods Minor Floods Hatton Rd (2 nd kms) Talduwa <10 feet & up to 3-4 < 2 feet & up to 1 day Amithirigala Rd (0- 4 kms) days Hatton Road ( 3 rd km) Talduwa < 1 feet & up to 12 No Flooding hours Hatton Rd ( 6 th km) Dehiowita < 1 feet & up to 12 No Flooding hours Hatton Rd (8 th km) Dehiowita < 6 feet & up to 12 < 3 feet & up to 4 hours hours Hatton Rd ( 12 th km) Ruwanwella < 2feet & up to 12 < ½ feet & up to 4 hours hours Colombo Rd (54 th kms) Puwakpitiya < 2 feet & up to 1 hour No Flooding
Table 6: Flooding on Trunk Roads
3.6 VEHICLE OWNERSHIP
Vehicle Ownership Rates in the Region
The number of vehicles licensed by each type of vehicle was obtained from the nine DS Division offices within which the catchment area falls. These have been calculated and shown in terms of the vehicle ownership rate for each DS Division. Table 7 reveals that the Vehicle Ownership Rate is highest in Weke and Hanwella DS Divisions while in Deraniyagala DSD it is extremely low. By comparison to the national value this is below average, while the average of the Western Province also indicates a higher value. Of course, the latter is highly influenced by the high ownership rate in Colombo City, which is presently 262 vehicles per 1000 population.
Trends in Vehicle Ownership in the Region
The rate at which vehicle ownership is increasing in the region was calculated by obtaining the licensing from 1992 from each of the DS divisions in the region. Trends have been calculated for four of the DS Divisions Table 8). It is clear that in the areas where vehicle ownership is low, the growth rates are around 10% per annum. In DS Divisions, which have higher vehicle ownership rates, we could assume that this would be around 6% p.a. at present.
14 DSD Vehicle Ownership Rate (Vehicle per 1000 population) (1998) MC 3 W Cars & Cars, Vans & Buses Trucks & Total Vans 3W * Tractors Weke 32.8 - - 8.6 1.6 5.7 48.7 Hanwella 26.3 - - 11.9 1.8 6.9 46.9 Deraniyagala 4.3 0.3 0.9 - 0.3 1.5 7.3 Dehiowita 8.9 0.5 2.0 - 0.6 2.1 14.1 Ruwanwella 9.4 0.7 2.7 - 0.7 2.3 15.8 Yatiyantota 9.7 1.4 1.8 - 0.6 3.3 16.8 Horana N /A CMC 262.0 CMR 97.0 Sri Lanka 74.0 * note some DSD's do not separately identify 3W & Cars Table 7: Vehicle Ownership Rates
DSD Growth Rate (%) p.a.
MC 3 W Cars & Cars, Vans Buses Truck & Total Vans & 3W * Tractor Weke 5.1 24.6 7.2 13.8 8.0 Hanwella N/a Deraniyagala -1.4 62.5 43.8 40.0 19.4 9.7 Dehiowita 14.7 39.6 16.1 10.3 9.6 14.6 Ruwanwella 4.8 50.0 16.3 1.9 12.9 8.4 Yatiyantota 1.3 41.4 8.1 7.5 18.9 8.4 Horana N/a CMC 0 7 18 10 5 9 Colombo District 0 6 39 2 4 10 (w/o CMC)
Table 8: Trends in Growth of Vehicle Fleet (1992-98)
3.6 REGIONAL SOCIOECONOMIC DATA
The basic socio-economic data at the smallest possible administration unit, which is the Grama Niladari Division, was collected from each DS Division within the catchment area. This data gathered information of population, households, number of hospitals, clinics, schools, small and large industries and vehicles within each GN area. This data is given in Appendix VI.
15 3.7 DATA ON THE SIE & ASSOCIATED DEVELOPMENT
Data on the SIE and associated town developments that have been planned were obtained from interviews with the staff of the Ministry of Industrial Development and the UDA. Progress of projects under the Avissawella Town Development Plan has been observed from Minutes of Meetings of the Committee chaired by the Hon. Minister of Housing & Urban Development. These are tabulated in Appendix VII and also shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: SIE & Proposed Developments
16 4. PRESENT TRANSPORT ISSUES
The present transport issues in Avissawella Town area and its immediate environs could be summarised as follows:
• Under utilisation of the railways • Parking problems in the town centre • Excessive circulation of buses in town centre • Inadequate facilities for pedestrians • Poor layout of bus terminals • Poor access/mobility from catchment area • Occurrence of flooding of Major Roads
4.1 UNDER-UTILISATION OF THE RAILWAYS
In earlier times, when Avissawella was served by the Kelani Valley railway, it was particularly used for the transport of agricultural produce. However, the narrow gauge single-track railway, which was recently converted to the broad gauge, still has poor alignment and cannot effectively compete with road transport. There are presently six trains in both directions per day, but patronage is extremely low. This is well illustrated by the comparison of daily passenger boardings in the Colombo direction at Avissawella as shown in Table 9.
