[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Sommos

Last time i traveled on this route, the Jalna by-pass was in terrible condition.
Any news of the same being repaired.

No update on its repairs, but those who went on it recently have not complained. In any case, it is a small bypass.

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

No update on its repairs, but those who went on it recently have not complained. In any case, it is a small bypass.

Since none have complained, hope the road must have been repaired.
Agreed Sir, that it is a small portion compared to the whole journey, but it was the most horrible streach between Nagpur-Aurangabad. In case the travel was in a sedan or a hatch, it was sufficient to shake the car and the occupants.

[Meer]

I am planning to go to Nagpur this Saturday. The route I will follow as per various suggestions is Pune - Ahmadnagar - Jalna - Mehkar - Karanja - Amravati - Nagpur. Anyone traveled on this route recently and have some updates to share? The last time I did the route was few years ago.

Also, any recommended places to stop on the way for food / snacks. I have been to Smilestone innumerable times, so that's a known stop.

I will share my experiences once I am back

[parsh]

Originally Posted by Meer

I am planning to go to Nagpur this Saturday. The route I will follow as per various suggestions is Pune - Ahmadnagar - Jalna - Mehkar - Karanja - Amravati - Nagpur. Anyone traveled on this route recently and have some updates to share? The last time I did the route was few years ago.

Also, any recommended places to stop on the way for food / snacks. I have been to Smilestone innumerable times, so that's a known stop.

I will share my experiences once I am back

Pune - Nagar is decent 4 lane with intermittent traffic.
Jalna - Mehkar is the worst part of the stretch but doable at decent average speeds. Mehkar bypass is nearly done/tarred, except for a bridge from the entry side which was holding it to be open to the traffic but not sure if that bridge is done now. You could earlier take road upto center of town and divert to half bypass at the junction.
Mehkar - Karanja - Amravati is decent 2 laned but needs careful driving.
Amravati - Nagpur 150 kms is the the cream...you can just breeze through the super highway bypass.

Alternatively, you could also think
Pune - Nagar - Aurangabad - Sillod - Buldana - Botha Forest (amazing 2 laned road through forest) - Khamgaon (bypass) - Akola (bypass) - Amravati (bypass) - Nagpur.
Distance should work out 10-20kms +/-. Khamgaon to Amravati is decent 2 laned road you can get good average speed.

We always carry food with self and stop at a roadside Rasvanti (Ganna Juice) so can't comment on any food places. But did not spot very good ones on either routes.

[shabahmad]

I completed a round trip from Pune to Durg.
Pune-Jalna:
Avoid Nagar By-Pass is you are going towards Aurangabad, its recomended only for Shirdi, Nashik Travellers.
Jalna By-Pass: initial 100-200 mtrs are left to be filled, rest is good.
Jalna-Sindkhed: Top layer of road is completely gone, with big craters. Had a heated argument with Toll Operator and didnt paid toll.
Sindhkhed-Mehkar-Malegaon: Road work is going on at many places, Still route is a breeze to drive. Mehkar Bypass is complete.
Malegaon-Karanja-Wardha-Nagpur: Road till pulgaon is still smooth and road work between pulgaon-Wardha-Butibori is going. Once completed it would be smooth drive.
Nagpur-Raipur: NH6: New 4 lane Road is Fantastic, completed Nagpur-Durg in 3 hrs 15 mins. Less toll amount per KM than MH state roads.

Recomended Stops:
SmileStone Before Nagar;
Vithal Kamat on Aurangabad-Jalna;
Maa Bhagwati Restaurant at Karanja: Good Food with clean toilet, behind reliance Fuel station.

Lots of new restaurants and Fuel stations are coming after Mehkar.

[Meer]

Many thanks Parsh and Shabahmad, I will be returning to pune tomorrow. Shabahmad has detailed the feedback for each section. I will add mine once I get back.

[sudeep.pandya]

Originally Posted by parsh

Alternatively, you could also think
Pune - Nagar - Aurangabad - Sillod - Buldana - Botha Forest (amazing 2 laned road through forest) - Khamgaon (bypass) - Akola (bypass) - Amravati (bypass) - Nagpur.

The Jalna - Mehkar - Karanja route is quite frustrating to drive.

This time I am thinking of this alternative route (Sillod - Buldana), how about traffic on this route? Did you find the route better than the usual Jalna - Karanja road?

[parsh]

Originally Posted by sudeep.pandya

The Jalna - Mehkar - Karanja route is quite frustrating to drive.

This time I am thinking of this alternative route (Sillod - Buldana), how about traffic on this route? Did you find the route better than the usual Jalna - Karanja road?

Yes Sillod-Buldana was much better in those times for both traffic as well as road conditions.

However, Mehekar bypass is reportedly completed. But don't know about betterment of other portion. If Jalna Karanja stretch is better now it may turn out to be good route too.

[sudeep.pandya]

Originally Posted by parsh

Yes Sillod-Buldana was much better in those times for both traffic as well as road conditions.

However, Mehekar bypass is reportedly completed. But don't know about betterment of other portion. If Jalna Karanja stretch is better now it may turn out to be good route too.

