Team-BHP - Mumbai-Shirdi:Current Conditions of NH-3 & Goti BP

Did Mumbai-Igatpuri-Goti BP-Sinnar-Shirdi yday and in the return took the Shirdi-Sinnar-Nasik-NH-3-Igatpuri-Mumbai route.

The Bypass route is a mess with roads chipped off for almost a large part of the route.Cannot go beyond 40kmph.The railway crossing is a mess & so is the drive through Goti market.Took 2 hours to reach Sinnar from Goti.My recco completely avoid this route till the roads are relaid.The best part is the cheekiness of MSRDC to collect a toll of INR 21.We asked them if the toll was being collected for maintenance of potholes.In short bad condition.Total journey time from IC,Colony,Borvivali to Shirdi: 8hours and Distance: 246kms.
Coming back took the route via Nasik.The drive was a breeze.Absolutely brilliant route,no potholes or bad stretches whatsoever.Traversing through Nasik was also a breeze.Did not lose much time with town traffic.Total Journey time:6hours:Shirdi to Borivali (with zero visibility conditions on Kasara Ghat thanx to heavy rains) Distance: 256kms

I am not sure what is the big deal that is being made out by MSRDC & the hotel guys in Shirdi putting up leaflets encouraging people to take the Goti Bypass by saying that there is a total saving of 40kms,whereas in reality the saving is just of 10-11kms and with today's conditions,time is also lost on the Goti BP road.

Recommended Places for stops:Cafe Coffee Day at HP Pump 13 kms from Kasara(towards Kasara).Fleur Clean washrooms.

Kailash Parbat at HP Pump after Shahpur & after Bhagat Tarachand.

Bhagat Tarachand at Shahpur,has lost its cleanliness factor and is better avoided thanx to the huge crowds that stop there.

Yes@ Kiren.
I drove in this route. As you mentioned, the road condition was okay. Speeds were restricted due to two way and its condition as well. One cannot cross 80 kmph.
Shirdi to Sinnar was also not that good. Frequent stoppages due to small and big crates.
Sinnar to Gothi was a little okay.

Surprised to see few speed breakers on the Nashik - Mumbai road, post Gothi.

Found plenty of food joints on this route. Though I didn't stop at them.

regards,
Maverick79.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoneCollector (Post 3668577)

Guys, we are planning a Shirdi visit in June end. Our too and fro tickets from Delhi depend on the route suggestion, whether we fly down to Pune or Mumbai. 9 adults (3 senior citizens) and one infant. Any update on route will be highly appreciated. We will prefer to take a route less problematic for them.

From Pune there are two routes to reach Shirdi:

Route 1:
Pune > Ahmednagar > Shirdi: Last I went through this route, it was good. Complete four lane road. The last 10-15 Kms is a bit patchy though.

Route 2:
Pune > Nasik Phata > Sangamner > Shirdi: Four lane work is in progress and you can come across a few diversions. Road is still patchy right from Rajgurunagar till Shirdi.

That said, I am not sure how the roads ill put up once the rain gods smile again!

Both the routes have sufficient good places to have breaks considering the kiddo and senior citizens.

I am not aware of the Mumbai Shirdi route.

HTH ..

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoneCollector (Post 3668577)

Would suggest Pune any day. Its about 4 hours by road from Pune via Ahmednagar. As said earlier the last 25km is patchy in spite of it being a 4-lane! Surprised that the condition continues to remain same!

Do visit Shani Shignapur too. Its on the Nagar-Shirdi route. And if you have one more day to spare, visit Ellora as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoneCollector (Post 3668577)

Mate, am from Nashik, which is midway between Mumbai and Shirdi.
This pm saw many people travelling to Shirdi from Mumbai especially since Ram Nawmi Celebrations are near. Remembered of posting a reply to you, but in the other thread.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...-required.html

Also if preference is flight, then Delhi -> Aurangabad Air and Aurangabad to Shirdi by road, any day is preferable. Aurangabad to Shirdi by road is not more than 2 hours max, 104 km or 100 km.

Plenty Hotel choice as Aurangabad is a tourist place for people visiting Ajanta or Ellora.

Take a Taxi from Hotel in Aurangabad to Shirdi and back to Hotel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoneCollector (Post 3668577)

If you get down at Mumbai, please follow this route

Mumbai-Panvel-Khopoli-Lonavala-Talegaon-Chakan-Shikrapur-Shirur-Ahmednagar-Shirdi (320 KMs)

The road condition is good throughout except few kms before Shirdi. Mumbai to Talegaon(110 kms) take a expressway or old Pune Mumbai highway. If you are coming from expressway, you'll have to look for the Talegaon exit on your left and then towards Chakan. If you are coming from old Pune- Mumbai highway, you'll not miss a turn towards Chakan. I am not sure but there are signboards on the old highway whereas on expressway you will have signboards for Talegaon exit. Talegaon to Chakan(20 to 25 kms). Chakan to Shikrapur (30 kms) is a two lane road but in good condition. Once you reach Shikrapur, Shikrapur to Ahmedanagr(80 kms) is four lane road and a breeze to drive as you have already left Pune behind. From Ahmedanagar to Shirdi(80 KMs) is a two lane road and somewhat patchy but no major problems again.

If you get down at Pune, please follow:

Pune-Wagholi-Koregaon Bhima-Shikrapur-Shirur-Ahmednagar-Shirdi(200 KMs)

Pune to Ahmednagar(110-120 KMs) is four lane and Ahmednagar to Shirdi(80 KMs) is two lane as mentioned above. The pain area here is Pune to Wagholi, due to lots of traffic throughout the day/weekend.

Food:
On both the routes you have lots of eateries so food is not an issue, but you'll not find good hotels/eateries between Ahmednagar and Shirdi (per my last trip to Shirdi around 3 years back, this could have changed by this time), so plan your breakfast/lunch/dinner accordingly.

Stay:
You can stay in Pune, Ahmednagar, Shirdi. You have option of exotic as well as budget hotels. Please make sure you book your hotels in Shirdi in advance, as the place is crowded throughout the year.

For the 4 times that i went in the past few months ( when i was put up at Pune briefly ), what worked best was to book the darshan tickets online. It then becomes a breeze - as good as going on time and in no time, you are out after darshan. So convenient.

And yes, the roads from Nagar to Shirdi is the one that is bumpy and patchy.

As ampere suggests, a quick detour to Shani Singnapur would also make sense.

Several hotels at Shirdi itself available - ranging from budget to the fine ones.