One Way One Way Daily Travel Time (mts.) Fare (RS) Passenger Boardings Railways 150 16.00 50 Buses 90-100 10.50 7,500 Table 9: Bus & Rail Passengers in the Colombo Direction at Avissawella
As shown above, less than 1% of the passengers on the Colombo direction use the train for travel from Avissawella. Discussions with rail officials revealed that these passengers are mostly season ticket holders. There are no long distance passengers boarding at Avissawella. As for goods transport, the railway at present carries mostly small parcels from Avissawella. A further disadvantage exists in the railway station being located around 400 metres away from the town centre. It is however, strategically located with respect to the Seethawaka Industrial Estate (SIE), the hospital and the proposed New Commercial Centre.
Considering the fact that bus transport has a differential saving of about 50-60% in both travel time and fare, it is not surprising that the railway patronage is insignificant. The railway fare, which is calculated on a basis of cents per km, is higher than the road because of the longer rail distance on the KV line when compared to the Low Level Road.
The present alignment of the railways and its constraints for future double tracking will be a limiting factor for improving speeds to attract passengers. Thus it does not enable the present KV line to be considered as a cost-effective mode of passenger travel from Avissawella at least in the short term. The only consideration would be the potential goods haulage from the SIE. However, no plans for this purpose exist as yet. In this case loading decks, cranes and other freight handling equipment needs to be installed. Moreover, track including bridges would need rehabilitation. Experience of similar facilities provided at other industrial estates such as Koggala and Katunayake, have not produced adequate results for the railways.
17 4.2 PARKING PROBLEMS IN TOWN CENTRE
Avissawella’s commercial area is comprised of roadside development along the major roads. Due to the hilly terrain and flooding of the lower lands, this development is confined to a single row of shops on either side of the major roads. The only exception being the development around the bus stand, where the market and retail shops within the bus stand premises gives a relatively concentrated development. Except at this location, there are no off-street parking areas. This unrestrained and predominantly on-street parking pattern causes severe impacts on the free flow of pedestrians and also on motorised traffic (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Parking Problems in Avissawella Town Centre
The hourly demand for parking was observed during the study and the average number of parking spaces occupied throughout the day time period from 7 AM to 7 PM, is given in Figure 7. It can be seen here that the demand is concentrated between intersections 5 and 6, which is the area between the Bus Stand Junction and the Private Bus Terminal. The intense on-street parking around the bus stand area is often in conflict with the heavy movement of both buses and pedestrians using the bus terminal. The average demand is 130 spaces while at peak period this increases to over 175 spaces.
18 Figure 7: Hourly Parking Demand at Avissawella Town centre (12 Hour Average by Link)
19 4.3 INADEQUATE FACILITIES FOR PEDESTRIANS
Avissawella Town centre has a high pedestrian flow due to the fact that the hospital and schools are spread out away from the town centre, but within walking distance to most bus passengers who disembark at the terminal. Figure 8 shows the 12-hour pedestrian flows observed on each link of the road network within the town centre. It can be seen that the one way triangle at the core of the town and the bus stand area attracts the heaviest pedestrian flows. The flows are also considerably heavy towards Talduwa, where most of the schools are located. It is lesser towards the Kudagama junction, where the hospital, railway station and the SIE are located.
4.4 IMPORTANCE OF BUS TRANSPORT
As shown in Table 1, a total of 29,786 passengers’ board buses at the Avissawella bus terminals daily. This means that nearly 60,000 passenger movement (boardings and alightings) are processed by the Avissawella Bus Terminals. This is an important feature in Avissawella. When compared with its population of 20,000 and 3,000 jobs within the town area, the handling of such a high volume of bus traffic makes the transit (transfer) function of Avissawella quite important.
The origins & destinations of passengers boarding at Avissawella is given in Appendix III. This reveals that only 6,724 trips (or one fourth of all trips) are made to and from Avissawella Town to other parts of the catchment area. Bus travel which is exclusively made between locations within the catchment area, but which pass through Avissawella makes up 9,729 trips (or one third of all trips). The other areas of the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces outside of the designated catchment area attracts the most trips estimated at 14,280 or nearly one half of all trips. A further 5,776 trips observed at Avissawella, (or twenty percent) are between locations outside the catchment area (e.g. Ratnapura to Colombo or Kalutara to Kandy).
The above statistics and percentages confirm that Avissawella is an important regional bus transit point. It is quite possible that a significant generation of income and employment in the present town centre is derived from this function.
4.5 LACK OF PRIORITY FOR BUSES IN TOWN AREA
As shown, above, a total of over 1,700 bus movements (arrivals & departures) are observed through Avissawella Town centre. The one way road network at the centre and the location of the two bus terminals (Figure 9), increases the bus circulation with buses from Colombo to Ratnapura and Badulla having to go through the triangle twice. Moreover, many passengers bound for destinations towards Talduwa as well as towards Ratnapura wait at the Buddha Statue junction and thereby a bus stop is formed on link 2-3. Similarly, some through buses in the Colombo direction do not enter the bus terminal. Hence, passengers congregate at the Bus Stand Junction. These problematic features of bus circulation causes much inconvenience to bus operators, bus passengers as well as other road users in Avissawella Town.