Thanks parsh. I am a bit in mood to explore other roads as the drive is going to be a laid back kind of I will not be in a hurry, so a scenic route makes more sense I guess.

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

No update on its repairs, but those who went on it recently have not complained. In any case, it is a small bypass.

Few weeks back i Drove down from Satna to Pune Via this route and Jalna bypass is still in shambles.
From Nagpur to Sindkhed Raja/Lonar road is manageable but road gets worse before 30 kms from Jalna.
Only relief is there are no tolls from NGP to Jalna now.

Shubhendra

[sudeep.pandya]

Okay so took the Aurangabad-Sillod-Buldhana-Khamgaon-Amravati Road

Horrendous road condition from Aurangabad-Sillod-Buldhana with bikes all over and no traffic sense. Complete rural areas where u can achieve an avg speed no more than 40 km/h. Large craters and sometimes no roads at all.

Buldhana-Khamgaon, good narrow winding roads with minimal traffic with some sudden large craters waiting to surprise you.

Khamgaon-Amravati is a typical Indian highway with a plethora of trucks dominating the way and some bottleneck bridges creating jams. Avg speed not more than 50-55 km/h.

It took me almost 8 hours to complete Aurangabad-Amravati (The above mentioned route is not at all recommended)

Not to mention, Amravati to Nagpur feels like a consolation prize


Sent from my iPhone using Team-BHP

[parsh]

Just did Pune - Nagpur via Nagar - Aurangabad - Sillod - Buldana - Khamgaon - Amravati yesterday, started from Pune 12 PM and with heavy traffic on Nagar road, worst conditions of roads in between and few food breaks, managed to reach Nagpur at 2:20 AM finally.

Have to absolutely agree with Sudeep above. Best way is to avoid the Aur - Sillod - Buldana route.

This very particular stretch of route is completely unimaginably devastated, having done both Sillod and Jalna routes for a trip to Nagpur (from and to in the same trip) in Oct-Nov 2012 in very good condition compared to now. It was much better bet than Jalna earlier. But now, I have to say Jalna route would be the best bet with such horrendous conditions of this route.

Strictly avoid Nagar Bypass, its a non-existent road and don't go on the Big Blue Bypass Directions for the same. I am sure Nagar city drive will be much better even if through traffic.

The earlier nice pleasant Aur-Sillod-Buldana road too is gone with deadly craters and very small stretch of road for good road in-between.

Then onwards it is much better route. Although spotted a very few small craters on the Botha Forest stretch this time which was butter smooth earlier and was easily managed even in the late night hours.

Some part of Amravati - Nagpur Expressway is missing lane and road border lines and so sometimes can be dicey with blind turns coming up, otherwise, that is still the creamy part of the route. It saved me atleast 30 minutes of reaching Nagpur.

I must caution that, Just Do Not take Aur - Sillod - Buldana route even for an Adventure but only if you must for your personal purposes.

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by parsh

Just did Pune - Nagpur via Nagar - Aurangabad - Sillod - Buldana - Khamgaon - Amravati yesterday, started from Pune 12 PM and with heavy traffic on Nagar road, worst conditions of roads in between and few food breaks, managed to reach Nagpur at 2:20 AM finally.

Thank God, I did not take that route while travelling to Goa via Pune.

I thought of taking this route as it was so preferred on this forum, but finally decided to stick to the Nagpur-Amravati-Karanja-Mehkar-Jalna-Aurangabad route because it was known to me and I've travelled in this route earlier.

I crossed Nagpur around 4:30/5:00 in the morning and reached the outskirts of Aurangabad just before 1:00PM and stopped for lunch.

The details are posted here : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ad-bhilai.html

[deoelect]

Did this route a week back. Took the Aurangabad-Nagar-Jalna-Mehkar-Karanja-Wardha route while going towards Nagpur and the Nagpur-Amravati-Karanja-Mehkar-Jalna-Aurangabad road while coming back. I'd suggest to avoid the Wardha route as the road after Karanja is not in a very good condition and driving there is anything but pleasant. Had to take this route as I had to attend to some commitments in Wardha.

While returning,the drive is pretty decent overall with the bad stretches being Mehkar-jalna and the Nagar bypass. I second the general opinion about avoiding the Nagar bypass as its in a terrible shape. The traffic department has put up at least 5-6 signboards advising travellers to take the bypass and boy what a royal mess it is in!! Learnt a hard lesson there(took ~40 minutes to cover 6 kms). Took ~15 hours for the onward journey and ~13 hours for the return.

[asit.kulkarni93]

Hi guys,

I might have to travel to Akola in the next week. I would be mostly riding there on my Fazer. As far as I have been suggested, I should be taking the Nagar- Aurangabad - Jalna- Akola route. Is there is any other route? How is the availability of restaurants and fuel stations after aurangabad? It will be my first long distance solo ride. I have been going for group rides within 200kms from pune. Will the road condition help me completing this in a day?

Mods- Couldn't find a separate thread for pune-akola route so posted here.

Thanks,

Asit