Team-BHP - Bangalore - Vijayawada - Vizag - Bhubaneswar : Route Queries

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashis89 (Post 4208408)

Anyone has any recent feedback on the above roads? I will be driving during the night and hence, was looking for some pointers rather than facing surprises tomorrow.

The intended route is Hyderabad -> Vijaywada -> Rajamundry -> Vizag -> Bhubaneswar

Having done this route multiple times with my current place of stay being Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar/Cuttack being my native , this route is all good through out. No issues with the road at all. Are you travelling with family? If so then I would suggest avoiding drive during the night.

If travelling with friends then exercise caution and all should be good. But do remember most of the accidents happen early morning time. You can't beat the biological clock of the body how hard you try.

Drive safe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nibedk (Post 4208611)

Thanks for the information. Even I stay in Hyderabad but belong to Bhubaneswar. :)

I will travelling alone (is there any concern?) and plan to start tomorrow evening. I don't have any fixed targets in sight and plan to drive till Vijaywada or beyond (depending how early I start and how fresh I am). Will catch some sleep before covering the remaining distance the next day. I will avoid driving in the 12-5AM as that is the time when we feel sleepy.

I drove from Hyderabad to Bhubaneswar. Started at 5:30PM on June 1, 2017 and reached Bhubaneswar at 12:30PM the next day. While I had plans to stop somewhere and catch a few hours of sleep, destiny had other plans. I was fresh till 1AM and reached Rajahmundry by then. Took the bypass and looked for a hotel/lodge. There was a powercut and couldn't find any. Parked on the service road in front of a petrol bunk, rolled down the windows and took a 40 min nap. Woke up and resume driving from 2AM onwards and somehow, kept driving till I reached home.

Some pointers from the trip:

* Vijaywada bypass is a mess and Google Map fails here. The local cops decide which way you have to go. I crossed around 10:30PM and the traffic within the city wasn't any less. Be extra careful as anyone can jump in from any side
* Roads from Eluru to Rajahmundry is quite bad.
* Roads from Rajahmundry to Vizag is not flawless (first 100 kms).
* Google Map suggests taking the Relli Anakapalli road to bypass Vizag. You will avoid the whole Vizag city by covering 50+ kms on this road. Bad part is that this single lane BROKEN road is FULL of trucks
* There are no petrol bunks on the left side of the roads 100+ kms before Girsola (border checkgate between OD and AP)
* Local traffic after Girsola is pretty bad for almost the next 100 kms. You can see a lot of bikers and trucks on the wrong side of the roads charging at you. Similar traffic 20 kms before you reach Bhubaneswar. I covered these areas between 10AM-1PM.

I am planning a trip to Vijayawada to attend a weeding next weekend. I can only leave Bangalore on Friday at around 4pm, so I will have to break the journey in between. I think Tirupathi would be an ideal spot, but I can push further if needed. What are the best budget options for stay on this route as I will only need a room to sleep in the night and we will again resume early morning next day. we are 2 adults and 1 kid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dass (Post 4245216)

If u can manage to drive till Nellore, then u can get some good hotels to stay overnight but may be they charge little more and also you may end up in reaching there by mid night.
Best thing is to stop near Tirupathi or srikalahasti where you can get good overnight staying options.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dass (Post 4245216)

Tirupathi is your best option and getting onto the highway next day morning would not take much time.Nellore Ongole etc have poor stay options.

Hello All!

With the recent downpour, I am not sure how's the current road condition for Bangalore-Naidupeta route. My travel is planned during the last week of September.
Do you suggest I take the Hyderabad-Vijayawada route? I intend to reach Vizag latest by 10PM.
What time do you suggest I should leave from my place at Whitefield?

Rahul

Quote:

Originally Posted by verma_rahul (Post 4263725)

I am not sure of the road condition details but I can say one thing - Bangalore-Hyd-Vijaywada-Vizag is not possible within 10 PM unless you start at 5AM in the morning and drive with hardly any breaks.

Bangalore - Hyd takes ~6 hrs at least.
Hyd - Vizag takes 10-12 hrs. You encounter a lot of traffic within Vizaywada city and some around Rajahmundry depending on when you are crossing these places.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashis89 (Post 4263731)

I usually leave my place (Whitefield, BLR) at about 6 in the morning and reach Vizag by 12AM via Tirupati. Wanting to know if the Hyderabad route will be faster or slower. Can leave a little early too.

Has someone recently (in the last month or so) done this trip from Bangalore?

Quote:

Originally Posted by verma_rahul (Post 4263965)

Even though the road condition is extremely good, the distance is much longer via this route. I have done Hyd-BLR and Hyd-Vizag multiple times and at different times of the day. Because of obvious reasons, traffic is very low between 11PM and 8AM. The trip duration that I quoted are my best figures and measured city outskirt-outskirt. Since I was driving alone, I was going non-stop except for fuel topup and a 10-15 mins break every 2 hrs.

You will encounter higher than average traffic while entering and leaving Hyderabad (before and after catching ORR). Vijaywada is pain to cross during business hours of the day. Construction work and diversions add to the misery (the last time I crossed it at 11PM and yet I was frustrated).

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashis89 (Post 4263974)

Vijaywada is pain to cross during business hours of the day. Construction work and diversions add to the misery (the last time I crossed it at 11PM and yet I was frustrated).

I am planning for a BLR-BBS trip in last week of September and was planning to break for night at either Vijaywada/Rajmuhndry.

Taking into account evening traffic of Vijaywada, it seems wise to stay back in Vijaywada on 1st day and start off early morning? Or should I cover the extra distance on first day and break at Rajmuhndry?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suryendu87 (Post 4270174)

I would suggest, reach and retire early at the entry of Vijaywada city. Next day make an early start and cross the city. Bhubaneswar would be a 12-14 hr journey from there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suryendu87 (Post 4270174)

I might drive down to Vizag in end September and/or will be driving to Bhubaneswar in end December. Do update this thread with your observations if there is any significant change in road/traffic conditions.

Thanks,
Ashis

Completed the BLR - BBS trip on 28th September, 2017. Below are some observation from the trip.

1. Start early. I started at 5AM from BLR but still had to face some traffic until Tirupati.
2. Two lane roads on the tirupati stretch are not smooth all the way and involve some broken tarmac. Although the potholes are not huge, but you need to slow down and maneuver across them for the sake of tires and wheels. please:
3. Almost all toll plazas accept FastTag barring two between Vijaywada and Rajamuhndry.
4. The tarmac between Vijayawada and Rajamuhndry is not in very good shape.
5. Most of the toll plazas have dedicated FastTag lane allowing an easy pass. Post Rajamuhndry, all of them use hand held scanners.
6. N5 food plaza above Ongole toll plaza is a good eatery for lunch on this route.
7. Be aware of cattle grazing on medians. They can come down to the road at any point of time. Try and drive on the left lane and be aware of local motorists as well on this side.
8. Post GST implementation, the border crossings are a breeze. I crossed over to Odisha border at around 5PM and did not find any queue. Sailed across the border at around 80 KMPH. lol:
9. Once inside Odisha, be careful of everything on the road. Road manner is next to nil and anything can jump in from anywhere. Keep your speeds in check and try to anticipate things even though the butter smooth tarmac will beg you to speed up.