20 Figure 8: 12 Hour Pedestrian Flow at Avissawella Town Centre
21 Figure 9: Bus Terminal, Movements and Stops
22 4.6 POOR LAYOUT & FACILITIES AT BUS TERMINALS
The present bus terminal is also very poorly set out. The facilities required for both bus movements and the requirements of bus passengers have been gradually eroded. The commercial or trade activities within and in close vicinity of the bus terminals have gathered in prominence, causing much distress to the free movement of buses as well as bus passengers.
The bus terminal is set out in two separate sections. Towards the centre of the town and adjoining the bus stand junction, there is the terminal occupied by the RTC buses. This has one entrance from link 5-6 and one exit on link 2-4 near the Bus Stand Junction. The private stand has a common entrance and exit shared with the entry to the RTC terminal, which is also the road leading to the Town Hall. An area behind the private bus stand towards the Police Station has been opened up as an Overflow Park for private buses. There is access from the Overflow Park to the private bus stand as well. The private bus stand and parks are usually well occupied during most times of the day. It is usual to find 20-40 private buses at any given time. The space available within the terminals and the Bus Overflow Park is sufficient to accommodate up to 60 buses. The present space utilisation is poor due to the following reasons:
i. The splitting up of RTC and private bus terminals ii. The poor entry/exit arrangement iii. The obstruction to free flow of buses due to shops constructed within the terminal area and at the junctions, especially the exit from the RTC terminal (Figure 10) iv. Conflict with activities of the shopping complex and its traffic and parking requirements v. The poor platform arrangement vi. Conflict of bus movement path and pedestrian/passenger waiting areas (Figure 11) vii. No special consideration of transfer passengers who make a significant proportion of users viii. The poor internal circulation pattern ix. Poor interface with express buses passing through x. The under-utilisation of some platforms xi. The poor surface condition of the terminal areas. xii. Improper stopping of buses for loading and xiii. Haphazard parking of buses.
4.7 POOR ACCESS/MOBILITY FROM CATCHMENT AREA
Accessibility to the Avissawella Town is based on the existence of a good road network with a good public transport service. Both attributes should be present in order to provide adequate levels of accessibility. If either of these were deficient, then the required level of accessibility would not occur.
Roads
The road network in the Avissawella region is extensive. As shown by Table 10, its comparison to the road densities of the Western and Sabaragamuwa Provinces, indicates that the road network is generally well balanced and on par with the average national densities. The condition of A & B class roads in the area is generally good with speeds averaging between 30-50 km/h. In the case of roads belonging to the Provincial Councils, they are mostly in want of repair. Average speeds on these roads fall below 20 km/h in most instances. The Pradeshiya Sabha Roads are in similar, if not worse state. Speeds on such roads average around 15 km/hr. 23
Figure 10: RTC Bus Terminal and Trade Activities within terminal area
24 Figure 11: Private Bus Terminal with Poor Pedestrian/Bus Interface
25 Road Density Road Density (km/ sq km) (km/1000 pop) A & B Class Other PC & PS A & B Class Other PC & PS Roads Roads Roads Roads Catchment Area 0.0 1.50 0.45 3.00 Western Province 0.41 2.73 0.33 2.61 Sabaragamuwa 0.21 1.48 0.62 4.28 SRI LANKA 0.17 1.33 0.60 4.86
Table 10: Road Density of Catchment Area by Comparison with Other Areas
Bus Services
An extensive network of bus routes provides access to Avissawella. The bus frequencies on popular routes such as the Colombo- Avissawella (No. 122) is as high as one every 10-15 minutes. The RTC routes, frequencies, travel time and speeds are given in Appendix II.
It appears that the State owned RTC’s are burdened with serving a high proportion of uneconomical routes. In the case of buses serving remote areas, the frequency is as low as one or two trips per day. Of the 66 routes, 38 routes have less than 5 bus trips per day, which this study considers a required minimum to provide an adequate bus access. Thus it can be seen that although a high number of routes are shown in the operating schedule, the vast majority of the routes thus operated have services below the minimum required level of service.
The RTCs which provide three fourths of the bus transport in the Avissawella region are unable to provide a reliable service with only 75-80% of the scheduled daily trips been operated on average. This further reduces accessibility as rural and remote bus services cannot be relied on for travel to work and business matters etc.
Another matter, which affects the accessibility to and from Avissawella, is the speed of bus travel. It is observed that the speed of travel ranges from a low of around 10-15 km/h on minor roads (such as Avissawella- Hewahinna Road to a high of around 30 km/h for its express long distance routes. When the waiting time for boarding a bus and possible transfer times are added, the speeds of travel for short distances appear quite low. The average time taken for a distance of 10 kms on a moderately served route where bus frequency is hourly, would be around sixty minutes. On a poorly served rural route, which have the minimum daily operation of five buses per day, the total travel time for the same distance would be around two hours. At this level of service, bus travel becomes as slow as walking and many persons would end up walking for at least a part of their journey, having taken an available bus (on a more route with more frequency) to a point closer to their destination. This becomes a problem for workers returning in the late evenings, especially women.
