[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by Tharle Subba

Took a good hour and a half to cross the airport. Quick note, the road expansion work seems to have kicked off near Chickballapur, with a couple of diversions. A lot of rumblers have mushroomed enroute Anantapur. Nonetheless, an uneventful journey till Hyderabad, with good to excellent road conditions from Kurnool to Jadcherla. From Jadcherla till Aramgarh and beyond, is nothing short of a wrestling match. Reached the destination Balanagar by 8 p.m.

That was one heck of a fast drive in both directions! Can you please elaborate on the new diversions and rumblers between Chickballapur and Anantapur?

Also, was there lots of bus traffic in your return trip at night?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Tharle Subba

Quick note, the road expansion work seems to have kicked off near Chickballapur, with a couple of diversions.

Definitely high on endurance. But please do take care and consider rest when body gives you its judgement.

Also what is this expansion which you were referring to around Chikkaballapur?

[nagarjun]

Originally Posted by ampere

Definitely high on endurance. But please do take care and consider rest when body gives you its judgement.

Also what is this expansion which you were referring to around Chikkaballapur?

I don't think its an expansion. They are just building a vehicular under pass for local traffic movement. But it is still 2 lanes on each side. So its not part of that news that came recently about making the road 6lanes upto Kurnool from Bangalore or even the brown-field upgrade as a part of Bangalore-Vijayawada expressway.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by nagarjun

I don't think its an expansion. They are just building a vehicular under pass for local traffic movement. But it is still 2 lanes on each side. So its not part of that news that came recently about making the road 6lanes upto Kurnool from Bangalore or even the brown-field upgrade as a part of Bangalore-Vijayawada expressway.

The Bangalore Vijayawada Highway I think starts from some where near KA-AP border. I think around Penukonda. But not sure if there has been development on that front.

[nagarjun]

Originally Posted by ampere

The Bangalore Vijayawada Highway I think starts from some where near KA-AP border. I think around Penukonda. But not sure if there has been development on that front.

Bangalore Vijayawada expressway has two parts. One being the greenfield road from KA-AP border near Kodikonda to somewhere near the outskirts of Vijayawada. The second part is brownfield upgrade of NH-44 from Devanahalli-STRR junction to the starting point of the greenfield expressway. So far the tenders seems to have been only awarded to the greenfield portions and not sure if the actual work has started or not.

I travel in these parts quite a bit and was hoping the NH-44 gets an upgrade. Its getting quite saturated at least upto the KA border with lots of slow moving trucks hogging right lane, slow local traffic on the remaining lanes. The average speeds have come down. I remember comfortably using cruise control around 100kmph and nowadays you can hardly use it.

Some additional details for anyone interested in: https://themetrorailguy.com/nhai-ben...status-update/

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by ampere

Also what is this expansion which you were referring to around Chikkaballapur?

I did not spot any expansion work when i drove down to Bangalore on 18th-Feb. I guess it is slated to start soon, going by posts by other members.

It took me 8 hours 10 minutes door to door from Somajiguda in Hyderbabad to Doddakanelli in Bangalore. I guess an early morning start at 3 AM and the fact that it was a Sunday helped shave off nearly an hour from the drive. I stopped at a couple of places--a loo visit at the BPCL COCO bunk at Kasepalli toll, and a breakfast halt at Aroma Elite after crossing Anantapur. Total break time was around 35 minutes.

The diversion for 3 kms after Jadcherla is still there, where opposite direction traffic drives in our lane, and cones are placed in the middle. I discovered one more diversion like this after Bhuthpur, where we had to drive on the opposite lane for 4 kms.

This one did slow me down because a lorry in front knocked down a traffic cone and that came right under my Ecosport. I did not slam the brakes as there was another SUV right behind me, and there was no room for that to overtake me due to the partition by cones. Sadly, that cone got stuck under my car and was getting dragged along on the road. I stopped and put on the hazard lights, and tried to pull out the pointed part of the cone that was under the engine guard. But the wider base was stuck. Neither could I push it backwards.

As traffic behind me was getting impatient in the pitch dark condition, I had no option but to drag the cone at slow speed till the diversion ended after around 4 kms. In the process, I could hear it getting dislodged and getting stuck in the middle part of the car, and later in the rear part, and finally it got dislodged. The SUV behind might have had a full view of it and could easily avoid it. As soon as the diversion ended, I pulled over and had a brief check under the car, to the extent visible. Did not find anything amiss thankfully, so I could continue the drive. I'm thanking my stars for the GC of the Ecosport. I'll have the underbody examined next week when the car goes for its annual service.

[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I did not spot any expansion work when i drove down to Bangalore on 18th-Feb. I guess it is slated to start soon, going by posts by other members.

.

I also drove from Banglore to Hyderabad last week end .
There are 2 diversion for bridge construction looks like an under pass after Chikaballapur. I did not notice any road expansion .
The diversion after Bhutpur towards Jarcherla the work seem to be quite slow.
The traffic pile up was close to 2 kms before diversion at around 8.30pm and lots of car overtaking from the left most lane. Lost about 20mins in this place .

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by gajadonga

I also drove from Banglore to Hyderabad last week end .
There are 2 diversion for bridge construction looks like an under pass after Chikaballapur. I did not notice any road expansion .
The diversion after Bhutpur towards Jarcherla the work seem to be quite slow.
The traffic pile up was close to 2 kms before diversion at around 8.30pm and lots of car overtaking from the left most lane. Lost about 20mins in this place .

Is there any way to avoid those 2 bottlenecks? I am planning to start my return trip after lunch tomorrow, so I guess I will be at those places around 8:30 to 9 PM.

Also, please suggest a good bunk to top up diesel after crossing Nandi Upachar.

