| Re: Road Condition Update - Mumbai - Lonar - Aurgangabad - Mumbai
Road Condition Update - Navi Mumbai - Lonar - Navi Mumbai (via Talegaon Bypass - Ahmednagar - Aurangabad - Jalna)
Bumping up this thread.
I visited Lonar last weekend, i.e. 11th to 13th Feb 2017. I had been long wanting to visit Lonar crater and I am glad I could finally make it there. Lonar has amazed me more than any other place.
Following are the details of the trip.
Travelers: Me and my wife
Total distance covered: 1050 kms (including few kms of local sightseeing)
Car: Maruti Suzuki Celerio VXI CNG+Petrol
Toll expenses: Only toll paid at expressway - Rs.195/- one way (Rs. 390/- for round trip)
Fuel expenses: Consumed approx. 7 kgs of CNG at Rs. 300/- which lasted for 250 kms. at an average mileage of 35.7 kms per kg. Consumed approx. 34 litres of petrol at Rs. 2,600/- for 800 kms at an average mileage of 23.5 kmpl. Total fuel expense was Rs. 2,900/- for entire trip.
Staying expense: MTDC resort 2 nights tariff for AC Deluxe Room - Rs. 4300/- including all taxes.
Food expenses: MTDC Food bill - Rs. 1210/-. Other food expenses en route - approx Rs. 800/- (on a higher side).
Route taken:
-Mumbai Pune Express way, exit at 2nd toll (Talegaon toll)
-Talegaon - Chakan upto Shikrapur junction/chowk on Pune Ahmednagar Highway
-Crossed Ahmednagar city (did not take bypass as recommended by fellow TBHPians)
-Bypass Aurangabad via Golwadi bypass & Beed bypass road (google maps will show this road by default)
-Bypass Jalna via Kanhaiya Nagar to connect onto Aurangabad Nagpur road
-Crossed Sindkhed Raja, Dusrabid and continued further straight to Bibi and Sultanpur where I took right turn towards Lonar. Please note google maps will show a village road from Dusrabid directly to Lonar which will reduce travel distance by 12 kms. I took this village road while returning.
11th Feb 2017 - Navi Mumbai to Lonar - 513 kms - 11 hrs 45 mins
1. 7:15AM - Started from Navi Mumbai
2. 8:15AM - Reached Food Court just after Khalapur Toll. Stopped for breakfast.
3. 11:30AM - Stopped for 10 mins at a restaurant somewhere between Pune and Ahmednagar.
4. 12:30PM - Stopped for lunch at Smilestone restaurant which is just 24 kms short of Ahmednagar. This place was highly recommended by several TBHP members and it is definitely worth. Clean washrooms, good food and the weather was pleasant too. Try the sugarcane juice here. Left smilestone exactly at 1 PM.
5. 4:05PM - 10 mins break. Stopped at Hotel Amritsar Punjab on the highway between Aurangabad and Jalna.
6. 7:00PM - Reached MTDC Resort at Lonar.
12th Feb 2017 - Sightseeing at Lonar
Visited Lonar crater and did some local sightseeing. For visiting the crater which is bang opposite MTDC resort, we started at 7:15AM from the resort and walked down the crater rim. I had hired a guide whose name was Shailesh Sardar. We were back at the resort by 10AM. The weather was pleasant early in the morning and hence it was less tiring. In the evening between 5PM and 7PM, we visited Daitya Sudan temple, Gou Mukh and Sleeping Hanuman temple, all of these are located in the village itself. At Daitya Sudan temple, I met the retired school principal Mr. Sudarshan Bugdane who has written a guide book on Lonar with some useful information in it. Spoke to him for sometime.
13th Feb 2017 - Lonar to Navi Mumbai - 501 kms - 11 hrs 30 mins
1. 7:45AM - Started from MTDC Lonar
2. 10:15AM - Stopped for breakfast at Food Junction on Jalna Aurangabad highway. This is a nice place with good food (we had breakfast), clean, polite staff. I think this restaurant is newly built. When we went, there were no other customers but the service was fairly quick and the food was freshly prepared. Highly recommended place for a food break.
3. 2:00PM - Stopped at Smilestone restaurant just after Ahmednagar city. Started from there at 2:45PM.
4. 2:50PM - Stopped at Autocare HP COCO pump for refuelling which is just 8kms from smilestone when travelling towards Pune.