The data from Table 1 given earlier, shows the reluctance of the private sector operators to operate the uneconomical routes. It is apparent that they mostly concentrate on serving the popular routes. Therefore, these routes have adequate buses. But on these routes too over crowding occurs, as private operators by practise do not operate until buses are full.
26 Figure 12: Flooding on Trunk Roads
27 4.8 FLOODING OF MAJOR ROADS
Due to the close proximity of flood plains to Avissawella town, flooding of roads occurs regularly in the region. While many minor roads are often impassable, the bigger impacts occur when the main trunk roads go under water. The entire ‘A-Class’ road network except for the Ratnapura Road has flood prone locations, which are a concern to transport in the region. However, it should be noted that flooding is generally confined to a few hours for a minor flood and a day or two evens in the event of a major flood.
These locations are shown in Figure 12. It can be observed that a substantial portion of access to Avissawella is prone to flooding. The most severe incidence is at Talduwa, where three major roads are affected. At Dehiowita, minor roads are used as by-passes and at Ruwanwella and the Colombo Road at Puwakpitiya which are subject only to major flooding.
4.9 TALDUWA MARKET
Talduwa is an important junction in the trunk road system. However, Talduwa is also a popular regional market place, where a weekly Pola is held. This severely restricts the free flow of traffic through the town on such days (Figure 13).
Figure 13: Talduwa Pola and its impact on Road Traffic
28 5. FUTURE ISSUES IN GROWTH & SUSTAINABILITY
The magnitude of the proposed SIE and its associated developments will have a significant impact on the life and movement of people using Avissawella Town and its immediate region. While, the increased employment opportunities and consequent increase in incomes are positive attributes of this project, it raises a series of transport related issues pertaining to the rapid growth of Avissawella region and the sustainability of such growth. Unless these are understood and planned for, they will eventually lead to the downfall of the SIE itself, as increasing congestion in the road network around the SIE and Avissawella, will lead to the loss of the SIEs competitive edge over locations closer to Colombo.
However, on the side of the future success of the SIE at Avissawella is the opportunity that is at hand to effect a planned development to mitigate as much negative effects that may arise. Thus and thus alone can the success of the SIE be sustained and utilised to ensure qualitatively better living standards for the people of the Avissawella area.
5.1 ISSUES PERTAINING TO THE LOCATION OF SEETHAWAKA INDUSTRIAL ESTATE (SIE)
Avissawella Town is presently a very small urban centre with an estimated 3,000 jobs and 22,000 population. However, the town area is even at present congested due to the meeting of the A4 and A7 trunk roads. This conveys a sense that Avissawella is a large town, which it is presently not. It does however, have all the makings of a successful industrial city, which is strategically, located between three 1 st and 2 nd order cities namely Colombo, Ratnapura and Kegalle. The direct access by trunk roads to these three cities makes Avissawella, an ideal location for a large industrial undertaking. Avissawella can also be directly accessed from the airport via Nittambuwa and Amithirigala. It is around 60 kms from the port with direct access via the Low Level Road to Orugodawatte and the Port Access Road thereafter.
The SIE is 168 ha in extent and is located to the immediate north-west of the Avissawella Town Centre and within it city limits. Furthermore, its access is constrained by two rivers, the Seethawaka Ganga to its immediate east and the Kelani Ganga to its north (Figure 14).
5.2 ACCESS TO THE SIE
At present there is only one access to the SIE that is from the Colombo Road via the Kudagama Road. Traffic generated by the SIE heading to all locations other than those in the Colombo direction would have to pass through Avissawella Town Centre. Therefore, the transport activity of the SIE will have a direct and intense impact on the road network in the vicinity of Avissawella town.
Furthermore, the layout of the SIE is such that a large part of it would be beyond reasonable walking distance from the gate. This would require internal transport for the majority of workers. A second gate and access point would increase the proportion of those who could walk from the gate to their factories. Its location however, needs careful study as other factors such as service by bus, facilities for through traffic and crossing of the Seethawaka Ganga also would affect the final decision.
However, all factors indicate that a second gate to the eastern end of the SIE would be most necessary.
29
Figure 14: Location of SIE
30 5.3 ISSUES DUE TO EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES CREATED BY SIE
According to project reports, the Seethawaka Industrial Estate will at full operational capacity, require around 20,000 direct employment at the proposed 78 factories in the SIA. It is also estimated to generate around 9,000 indirect jobs within the Avissawella city limits. A further 9,000 jobs are anticipated as indirect employment elsewhere in the region.
