Thank you, theMAG, for kind information. BTW, I enjoyed your photographs.

[sdp1975]

How are the latest road conditions ? How long long would it approximately take from Bangalore ?

Planning a trip in November.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

How are the latest road conditions ? How long long would it approximately take from Bangalore ?

Planning a trip in November.

I had been to Bijapur last weekend from Hassan. I went through Hiriyur and Chitradurga which is a common point for Bangalore-Bijapur traffic.

My route was Hassan-Chitradurga-Hospet-Bijapur

Road Conditions:

Bangalore-Tumkur-Hiriyur-Chitradurga: 4 laned road all the way. Road works are happening and traffic is diverted to service roads, but good smooth surface

Chitradurga-Hospet: Initially potholed but decent 2 laned Highway. Lots of truck traffic though. Good till about 2-3 kms before Hospet bypass.

Hospet bypass: Bad. Lots of potholes and trucks.The 2 railway crossings at the 2 ends of the bypass make it even worse. We were stuck behind a huge line of trucks (for almost the whole length of the bypass). This was around 1-1.30 pm.

Hospet-Bijapur: Potholed and lots of diversions for about 10 kms from the Hospet bypass (till the deviation to Koppal/Hubli). Once you pass this junction, you have beautiful 4 lane roads all the way to Bijapur.

There are 4 toll booths between Hospet-Bijapur, the first two after Hospet are not yet collecting toll (still on trial). The next 2 are collecting Rs.70 and Rs.40 respectively.

One irritant on this 4 laned section is that there are speed breakers at many junctions. What these speed breakers are doing on a tolled 4 lane road, I don't know.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Hospet-Bijapur: Potholed and lots of diversions for about 10 kms from the Hospet bypass (till the deviation to Koppal/Hubli). Once you pass this junction, you have beautiful 4 lane roads all the way to Bijapur.

Wow! We are talking full 4-lane of about 200 km all the way from Hospet to Bijapur. Awesome. That gives many alternative options for multiple routing requirements. Nice!

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by ampere

Wow! We are talking full 4-lane of about 200 km all the way from Hospet to Bijapur. Awesome. That gives many alternative options for multiple routing requirements. Nice!

This 4 lane road is very much a blessing given the amount of truck traffic it sees. The 4 lane road ends once you reach Bijapur Ring road junction. I traveled the whole length of this bypass till the point where the old Solapur road joins from Bijapur city and did not see any activity to widen this road.

I'm sure this route (NH 13) too sees a lot of truck traffic as seen and compared to NH 4. IMHO, the authorities should widen the whole stretch between Chitradurga and Hospet and beyond to 4 lane

[maximus.]

Great to hear 4 lane road in place between Hospet - Bijapur.

Any updates on the road conditions between Bijapur- Solapur-Pandharpur?

[Nkryptor]

All,

I will be driving from Bangalore to Bijapur on the 8th. If there are any updates on the road conditions please keep this thread alive. Will be leaving early, say around 5 am from Bangalore.

Two options that see are Blr - chitradurga - hospet - almatti - bijapur or Blr - chitradurga - hubli - bagalkot - bijapur .

Either would have been a breeze if I was driving alone. But it would be with wife and two little girls one at 7 years and another just 7 months :-).

Any suggestions and updates are welcome.

Thanks

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Nkryptor

Any suggestions and updates are welcome.

Both roads are good. Just that getting Hospet can be a big pain. Road condition deteriorates on the bypass. If you are going via Hubli, its good roads all the way. But as per what I see in Google its about 80km more.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by Nkryptor

Two options that see are Blr - chitradurga - hospet - almatti - bijapur or Blr - chitradurga - hubli - bagalkot - bijapur .

I would suggest the 2nd option for the reason that the 2nd option has 120kms of 2lane road between Chitradurga and Hospet, while the 1st option has 200kms of it between Hubli and Bijapur.

[amit.toshniwal]

Hi Nkryptor

I too driving to Bijapur on 8th Aug 2013 with family.

I have heard that only between Chitradurga to Hospet the highway is little congested and two lane. Apart from that if you start early it should be fine.

On the other highway via hubli it is 100 Km more plus the road between Bagalkot-Bijapur is too pot hole ridden due to rains

Any suggestions or inputs guys?

Thanks
AT

[condor]

@Amit, pls proceed on your current route via Chitradurga, Hospet.

Not much options for food near the highway after Chitradurga, all the way upto Bijapur - except inside Hospet city.

[Nkryptor]

Originally Posted by amit.toshniwal

Hi Nkryptor

I too driving to Bijapur on 8th Aug 2013 with family.

I have heard that only between Chitradurga to Hospet the highway is little congested and two lane. Apart from that if you start early it should be fine.

On the other highway via hubli it is 100 Km more plus the road between Bagalkot-Bijapur is too pot hole ridden due to rains

Any suggestions or inputs guys?

Thanks
AT

I Guess I will look for your inputs on your travel. My dates just moved to possibly the 9th. Assuming that's a holiday I figure most of the trucking community would be celebrating and most of the traffic would be families. On the other hand I could end up with holiday traffic on the stretch. Decisions Decisions .

[Nkryptor]

Hey Amit. Quick note.

My bro took the same route today. He left bangalore around 11 am and reached around 9:30 pm. The road between chitradurga and hospet is apparently doable at around 80s now. However he did advise that there is a 5 km stretch after hospet up the hill which is under construction and slow traffic. Apparently spent 45 mins just for that 5 kms

Blr to Cdurga :- Great
Cdurga to Hospet :- Doable
Hospet to Bijapur :- Great

Safe travels to you on the 8th. Would be great if you keep this thread updated.

[condor]

There's a tunnel being constructed at Hospet, where traffic slows down. The Hospet - Bijapur section is so good that it will more than make up for this part.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by amit.toshniwal

Any suggestions or inputs guys?

Just to add to what @condor mentioned, many parts of NH13 have been 4-laned. That includes north of Hospet to Bijapur. So all now that needs to be taken care off how to wade through Hospet bypass.