Makeovers Negombo Night Life

-Can a Bus Terminal become more recreational?

“Negombo Bus Terminal is the most beautiful and the modern Bus Terminal in Sri Lanka.”

If you have ever visited Negombo, you might definitely admit it.

It is just more than a Bus Terminal. Actually it is moreover like a mini port. It has almost all the facilities needed in a modern day bus terminal. In night time, with the lightning facilities; this is more a like a modern palace.

Negombo has one of the greatest beaches in Sri Lanka and so it is one important tourists’ destination in the country. So the Negombo Bus Terminal serves thousands of commuters and hundreds of tourists who visit the resort town throughout the year. Nearly 35,000 passengers are using this bus stand daily. More than 500 private and CTB buses are handled by the terminal.

The Construction of Negombo Bus Terminal began in 2008 and declared it to the public in 2011. There are about 78 stalls, a restaurant, and design-proposed upper floor theaters etc. which are supposed to provide greater urban bus terminal facilities to the city. But still there are vacant stalls which mean the business in here hasn’t caught up well yet. Maybe the facilities came too early before the city was ready for it.

Moreover that’; when we research on passengers of Negombo Bus Terminal, they all are commuters who are daily in and out from Negombo on their daily basis. So after 8 o’clock at night, the whole bus terminal become dead and only the one or two long distance bus services could work.

With this scenario, the whole inner city area gets dead at night. But parallel to that, we can observe the Colombo – Puthlam A3 main road never gets death even after 12 midnight because all the attractive factors such as; the restaurants and recreational items are available there.

Why we cannot similarly develop the more night life at Negombo Bus Terminal area?

Yes obviously we can do it with a better planning. The only thing we have to do is add more attractive factors to the Bus Terminal itself.

Then how?

As an opportunity, we have two main floors remaining still at vacant in Negombo Bus Terminal. So what is your idea?

Shall it be like another Majestic City where do shop, dine and watch a movie till late night?

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As my opinion, we can develop it as night restaurants where families can have dine together, watch a film together and kids used to have a special play area and provide more urban public life there.

As such interventions can automatically invite the night time facilities and functions and moreover the upgrading of night time bus services with regards of the demand created.

And also for long distance commuters who are waiting so long for night busses, they also can provide proper resting facilities; they can have washes, watching TV, dine at restaurants and have walk around while looking at lighting works of the bus terminal and can see its beauty with lights.

This is just about my idea of provide more urban life to make night time facilities of Negombo Bus Terminal.

You can also support with the discussion moreover on this regard.

Please add your thoughts and comments; and it will be more useful as interactive knowledge sharing.

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