The UDA has defined a catchment area formed by a circle of radius 12 kms centred on Avissawella and estimated that 43,000 unemployed persons presently reside in this area. However, a number of factors would further influence the availability of such unemployed persons for future employment at the SIE. While the indirect employment in the region is less of a problem since it is spread out and transport issues are minimal, the 20,000 direct jobs at the SIE and the 9,000 indirect jobs in Avissawella Town would require some consideration. This is because in order for persons to travel to work, they should be within a travel to work catchment area. If sufficient persons do not live within this travel to work catchment area, then it is most likely that filling vacancies within the SIE would be come difficult.
Travel to Work Catchment
Based on the survey results of employees given in Tables 3 and 4, it appears that the travel to work at industrial estates is centred on bus transport (62%). Only around 24 percent walk to work. The percentage using bicycles is also low at only 6%. There is presently a trend particularly among female employees to use chartered vans (referred to as ‘booked hires’) in view of the deteriorating public transport. These appear to cost more than double that of bus transport, but appears to be preferred due to reasons of security and convenience although travel time itself does not appear to be greatly reduced.
Walking to work at the SIE would have the minimal transport requirements. But it is not possible to find such large numbers residing within a comfortable walking distance, which should be reckoned at a maximum of 1 ½ to 2 kms. This could be increased significantly by providing boarding facilities within this radius. This would also be limited, as the number of residences available for boarding would be very few. This could be increased substantially if a planned complex of hostels is built.
However, this too would have limitations as the cost of staying away from home is found to be around Rs. 1800 per month. For an employee who has to travel one hour each way, the value of the time saving is then Rs 36 per hour. The cost of travel for an average one hour bus journey each way would be only Rs. 300 per month. This translates to a travel cost of Rs 6 per hour of bus travel. Thus the saving of travel from home which is an hour’s journey away is around Rs 30 per hour. The average earning which are around Rs 4,000 per month places a value of time of around Rs 20 per hour. Therefore, the fact that the saving rate is higher than the earning rate would definitely mean that those living within an hours travel distance would commute to work from home. For those living at a distance of one and half hours journey, the saving rate reduces to Rs. 18 per hour, which seems to be still attractive at a wage rate of Rs 20 per hour. At two hours journey time, this reduces to Rs 12 per hour, which may translate to a minimum threshold as a financial incentive for most employees. It thus appears that one and half to two hours journey time should be considered as the commuting threshold for employees living within the catchment area of the SIE.
The UDA’s designated catchment area is a circle of 12 km radius centred on Avissawella. However, as discussed above, a catchment area has to be defined in terms of travel
31 thresholds and affordability of travel. Based on bus route data including average bus travel times, a two hours travel to work catchment area has been shown in Figure 15.
It can be seen that the travel to work threshold falls short of the UDA’s ‘catchment’ in several peripheral areas. Most notably, Attanagalla and Deraniyagala DS Divisions, which were included in the UDA catchment, do not appear to fall within the two-hour travel to work catchment area. Furthermore, parts of Horana, Eheliyagoda and Weke DS Divisions also fall outside this area. The unemployed within the commuting catchment then reduces from the estimated 52,950 to around 23,500 persons.
Clearly this would be insufficient to meet the requirements of the SIE and its associated developments. Solutions for this are to: a) Improve transport network in order to extend the travel based catchment area accessible within two hours; b) Increase potential for hostels and lodging facilities within walking distance (less than 1.5 kms) to the SIE; c) Increase potential for boarding facilities within commuting distance (less than 10 kms) to SIE; d) Combination of one or more of the above.
5.4 TRANSPORT & TRAFFIC GENERATION BY SIE
The transport generation due to the activity of the SIE should be analysed to cover all its basic forms. There is the need for commuting to and from work. There is also the need for freight and other vehicles to and from the factories. Furthermore, there is the secondary transport generation that would be caused by increased indirect employment in Avissawella as well as the transport activity arising from the increased vehicle ownership due to the SIE.
Travel to Work
The SIE will result in a two-fold impact on the demand for travel to work. These would be: • For 20,000 employees of the SIE and • For 9,000 additional employees within Avissawella Town
As discussed above, a number of factors will affect the manner and the locations from which these employees would travel to work. Since, it could be assumed that a substantial proportion of the work force would be within commuting distance, we should assume that only 25% would be boarders. Based on the results from the travel patterns from employees given in Table 3, the following estimates have been worked out. It should be noted that a higher than existing percentage has been assumed for bicycle travel, as it is anticipated that due to the relatively level terrain and the increasing acceptance of bicycle travel, that a 10% share is probable. This is a reasonable estimate particularly, if appropriate and safe designs can be incorporated in road improvement programs.
