A special traffic plan will operate in the Ambalangoda police division on Thursday and Friday for the annual street procession of the Modara Devalaya, the Police Media Division has announced, as reported by Hiru News.
Times
The perahera will parade the streets on Thursday 1 October from 1:00pm to 8:00pm, and again on Friday 2 October from 9:00pm to 3:00am the following morning.
What drivers should expect
Traffic on the Colombo–Galle main road in and around Ambalangoda will be restricted while the procession is on the road. Police have asked drivers to use alternative routes.
Because those alternative routes are narrow, police have further asked motorists to use the Southern Expressway wherever possible to keep congestion down. Ambalangoda is served by the Kurundugahahetekma interchange on the E01.
The second night’s timing is the one to plan around: a procession running from 9:00pm to 3:00am closes the main coastal road through the town across the overnight window, when the expressway is the only practical through route for southbound traffic.
Context
Ambalangoda, in the Galle district, sits on the A2 coastal road roughly 85km south of Colombo. The town is best known for its mask-carving and devil-dancing traditions, and its devalaya peraheras are long-standing annual events rather than one-off closures.
Not reported
Hiru does not name the alternative routes police have in mind, specify which stretch of the A2 will be closed or for how long at a time, or say whether bus services will be diverted. It gives no contact number for the Ambalangoda police division.
This article is single-sourced on the Police Media Division announcement. No other verified newsroom had carried the traffic plan at the time of writing.
