[rk_sans]

Originally Posted by agd19682

2. The Hadapsar>Wadki>Jadhavwadi>Saswad>Narayanpur>Diwale route

I will be traveling back to Bangalore on 18th and would prefer to take this route if the conditions are favorable. Any comments/suggestions/personal experiences of that route would be greatly appreciated.

Did you try the second option while returning back ? any updates on this would be helpful.

[paragsachania]

Last Friday, drove to Belgaum and back as I had to receive my cousin who was heading down to Bangalore from Pune by bus and during the day time, he would only manage to get one till Kolhapur. Made a good reason for me to drive then .

I started on Friday evening at 5:00PM from home and reach Belgaum Bus Stand at 11:30PM.

Started back at 11:50PM and reached home at 0530AM with a late night dinner and a refueling break.

Nothing significant to update in terms of road conditions but here are 2 more additions to the list of Eateries/Food Joints.

New Cafe Coffee Day, After Hubli-Dhadwad Bypass towards Pune -

This was certainly not operational when I drove on Nov 7th to Aurangabad. The location is just perfect. Comes in the next 5 minutes after crossing the Hubli-Dharwad Bypass toll booth towards Pune/Mumbai. Needless to say, this one too is 24X7 and is attached to the HPCL COCO next to it.

Here is the location.

So there was absolutely nothing from CCD Shiggaon (360 kms) or Kamat Upachar (386 kms) from Bangalore. This CCD will be located around 435 kms from Bangalore now and worth a break point and skip Belgaum altogether as its another 60 minutes from here to Belgaum.


New Kamat Upachar, Before Ranebennur bypass, towards Bangalore -

This too is a new addition and a lovely point to break as the last Kamat was after Hubli Bypass and the next one is after Ranebennur Bypass (and convenient mainly for Pune/Mumbai bound traffic).

Here is the location.

I will be reporting mods to edit my main post and make amendments for these additions.

[agd19682]

Originally Posted by rk_sans

Did you try the second option while returning back ? any updates on this would be helpful.

No, I didn't try the second route. I directly came by the pune-satara highway.

[NPV]

My friend traveled from Bombay to Bangalore yesterday. Around 4pm, just after they crossed Belgaum there was a road blockage due to farmers protesting there. The pile up caused extremely slow movement of vehicles and they reached Hubli around 8.30pm.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by NPV

My friend traveled from Bombay to Bangalore yesterday. Around 4pm, just after they crossed Belgaum there was a road blockage due to farmers protesting there. The pile up caused extremely slow movement of vehicles and they reached Hubli around 8.30pm.

Yes, this was a planned event by the farmers. Better to keep tab on local channels/Newspapers before embarking on journeys that cross sensitive areas like Mandya and Hubli-Belgaum which often witness such blocks on a regular basis.

All these years, there hasn't been a single instance when I have had to cross such blocks barring one never ending jam on single carriageway Hubli-Dharwad bypass where there was a religious event with thousands of Buses and cars occupying every inch of the 30 kms bypass on a Sunday evening.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Better to keep tab on local channels/Newspapers before embarking on journeys that cross sensitive areas like Mandya and Hubli-Belgaum which often witness such blocks on a regular basis.

There is a news in today's Bangalore edition Hindu regarding the same.

Link

A large number of farmers blocked the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway 4 (under Golden Quadrangle) at the Hattargi Toll Plaza, about 35 km from here, for about five hours from 11.15 a.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Monday.

The farmers would intensify their agitation if the government continued to be indifferent, they said

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

There is a news in today's Bangalore edition Hindu regarding the same.

Link

Based on the recent happenings, I am planning an afternoon departure next Sunday for Mumbai to save me from this block and as well have a peaceful passage into MH all the way till Mumbai.

[hondadude]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Based on the recent happenings, I am planning an afternoon departure next Sunday for Mumbai to save me from this block and as well have a peaceful passage into MH all the way till Mumbai.

Damn! I am planning to drive to Pune on 25th. I am starting early morning from Bangalore. Looks like I will run right into it. Is there a way to keep tab on it other than googling about it?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by hondadude

Damn! I am planning to drive to Pune on 25th. I am starting early morning from Bangalore. Looks like I will run right into it. Is there a way to keep tab on it other than googling about it?

So far so good buddy. There is no such protest happening on 25th. Don't worry. As of now things are normal. In fact, even after yesterday's planned protests, things were back to normal.

I was only mentioning that I will drive post lunch to avoid the Kolhapur Pune traffic too.

If there is anything planned for 25th that I know of, I will post that here.

[amitroy]

I am planning to leave for Mumbai starting early morning at 04:00 AM tomorrow

[amitroy]

I am seeing extremely bad fog outside in Bangalore almost no visibility. I was planning to leave in the next 30 mins not sure if it's safe.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by amitroy

I am seeing extremely bad fog outside in Bangalore almost no visibility. I was planning to leave in the next 30 mins not sure if it's safe.

When I returned from Belgaum last Saturday morning, the fog was more dense between Tumkur and Bangalore than anywhere else. However, the conditions were favorable for a drive in 40 -50 kmph and offered visibility to manage this than dangerous.

This was between 0445 and 0530 hours.

With considerable chill in the weather, expect fog to remain that way over the next few weeks.

[nileshch]

Originally Posted by amitroy

I am seeing extremely bad fog outside in Bangalore almost no visibility. I was planning to leave in the next 30 mins not sure if it's safe.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

When I returned from Belgaum last Saturday morning, the fog was more dense between Tumkur and Bangalore than anywhere else. However, the conditions were favorable for a drive in 40 -50 kmph and offered visibility to manage this than dangerous.

This was between 0445 and 0530 hours.

With considerable chill in the weather, expect fog to remain that way over the next few weeks.

Right!

I left Bangalore for Pune last Saturday 4:30 am and encountered heavy fog for 50+ kms on Tumkur road and for a few kms on the Chitradugra 6 lane highway. I have always encountered fog at this time of the year. There is no reason for major worry -- the roads are wide and mostly low traffic early in the morning. Ofcourse keeping speeds at about 80 kmph helps respond quickly to a changing situation on the road.

[amitroy]

I left Bangalore at 04:30 AM on 25th December and reached Mumbai (Kandivali) at around 09:30 PM. We took multiple small halts for bio breaks and snacks. Points to note

- Encountered heavy fog as we left Bangalore which reduced our speed
- The Satara - Pune stretch killed us. EXTREMELY bad traffic due to diversions and ongoing work. This was the biggest irritant during the entire drive and made me very tired. Had this stretch been better we would have reached around 2 hours earlier.

Planning to start my Mumbai-Bangalore journey on 2nd Morning 04:00 AM.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by NPV

My friend traveled from Bombay to Bangalore yesterday. Around 4pm, just after they crossed Belgaum there was a road blockage due to farmers protesting there. The pile up caused extremely slow movement of vehicles and they reached Hubli around 8.30pm.

I traveled from Bangalore to Pune on December 21st and got caught in this road blockage. Had to take detours through some local farm roads twice - one near Haveri and one between Belgaum and Sankeshwar. The detours were really bad and we lost a bit more than an hour due to this mess. Wish I knew about this before I planned my journey.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Yes, this was a planned event by the farmers. Better to keep tab on local channels/Newspapers before embarking on journeys that cross sensitive areas like Mandya and Hubli-Belgaum which often witness such blocks on a regular basis.

I am driving back from Pune to Bangalore tomorrow (December 31st). Hope there are no news about any such blockage tomorrow. Is there anything that I should be aware of tomorrow?

Thanks guys for your tips and information here!

Thanks,
-AD