32
Figure 15: Travel Threshold Based Catchment Area for SIE
33 Boarders Others Total Percentage of Employees 25% 75% 100% Number of Employees 7,500 21,750 29,000 Walk to Work (%)/Number (20%) 1,500 (10%) 2,175 3,675 Bicycle to Work (%)/Number (10%) 750 (10%) 2,175 2,925 Bus to Work (%)/Number (60%) 4,500 (60%) 13,050 17,550 Van/Other to Work (10%) 750 (20%) 4,350 5,100 (%)/Number
Table 11: Estimates of Travel to Work for SIE
Traffic Generation
The overall traffic generation inclusive of that which will be generated by travel to work is based on the assumptions in the above table and the trip rates observed from the Biyagama FTZ given as Appendix IV. These are given in Table 12.
To To Total SIE Avissawella Town Travel to Work Pedest rians 2,535 1,140 3,675 Bicycles 2,050 925 2,975 Buses 400 150 500 Vans/Other Vehicles 450 200 650 Other Traffic Small Passenger Vehicles 500 250 750 Trucks 120 60 180 Containers 25 0 25 Table 12: Traffic Generation from SIE & Associated Developments
This indicates that the total traffic demand to the SIE in each direction would be around 2,500 pedestrians, 2,000 bicycles and 1,600 motorised vehicles. Of the motorised vehicles, approximately one half would be heavy vehicles.
In the case of Avissawella town centre, the additional traffic generation would be 1,140 pedestrians, 925 bicycles and 660 motorised vehicles.
Vehicle Ownership
The Hanwella DS Division has reported 5,821 vehicles licensed during the year 1998. Vehicle ownership is closely associated with income levels. Its growth is generally estimated using the anticipated increase in incomes in the region. In the case of the SIE and its impacts on vehicle ownership in the Avissawella area, we could estimate that the bus fleet should increase by at least 50% (preferable by 75% in order to decrease high overloading). In terms of private vehicles including three wheelers and motor cycles, a near doubling of this number can be anticipated over the period of growth of the SIE, as employment in the area grows by nearly 150%. In the longer term, vehicle ownership can be anticipated to grow by around 6% p.a.
34 5.5 IMPACTS ON TRAFFIC FLOW
The additional traffic generated from the SIE and associated development as estimated in Table 12, will enter the road network in the Avissawella Town area. This will impact both links as well as intersections within the area.
Kudagama Junction
Presently, the SIE has only one access through the Kudagama Road. The traffic volume at the Kudagama junction on the Colombo Road is presently around 2,000 vehicles per day. With the additional traffic generated by the SIE and that of the town centre, this would increase by about 9,000 equivalent passenger car units (PCUs) per day. The present flow is around 20,000 PCUs per day. Therefore an average 50% overall increase in traffic flows at the junction is to be envisaged. This would mean a significant increase in delays to traffic at the junction. A second gate and separate access to the SIE would be necessary in order to manage the traffic at Kudagama junction within a reasonable limit.
Traffic Peaks
An important feature of present travel in and around Avissawella town area at the present time is that there is no significant peak period. This is consistent with its predominantly agricultural land use. With the commencement of the SIE and the generation of a large amount of travel to work trips made within a short duration, which would result in at least 1/4 th of this new traffic occurring within the peak period. This would then mean that peak periods of traffic flow would begin to occur in the road network around Avissawella both in the morning and in the evening. For example, for a peak period of one-hour duration, the demand at the Kudagama Junction would increase from 1,600 PCUs to around 4,000 PCUs per hour. This translates to a 150% increase, which exceeds by far, the existing capacity of the junction to handle the peak created by work trips in the SIE. A clear case exists for spreading of the peak from say one hour to three hours, wherein a shift basis or staggered work hours for the SIE would mitigate the traffic peak and its associated problems
Town Traffic
The town traffic presently varies between 1,000 PCUs per hour to around 1,300 PCUs. Of this flow only 20% of traffic is long distance. Traffic peaks are not significant. With the SIE and the increased employment in Avissawella town area whereby the present employment of 3,000 is estimated to increase up to 12,000, the local traffic circulating within the town area can also be assumed to increase proportionately. That is, a combined increase in flow estimated at 2,000 to 2,200 PCUs per hour per intersection. This translates to an overall increase of 200% in the traffic levels in the Avissawella Town area.
During the peak periods for the SIE travel to work, that proportion of trips which have to pass through the town would also add to this level of traffic. While, the impact would be less in the morning as business activities are less, the worst traffic congestion would be experienced in the evenings when an estimated additional 2,000 PCUs would enter the town area. The total traffic flow during the evening peak period would then be around 5,000 PCUs per hour. A minimum of three lanes of traffic flow should be available to accommodate this level of traffic. For the present road space available, some sections can accommodate three lanes albeit without any on-street parking provision. Some road sections would require substantial widening, as would all the intersections. Such an eventuality would in turn require substantial demolition of the buildings within the town centre and maybe difficult to accomplish given the restricted land availability within the present town area.
35
A separate access and by-pass of the town centre would be necessary to mitigate the potential increase in traffic flow within the town area.
Parking
The demand for parking within the town centre, which is around 130 spaces on average at any given time, would also increase by about 50-60%. The increases would occur where commercial spaces would occur. As most of the parking takes place on road space, this level of parking demand could only be met with off-street parking coupled with strict building regulations and parking enforcement. Parking in the vicinity of the bus stand requires rigorous control, so that a higher priority can be given to bus transport, as it is the most important feature of transport within Avissawella.
