[airguitar]

From my recent trip :

Haveri - Sirsi : Rough for about 15 kms upto Akki Alur ( just before the Hangal fork) from Haveri. From there, Very good all the way until Sirsi. Took about 6 hours to get to Sirsi from Hoskote ( via NH4 and this road ).

The Tarakeshwara temple near Hangal worth a visit.

Sirsi - Yellapur : Tarmac's been eroded but road still very good. 45 mins to 1 hour.

Yellapur - Bhaagavathi - Kesarolli Cross ( haliyal x dandeli fork ) : narrow but in decent condition. The bad stretches are just before Bhaagavathi. After that its good till kesarolli. Lots of jackal sightings on this road. Overall doable - be aware of the unmarked speed humps.

Kesarolli - Handali checkpost ( G.Gudi x dandeli fork ) : Rough stretches with mud filled potholes : still passes muster.

Handali - Barchi checkpost : Narrow but in good condition - smooth tarmac.

Barchi - Dandeli : slightly jumpy stretch. Between Ammewadi power station and Dandeli town very bad.

Barchi - Ganeshgudi : very good surface. Just watch out for the odd pothole : they are very big and the suspension breaker kinds - esp during nights.

Ganeshgudi : Bapila - Kulagi circle : in good condition.

Kulagi - BP dam - Bhaagavathi : narrow road, but surface a tad eroded : still very decent.

Kulagi - dandeli : Potholes have been filled with mud. Surface still very rough.

Haliyal - Dharwad : below averagish - potholes filled with mud. Keeps you guessing all the while. Plus there are a few bad stretches too.

Ganeshgudi - Joida : in good condition.

Beyond Joida : joida - kumbarwada - anshi is still very very bad ( months? Years? ) and the Ulavi route to be preferred to Karwar instead.

Overall : ganeshgudi - dharwad bypass - haveri - bangalore(hoskote) took about 7 hours 15 mins of drive time on my swift.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by airguitar

Kesarolli - Handali checkpost ( G.Gudi x dandeli fork ) : Rough stretches with mud filled potholes : still passes muster.

Great update AG! Which is this fork? i thought the only way to hit G-Gudi from Dandeli was via the Joida fork. Dont remember this. Almost 5-6 years since I went there myself.

[hvkumar]

Any news on the road widening between LOnda & Dharwad via Alnavar? Is it still very bad?

And the Joida-Anshi route to Karwar is bad all the way?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Any news on the road widening between LOnda & Dharwad via Alnavar? Is it still very bad?

And the Joida-Anshi route to Karwar is bad all the way?

The last update I read in a paper (Alnawar SH) was sometime in June about the road being really bad with many places filled with slush.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2535319

About the Anshi Ghat, I think its bad till the Kadra bypass. I think the roads been relayed to a certain extent till Karwar.

[airguitar]

Thanks, amp. HVK : the stretch is about 20-25 kms up until you've cossed Anshi ( news from locals; not brave enough to try joida - anshi coplete stretch ). No works happening on this stretch is what I heard.

Amp - handali is the checkpost(s) where the roads to Dandeli and G.Gudi branch off when you come from haliyal - a short distance from kesarolli cross wher the road from Haliyal and Yellapur to Dandeli meet.

To get to to G.gudi from Dandeli the shortest route is via Dandeli town - Barchi checkpost. If you are heading from haliyal to G.gudi, barchi is the third checkpoint you get ( after the dharwad - u.ka border and handali ).

[airguitar]

Does anyone know the Dandeli - Ulavi - Anshi road well enough to mark on wikimapia ? Ulavi - Anashi is a documented road ( even seen on google maps ).

However the road from Dandeli to Ulavi : You proceed along the Joida road from Dandeli, a few kms before Joida, there is a big arch that says "Sri Kshetra Ulavi" ( that's the same road as the Sintheri rocks road ) , you go along this road, thickly forested. This is the same road that heads towards Gund and Yaramukha : about 2 kms before Gund you take a right towards Ulavi. You have to proceed along this road and take a left diversion to go to Ulavi.

You don't have to take the left diversion to Ulavi if you're going to Anashi. The Ulavi Anashi stretch is documetedn both on wikimapia and MMI.

Please can someone who knows the road well enough mark the Dandeli - Gund - Yeramukha stretch and the Gund - Ulavi stretch ?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by airguitar

Does anyone know the Dandeli - Ulavi - Anshi road well enough to mark on wikimapia ? Ulavi - Anashi is a documented road ( even seen on google maps ).

While coming from Karwar/Kadra, once you climb through Anshi you would hit Kumbarwada and then followed by Joida.
Continue further for about 4-5 km and you would then see a Y junction.
One part of the fork would take you to Ganeshgudi/Ramnagar. The other part takes you Dandeli (via Ulavi)

Wikimapia link to the fork : link

(The center of the location points to the fork)

[airguitar]

Thanks, Amp, there is actually another road that you can take from Ulavi to Dandeli without having to go via Kumbharwada/Joida. I've taken this road, and I remember the names of the places ( mentioned in my post ). MMI shows the places like Gunda but doesn't draw the road connecting - this was the road I was enquiring about..

[ampere]

Originally Posted by airguitar

Thanks, Amp, there is actually another road that you can take from Ulavi to Dandeli without having to go via Kumbharwada/Joida. I've taken this road, and I remember the names of the places ( mentioned in my post ). MMI shows the places like Gunda but doesn't draw the road connecting - this was the road I was enquiring about..

@AG I may be mistaken. But I thought Ulavi is in between Joida and Dandeli,
Is it not the case?

[airguitar]

No Amp - it's not on the way. There's a direct route b/w Joida and Dandeli

[cool_dube]

This should put things in perspective

[zenx]

What's the best route to Gokarna from Bangalore these days? The one via Shimoga is tiring (rough patches, high beams on undivided highways), and the one via Sirsi is under repair bet Sirsi-Kumta, and the Haveri - Sirsi stretch has rough stretches and too many turns and forks.

I heard there's a short cut towards Yellapur-Ankola before Hubli itself. How's that road?

[kousik]

I am almost in Bangalore, on my way from Gokarna. Started after lunch yesterday. Took the Gokarna Honnavar Jog Shimoga route. I didn't find any rough patch. The honnvar to jog is newly done. And no potholes either. Yes it is undivided but traffic isn't heavy.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by zenx

What's the best route to Gokarna from Bangalore these days? The one via Shimoga is tiring (rough patches, high beams on undivided highways), and the one via Sirsi is under repair bet Sirsi-Kumta, and the Haveri - Sirsi stretch has rough stretches and too many turns and forks.

I heard there's a short cut towards Yellapur-Ankola before Hubli itself. How's that road?

I heard the route via Shimoga is good (in spite of being 2 lane) except for rough patch near Tarikere.
The short cut you are talking about must be the road which connects to Tadas cross (I am not sure which is the point you take a deviation from NH4). Roads in this part are generally bad, so it is worth going all the way to Hubli and take the Ankola road.
Another option would be to take a deviation at Bankapur and drive to Yellapur via Mundgaod (again the quality of road may be inconsistent)

[carlosTHEjackal]

Originally Posted by Guna

I heard the route via Shimoga is good (in spite of being 2 lane) except for rough patch near Tarikere.

This stretch has also been relaid with fresh layer of asphalt. So no rough roads from Bangalore to Shimoga. This is the latest update.