[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Is there any way to avoid those 2 bottlenecks? I am planning to start my return trip after lunch tomorrow, so I guess I will be at those places around 8:30 to 9 PM.

Also, please suggest a good bunk to top up diesel after crossing Nandi Upachar.

Usually I topup the fuel before entering the Chikaballapur bypass you have a speed breaker after crossing this and into the Chikkaballapur bypass there is a fuel station on the left side HP bunk. Normally from here after topup of fuel its a non stop drive to Hyderabad.

To avoid Bhuthpur to Jadcherla traffic pileup due to diversion you can try this route.

When you are coming from Kurnool and at Bhuthpur take the service road and take a left towards Mahabubnagar. At Yenugonda rural (Christianpally) take the right turn towards Palakonda and towards Yenugonda.
At Yenugonda take the right turn to reach Jadcherla. It is four lane throughout from Bhuthpur - Yenugonda upto Jadcherla. This route is 7kms more than Bhuthpur - Jadcherla route

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by gajadonga

Usually I topup the fuel before entering the Chikaballapur bypass you have a speed breaker after crossing this and into the Chikkaballapur bypass there is a fuel station on the left side HP bunk. Normally from here after topup of fuel its a non stop drive to Hyderabad.

To avoid Bhuthpur to Jadcherla traffic pileup due to diversion you can try this route.

When you are coming from Kurnool and at Bhuthpur take the service road and take a left towards Mahabubnagar. At Yenugonda rural (Christianpally) take the right turn towards Palakonda and towards Yenugonda.
At Yenugonda take the right turn to reach Jadcherla. It is four lane throughout from Bhuthpur - Yenugonda upto Jadcherla. This route is 7kms more than Bhuthpur - Jadcherla route

Thanks, but I did not have to use that detour yesterday, as there was not much of a delay on the diversions. There is a new diversion near Kothakota (few kms before Food Pyramid while traveling to Hyd from Blr). This is around 4 kms where one has to drive on the other side of the divider. The one I had faced during my onward trip, where the nasty cone came under my car, was not there--so it looks like the road has been resurfaced over the past 5 days.

Compared to the onward trip to BLR on Sunday, that took a driving time of 7 hours 45 minutes, the return yesterday took 8 hours 10 minutes for the same 588 kms. The extra 25 minutes was mainly due to some amount of traffic towards Hebbal from Sarjapur Road, and due to a 10 minute congestion at Khairatabad, close to my flat. Had I not started my trip at 13:20, I guess the trip to Hebbal would have taken a lot longer.

Door to door was 8 hrs 15 minutes on the onward trip, including breaks totalling 30 minutes, and 9 hours 20 minutes on the return trip, including breaks of 55 minutes for chai and snacks, apart from topping up fuel at Nayara bunk after Chikballapur.

[Tharle Subba]

Originally Posted by Revvatron

Woah, so you reached Hyderabad at 8 pm and within couple of hours started back again. That is some endurance. Also highlights the quality of highway which doesn't exhaust the driver physically too much

Yes Sir, had to rush back as I was short on time. But as you said, the quality of the road is great, however, not as good as it used to be.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

That was one heck of a fast drive in both directions! Can you please elaborate on the new diversions and rumblers between Chickballapur and Anantapur?

Also, was there lots of bus traffic in your return trip at night?

Hi Sir, I usually avoid driving beyond 95-100 kmph, but I guess consistent speeds help in munching miles. I may not be in a position to point out the exact location of the rumblers, but almost every other crossing/junction now has rumblers. Some are marked, while some are not.

Originally Posted by ampere

Definitely high on endurance. But please do take care and consider rest when body gives you its judgement.

Also what is this expansion which you were referring to around Chikkaballapur?

Yes Sir, I usually pull over for a quick nap even if I have the slightest hint of sleep. Since I mostly drive at nights, this is my thumb rule. But will definitely heed to your advice.

The expansion that I noticed was immediately after the Chikkaballapur crossing. However, like other members have pointed out, I have probably misconstrued the local expansion work for the highway expansion.

Originally Posted by nagarjun

I don't think its an expansion. They are just building a vehicular under pass for local traffic movement. But it is still 2 lanes on each side. So its not part of that news that came recently about making the road 6lanes upto Kurnool from Bangalore or even the brown-field upgrade as a part of Bangalore-Vijayawada expressway.

My apologies, Sir. Since they were also laying lanes on each side and building the underpass, I believed it was part of the road expansion. Thank you for clearing the confusion.

[balenoed_]

Any good breakfast eatery recommendations after Devanahalli and around Chikkaballapur, apart from Nandi grand.

[ampere]

There is news doing rounds that Bellary Road will be upgraded to 10-lane from Devanahalli to AP border.

I am guessing this may be in line to provide a connectivity to the new Bangalore-Vijayawada expressway. This basically means a road expansion beyond STRR at Devanahalli to the KA-AP border at Penukonda where the new Expressway comes to life. (This expressway has also gone into construction)


https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../106412724.cms

[NPV]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Any good breakfast eatery recommendations after Devanahalli and around Chikkaballapur, apart from Nandi grand.

I don’t remember any that are good after Nandi Upachar at Devanahalli. Cube stop in the Bharat petroleum bunk campus near chikballapur is a mini food court that has a couple of outlets that are avoidable.

If you can drive up to Anantpur there’s a newish Paakashala outlet (belongs to Vasudev adiga group who also own the Nandi upachar brand).

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by NPV

If you can drive up to Anantpur there’s a newish Paakashala outlet (belongs to Vasudev adiga group who also own the Nandi upachar brand).

I am diverting just after Chikkaballapur towards Avalabetta. Just saw Cube, is that quite bad? Any South Indian outlets inside?Photos/ambience looks not that bad.