Long-distance Traffic
Long distance traffic that presently makes up around 20% of the flow through the Rest House Junction is not anticipated to grow rapidly due to the SIE. However, the recently constructed by pass for the Ratnapura road presently provides a good level of service. The impacts of the SIE and associated traffic on the long-distance traffic on the Colombo- Ratnapura road will be mostly limited to that on the section of road between the Kudagama Road junction to the Rest House junction. Extra capacity would have to be provided in this section. The present by-pass is considered to have adequate capacity at present.
However, vehicles travelling between Kudagama junction and Talduwa junction and thereafter proceeding to destinations on the Hatton Road, Kegalle Road or Amithirigala Road would have to negotiate congested sections of road from the Kudagama junctions all the way through the town centre up to Talduwa junction. This is a distance of around 2 kms, which is estimated to take around 5 minutes on average, with peak period travel taking as much as 8 minutes.
Pedestrian Flows
Pedestrian Flows, which vary between 15,000 movements to 6,000 in the town centre, can be anticipated to increase by 100%. However, if the bus services do not directly serve the SIE and transfers have to be made at the bus terminal it is most probable that most employees would prefer to walk the 1 km to the SIE as opposed to waiting for a bus. If this were to happen, any thing up to 25,000 pedestrian movements would take place between the bus terminal at the town centre and the SIE, with most of this occurring during the peak periods. The A4 trunk road will clearly be unable to handle such a heavy pedestrian flow without significant reduction in speeds and safety concerns.
5.6. BUS ROUTING & TERMINALS
Another impact on the transport in Avissawella region would be on the bus transport. Presently, Avissawella processes around 60,000 passengers per day in 1,700 bus movements. As shown in Table 1 of Appendix III, over 75%of the present passengers using Avissawella bus terminal are transfer (transit) passengers. This is an important transportation feature and should not be allowed to deteriorate due to the increase in local bus traffic required by the SIE.
36 The increase in bus traffic due to the SIE and its indirect developments is estimated to be over 30,000-bus passenger trips (both ways) daily. This would then increase total bus passenger movements at Avissawella to 90,000, with a near equal distribution between local trips and transit trips. This will require reconsideration of bus terminal locations. Furthermore, the bus routing structure may have to be reviewed in order to better serve the SIE and access the catchment area.
The poor layout, poor pedestrian access and poor bus access will cause severe crowding problems both within the bus terminals and on the road network in the town area. Moreover, the separation of the bus stand into private and RTC and the sprawling Bus Park with its haphazard bus parking will cause both congestion and pollution at the very centre of the town. A comprehensive development plan for the bus terminals is a priority.
The relocation of a part of the terminal to a point closer to the SIE also requires consideration. This will achieve direct access to SIE, the hospital and the New Commercial Centre. Moreover, it will prevent large numbers of pedestrians moving between the town centre and the SIE.
37
APPENDIX I: TRAFFIC SURVEYS
1
TIME INTERVAL INTERSECTION NO. 0-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 2-5 3-5 5-6 7-8 108 264 936 420 240 336 696 8-9 36 216 720 504 840 492 888 9-10 96 324 1032 576 732 672 720 10-11 24 360 708 480 948 864 432 11-12 144 636 1152 612 1464 1032 1536 12-13 348 648 1164 288 1224 948 1548 13-14 168 588 2976 600 1896 1128 1248 14-15 372 468 1128 552 1524 552 864 15-16 348 504 768 252 1500 540 768 16-17 420 552 1224 288 1548 948 648 17-18 432 816 1968 336 1776 936 1164 18-19 360 888 1800 312 1812 1056 732 12 HR. TOTAL 2856 6264 15576 5220 15504 9504 11244 12 HR. AVERAGE 238 522 1298 435 1292 792 937
Table 1: One Hour Pedestrian Flow Counts by Link
2 Table 2: Traffic Flow Counts at Intersections
3 Table 3: Travel Speeds on Trunk Roads
4
Table 4: Parking Survey in Town Area
5
APPENDIX II : BUS ROUTES OPERATED BY AVISSAWELLA RTC DEPOT
6
APPENDIX III: Bus Transport Surveys
7 Table 1: Origin-Destinations of Bus Passengers Boarding at Avissawella (One-way)
8 Table 2: Origin-Destination of all Bus Passenger Movements at Avissawella (Balanced, One-way)
9
APPENDIX IV: SURVEY FORM USED FOR TRAVEL DETAILS OF INDUSTRIAL ESTATE WORKERS
10 @m`rév ì|v ìq&`ly / n`gÝk sAvR[n a{k`Ýy a¦Ss`@VLl ngr sAvR[n v&`p^ñy
kRm`NwÕry : ¡ygm / a¦Ss`@VLl
Øny : ......
1. Sñr pÙA¦y (a) gm /ngry : ......
(a`) ×`@Q¶y @k`Tt`\y : ......
