[smsrini]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

NH44 is the new name for NH7 under the Highways renumbering project.NH44 is going to run from Srinagar to Kanyakumari clubbing the following highways

{NH 1A (Srinagar-Jammu-Pathankot-Jalandhar) / NH 1 (Jalandhar-Ambala-Delhi) / NH 2 (Delhi-Agra) / NH 3 (Agra-Gwalior) / NH 75 (Gwalior-Datia-Jhansi) / NH 26 (Jhansi-Sagar-Lakhnadon) / NH 7 (Lakhnadon-Nagpur-Adilabad-Hyderabad--Bengaluru-Salem-Madurai-Kanyakumari)}

Aaah! that explains it.. but doesnt explain why parts of the highway are numbered NH7 and part of it as NH44. They could have as well put NH44 all the way..

[chikkars]

Originally Posted by smsrini

Drove back from Hyd this weekend ( Sunday ).

Overall 7 hrs driving time.

BTW, between Chikaballapur and Gooty, there are boards of NH44 for some reason. anyone know why ?

I drove down from Atp to B lore on Sunday too. Had the exact question about NH 44 and wanted to post it here. I looked up on the NHAI website but could not find anything. Wikipedia said NH44 is somewhere in the northeast, Shillong I suppose.

What I noticed is while on the way from B lore to Atp, I saw NH44 only till Bagepalli. Post that it showed NH7.

[ranjitp1]

The renumbering has just begun,so expect a mixture of all the numbers till it stabilises

[spadix]

Originally Posted by smsrini

The gooty bypass though not officially open, is ready. atleast one carriageway is operational and there is some traffic using this road.

This is good news! We did Hyd - Blr - Hyd last month and took the route through the town both times. Frustrating, to say the least.

It was OK when the rest of the NH wasn't 4-laned (last year and before that). But now, with everything else being that fantastic divided 4-lane the 20 km stretch before/through/after Gooty just gets on to your nerves .

This should easily cut down the 7-hour travel time to 6.5 (one-way).

Regards,
spadix

[cool_dube]

What is the latest on this route? Is the Gooty bypass ready?

[ranjitp1]

Gooty bypass is still not open,not a major pain,you might lose around 20minutes of time not more than that.Otherwise the road is excellent.

We did this route this week,left Hebbal Interchange at 530 in the morning,there is a Kamat Upchaar open now after Chikballapur,its a BP Ghar.Good food.Reached Shamshabad at 1330 with a 30minute break at Kamat.All other towns are bypassed.I suspect Gooty would take another month or so to be open as one side is ready.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Gooty bypass is still not open...

there is a Kamat Upchaar open now after Chikballapur...

Thanks for the update ranjitp1. I hope the bypass is done before I do this drive towards the third week of December. Also, is there any other eating joint after Kamat?

[ranjitp1]

No eating places after this,there is a Ravi Teja at Gooty,but it is best avoided,it is in a sorry state,carry food with you,depend on nature for answering nature's calls as even the BP pumps-the washrooms are mostly never clean,their reason is that they dont get enough water to keep it clean!!!!

[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Gooty bypass is still not open,not a major pain,you might lose around 20minutes of time not more than that.Otherwise the road is excellent.

We did this route this week,left Hebbal Interchange at 530 in the morning,there is a Kamat Upchaar open now after Chikballapur,its a BP Ghar.Good food.Reached Shamshabad at 1330 with a 30minute break at Kamat.All other towns are bypassed.I suspect Gooty would take another month or so to be open as one side is ready.

ranjitp1 it is good to hear all towns are bypassed except Goothy.Last time I went the Penukonda bypass was not ready.

[spadix]

Yeah it's only Gooty bypass that isn't ready. However, one of the two carriageways seems to be ready (ref: earlier post).

The last time I did this route was in mid-October. As Ranjit says, expect to lose 20 mins because of Gooty. Otherwise, the route's a charm. Shamshabad to Hebbal should take you no more than 6.5 - 7 hrs (of sedate driving) including minor breaks. It'll take longer if you stop to eat somewhere en route, of course. Some folks have done it in 5.5 hrs as well without putting in reckless speeds. The key for this is to start before 6 am in Hyderabad, so that the madness in Kurnool is still asleep as you pass the town.

It's best to carry your own F&B on this route. I've done this route a few times over the last 4 years and there's no point depending on highway outlets for the most part.

Regards,
spadix

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by spadix

Yeah it's only Gooty bypass that isn't ready. However, one of the two carriageways seems to be ready (ref: earlier post).

Gooty bypass is not officially open but I drove on it without any trouble. It is complete, except for a bridge at the south end (towards Bangalore).

[raghu230506]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Gooty bypass is not officially open but I drove on it without any trouble. It is complete, except for a bridge at the south end (towards Bangalore).

I drove this route (HYD - BLR) yesterday, they completely blocked the road (earlier there was a small opening, but not anymore).

One has to drive through Gooty for few more days.

[sriturl]

If I have to reach Rethibowli by taking PVN Expway from Shamshabad, is there a ramp to get off the flyover?
Do I need to go all the way to NMDC (assuming no U turn at SD hospital)
Or, ORR->Narsingi->Langarhouse route is advised?

thanks in advance.

[raghu230506]

Originally Posted by sriturl

If I have to reach Rethibowli by taking PVN Expway from Shamshabad, is there a ramp to get off the flyover?
Do I need to go all the way to NMDC (assuming no U turn at SD hospital)
Or, ORR->Narsingi->Langarhouse route is advised?

thanks in advance.

I took this only yesterday, it's horrible flyover.

Coming back to your query there are no intermediate ramps on this flyover. You would only exit at Mehdipatnam. But there would absolutely no traffic, I would suggest decide based on the time you reach Hyd.

I can't comment on the traffic beneath the flyover as I hardly take this route.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by sriturl

If I have to reach Rethibowli by taking PVN Expway from Shamshabad, is there a ramp to get off the flyover?

No, there are no entry/exit ramps yet. As Raghu has observed, the expressway isn't the smoothest and the outer lanes are pretty narrow, but I'd still take the expressway over the road underneath unless it's very early (or very late) hours because it's so fast/convenient compared to the other options (even the ORR one).

Originally Posted by sriturl

Do I need to go all the way to NMDC (assuming no U turn at SD hospital)
Or, ORR->Narsingi->Langarhouse route is advised?

IIRC there's no U-turn immediately after getting off of PVNR. Earlier there used to be a U-turn at NMDC but I think it's blocked now (not 100% sure). I confess I have not heard of SD hospital, but if it's anywhere before NMDC then there's no U-turn from what I've seen.

ORR -> Gachibowli -> Tolichowki is an option which will work very well unless you have to face peak AM/PM traffic (gets bad at Gachibowli Jn, Rayadurgam and Tolichowki).

Regards,
spadix