5. 5:40PM - Stopped at first food court (HP Pump) on Pune-Mumbai expressway while travelling towards Mumbai. Took a 10 mins break.
6. 7:15PM - Reached home in Navi Mumbai.
Road & Traffic Conditions:
1. Talegaon Chakan bypass road - Overall road condition is good. There are 3-4 completely broken patches of road where tar is non-existent. Heavy truck traffic will keep slowing you down. This is the most boring stretch in the entire journey.
2. Shikrapur chowk to Ahmednagar city - Average roads. 2 lane road but whenever road passes through a village it becomes single lane or one and half lane! Villages will slow you down. Open stretches of road are in good condition with some stretches having broken tarmac and in many places the road surface was patched up so the surface is uneven and at high speeds in a small car it can get slightly bumpy. However there were no sudden surprises like potholes anywhere. The ghat section was very good with butter smooth extra wide roads! Most of the traffic lights in Ahmednagar city were not functioning and it was a free for all situation. At the junctions where traffic lights were working I saw cops! No cops at junctions where traffic lights were not working.
3. Ahmednagar to Aurangabad - There were diversions at 2 places on this road for short stretches where the traffic is one way. In these stretches, the road condition is below average with lots of broken tarmac and uneven surfaces that will restrict speeds till 50-60 kmph. While going towards Aurangabad, road is in average condition with very few stretches having freshly asphalted surface. The other side of the road towards Ahmednagar is much better as most of the stretch is freshly asphalted.
4. Aurangabad Bypass - Once we took a right onto Golwadi bypass road, speeds reduced to 20-30 kmph! Situation worsened after a few kms and at most places even bigger trucks had to slow down as roads were full of big potholes and broken tarmac. However, when we took the right turn onto Beed bypass road, the situation improved drastically and roads were very smooth for the rest of the bypass till we hit Aurangabad - Jalna road.
5. Aurangabad to Jalna - I would rate this stretch as the best of the lot! The road is 2 lane all the way up to Jalna and quite smooth with hardly any uneven surfaces. We could make up some lost time on this stretch. Traffic is thin after Aurangabad bypass.
6. Jalna Bypass - Google map hows 2 bypass roads, one via Kanhaiya Nagar and other one passing next to Moti Talab. I took the Kanhaiya Nagar one as advised by HVK sir. Overall road conditions are poor but manageable. Road is quite wide and traffic is thin. In fact, at some stretches, we were the only ones driving! Watch out for some mini craters especially at the junctions/turns!
7. Jalna to Sindkhed Raja - Road is single lane but surprisingly in quite good condition. I could clock 90 kmph on this road on an open stretch! Traffic is thin with mostly 2 wheelers and jeep taxis ferrying local people.
8. Sindkhed Raja to Lonar via Sultanpur - Road is single lane and in average codition. Broken tarmac, road surface has been patched up at many places making the ride bumpy. Speed breakers will test the car's suspension. Need to go slow over these. Some road work was going on at Dusrabid. By the time we reached Sultanpur, it was dark. But the road from Sultanpur to Lonar was quite good. However there is a lot of truck traffic on this stretch (as mentioned to me by HVK sir).
Alternate route between Dusrabid and Lonar (to bypass Sultanpur) - Google map by default shows a shortcut via a village road from Dusrabid directly to Lonar. I took this route while returning and was pleasantly surprised by the good quality of asphalting at several stretches. The road is quite narrow as one has to slow down if a vehicle comes from opposite direction. But traffic is ultra thin (almost negligible). This route is almost 12 kms shorter than the usual route via Sultanpur. At one place, a small bridge was under repair and a wide enough dirt road had been created for vehicles to pass. Otherwise, the road is good.
Stay at MTDC:
Although MTDC is doing a fairly decent job by running the show at Lonar, It needs to still improve cleanliness especially when it comes to their kitchen, canteen area and crockery. The plates, glasses, cups were not clean and the food can also improve a bit, not from the POV of taste, but from the POV of hygiene. Rooms were in good shape however, bathroom fittings need an overhaul. Although I paid tariff for 2 people’s stay, we were accompanied by 2 lizards in our room for our 2 day stay! Indian Langurs (monkeys) play around in the resort premises during the day. Peacocks and peahens roam around in the resort campus and there are many stray dogs and a puppy in the campus. Staff is co-operative and polite.
I will be posting some photos of the roads (screenshots of the video footage captured by my dashcam). Hope this update helps all those looking to do this circuit in the near future. | 
18th August 2009, 17:33
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