(a#) p]`W sx`v : ......
2. w`vk`Äk pÙA¦y (a) gm /ngry : ......
(a`) ×`@Q¶y @k`Tt`\y : ......
(a#) p]`W sx`v : ......
3. Îv@S / nv`w#@N ât @Sv` Sw`nyt gmN krn a`k`ry [eK Ø\`vkt ]
eK Ø\`vkt pûN bûâkl@yN bs@yN @vnW v`hny¿N ekóv
(a) Úr (km) vÄN
(a`) gw î k`ly
(ÉÎWó vÄN)
(a#) ìyqm (r#ÓyL)
4. ob @Svyt p#É@nN@N w`vk`Äk pØA¦ Sw`nyk ât nM, Îv@S iNnv`t vd` obt m`âkv âÚvn ìyqm @k`pmzq ?
(nv`w#N g`Sóq a#ólWv)
......
5. s`m`n&@yN em ìyqm ob@G m`âk v#é@pN kvr ×ñ\wyKq? : ......
11
12
APPENDIX V: VEHICLE MOVEMENTS OBSERVED AT BIYAGAMA FTZ
13 AVERAGE OF THREE-DAY (24-HOUR) SURVEY CONDUCTED ON 26/4/99; 28/4/99 & 29/4/99.
MOVEMENTS PER DAY (ONE DIRECTION) VEHICLE TYPE IN VEHICLES IN PCUs Vans 680 680 Cars 247 247 Motor Cycles 250 125 Buses 90 180 Three Wheelers 75 45 Bowsers 17 51 Tractors 16 64 Lorries 97 194 Containers 35 210 Jeeps 09 09 Canters 12 24 Cabs 18 18 Pajeros 19 19 Other Vehicles 04 06 TOTAL 1,569 1,872
• Total Number of factories –61
• Type of industries- Garments, toys, rubber based products, electric, textile related etc
• Number of Employees – 25,000 (18,000 female & 7,000 male)
• Starting Hours – 6.00 a.m.; 8.00 a.m.; & 10.00 a.m.
• Distribution of Work Force: Trainees 26%; Semi Skilled 49%; Unskilled 12%; Supervisory 09% and Others 04%.
14 Pradeepa: Plot the growth of labour force from 1986 to 1998
15
APPENDIX VI: SOCIOECONOMIC & TRANSPORT DETAILS BY GRAMA NILADARI DIVISION (1999)
16 Pradeepa : Grama Niladari data sheets arranged by each DSD.
17
APPENDIX VII: ASSOCIATED DEVELOPMENTS OF SIE
18 i. Housing Development • Penrith Estate • Honington Estate
ii. Commercial Centre/new Town Centre • New Bus Terminal • Civic Centre • Relocation of Bus Depot to Keangnam Site • Relocation of RDA Office to Homagama
iii. Realignment of Railway Line iv. Construction of Internal Road network of Manikkawatta
v. Widening of Jinawasa Road vi. Subway Across Ratnapura-Colombo Road at Railway Station vii. Golf Course at Pussellawa Plantations viii. Baleskanda Housing Programme ix. Bus Stand Development
x. Puwakpitiya Pola & Village Expansion Project
19
APPENDIX VIII SKETCHES OF INTERSECTION IMPROVMENTS FOR AVISSAWELLA TOWN AREA
20 SKETCH 1: RECOMMENDED SIGNALISATION OF KUDAGAMA JUNCTION
To Ratnapura (Junction # 02)
Proposed 4 lane road upto Junction # 02
3 m widening
3 m
widening 50
3 m 50 50 widening
From Colombo PROPOSED SIGNALIZED JUNCTION
3 m widening
21 SKETCH 2: RECOMMENDED SIGNALISATION OR MINI ROUNDABOUT FOR REST HOUSE JUNCTION
Aviisawella Town (Junction #05)
Ratnapura (Junction #6)
PROPOSED 2 φ Colombo Signalized Junction (Junction # 01)
22 SKETCH 3: CHANELLISE BUDDHA STATUE JUNCTION
Junction Junction Bus # 04 30 m # 05 Stop No parking
30
No Parking
Chanalised
Two Through lanes
30 m No Parking
Junction # 02
23 SKETCH 4: CHANELLISE BANK OF CEYLON JUNCTION
Proposed Parking Lane To Yatiyantota
Canalized
Reduce the sharpness To (Increase curvature) Junction # 05 From Junction # 03
24 SKETCH 5: IMPROVE TURNING RADIUS OF BUS STAND JUNCTION
To Ratnapura (Junction # 6)
6 m widening
c
From Junction # 5
To Junction # 3
25 SKETCH 6: SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS TO POLICE STATION JUNCTION
To Junction # 2
To Junction No. 05
g
n
i
n
m
e
d
3
i S
t
w P a
t o
i
o l
i
c n
40 m e
40 m
g
n
i
n
m
e
d 3
i w
To Ratnapura
26