Embilipitiya is a town, governed by an urban council, in Ratnapura District , Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka .
10-548: In the 1970s it was a small town with two or three small boutiques. Under the Udawalawe development project, Embilipitiya grew and currently it is one of towns in Sri Lanka with a modern infrastructure. Embilipitiya is becoming the central hub and the commercial centre of Greater Hambantota development project. Embilipitiya is the nearest city to Sooriyawewa International Cricket Stadium and Mattala International Airport. During
20-635: Is Sri Lanka 's first expressway . The 222-kilometre-long (138 mi) highway links the Sri Lankan capital Colombo with Galle , Matara and Hambantota , major cities in the south of the island. The Southern Expressway Project (SEP) was introduced by the Road Development Authority and the Ministry of Highways as far back as late 1980s. The University of Moratuwa undertook an Environment Impact Assessment study in 1996, which
30-2559: Is a major achievement in the area. Public and private institutes aim to help people engaged in the small-scale food processing sector to develop relevant skills and technology, and to increase their access to information which will contribute towards helping them gain control of their livelihoods and communities. E01 expressway (Sri Lanka) Interchange 3 → A8 in Gelanigama Interchange 4 → B304 in Dodangoda Interchange 5 → B157 in Welipanna Interchange 6 → B14 in Kurundugahahetekma Interchange 7 → B153 in Baddegama Interchange 8 → B594 in Pinnaduwa Interchange 9 → A17 in Imaduwa Interchange 10 → B465 in Kokmaduwa Interchange 11 → B275 in Kapuduwa Interchange 12 → B284 in Aparekka Interchange 13 → B54 in Beliatta Interchange 14 → B410 in Bedigama Interchange 15 → B387 in Kasagala Interchange 16 → B465 in Agunukolapelessa Interchange 17 → A18 in Barawakumbuka Interchange 18 → B562 in Sooriyawewa Interchange 19 → E06 in Andarawewa The Southern Expressway ( Sinhala : දක්ෂිණ ලංකා අධිවේගි මාර්ගය , romanized: Dakśina Laṃkā adhivēgi mārgaya ; Tamil : தென்னிலங்கை அதிவேக நெடுஞ்சாலை )
40-502: The Asian Development Bank , responsible for the 161 km (100 mi) section between Kurundugahahetekma and Pinnaduwa. The expressway reduces the time taken to travel from Colombo to Galle (116 km (72 mi)) to one hour from three hours, and Colombo to Matara (29.3 km (18.2 mi)) to one and a half hours from four hours taken by the regular A2 highway . The extension of the expressway to Hambantota
50-538: The 1970s transportation to and from Embilipitiya was difficult. There were two or three buses from Embilipitiya to Ratnapura and there was no guarantee that they would be running daily. However, the transportation system developed significantly. There are buses from Embilipitiya to Ratnapura and Colombo every five minutes and the Embilipitiya bus station is one of the busiest in Southern and Sabaragamuwa region. With
60-719: The area. [Due to the rapid development of the education network in the area, Embilipitiya produced highly skilled and educated people. Thousands of doctors, engineers, lawyers, post graduate scientists, university professors and also reputed sportsmen and sportswomen hail from Embilipitiya. Schools within Embilipitiya Urban council area include Embilipitiya President's College, Embilipitiya Maha Vidyalaya, Sri Bodhiraja International College, Embilipitiya Junior Secondary School, Moraketiya Maha Vidyalaya, Halmillaketiya Maha Vidyalaya, and Modrawana Maha Vidyalaya. Embilipitya has branches of almost all private and public banks and also
70-694: The construction of the Southern Expressway , the expressway will be accessible through the Barawakumbuka entrance via Embilipitiya. Before 1970, Embilipitiya was one of the areas where there were poor education facilities. However, Embilipitiya eventually got better schools. Bodhiraja International School is the only school in Sabaragamuwa Sri Lanka It is a good English medium college. Newly established Embilipitiya Technical College brought new hopes to school leavers in
80-566: The town is served by number of supermarket chains. Embilipitiya became an urban council in 2006 and it is the only urban council in Sri Lanka to be promoted from village council and it is one of the three urban councils (Kegalle, Balangoda and Embilipitiya) in Sabaragamuwa province. The Economic Centre and the international leaders' training center are key institutions in Embilipitiya. The recently established Embilipitya modern town hall
90-564: Was inaugurated on 4 July 2015. The extension will be four lanes (with allowance of further two lanes in future), the cost of US$ 180M being funded by the Exim Bank of China . On 10 August 2015, a Highway Traffic Management system was inaugurated and currently covers the length of the expressway, including the Outer-Circular Expressway . On 23 February 2020, The final stage of the expressway which links to Hambanthota
100-503: Was submitted to the government in early 1997. Construction of the highway began in 2003 and completion up to Galle was achieved by November 2011. March 2014 saw the section from Galle to Matara being declared open to the public. The construction of the expressway was partly funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation , who were responsible for the 65 km (40 mi) section between Kurundugahahetekma and Kokmaduwa, and
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