[mayukh42]

Originally Posted by W@SIM

Dear all, How is the tumkur bypass now? 6-7 months back it had potholes and was uneven

Tumkur bypass is patched and relaid now, on the inner 2 lanes out of 3, except the connectors to bridges/ culverts where we should take it slow (my car throws tantrums even at the slightest unevenness )

[anshuman77]

Did Bangalore to Mumbai over Apr 30th and May 1'st with a Night halt at Kikvi just before Pune.

Was traveling with a Senior Citizen and a Dog, so frequent stops were necessary.

We booked an AirBNB for our night halt and found a good place just 2 Kms off the highway at kikvi.

Roads very pretty good throughout, Driving through Karnataka was a breeze. We started from Bangalore at 6:20 AM from Marthahalli and reached Kikvi by 4:40 PM. on 30th April.
There is absolutely no checking of any kind at the border.

On May 1'st started at 7:15 and reached Goregaon Mumbai by 10.30

[litesaber]

I drove yesterday starting from Indiranagar Blr at 4:10am to Nerul Navi Mumbai at 6pm.

Had breakfast at CCD Davangere, lunch at Burger King Kohlapur and tea at Khalapur on the expressway. Breaktime would be around 1:30 hrs

Road conditions have improved compared to six month ago as reported by others. I recommend doing the drive on a single day if you manage to leave early.

[no_boundaries]

Travelled from Bangalore to Pune on May 7th.

Overall a pleasurable drive until MH border post which the traffic conditions quickly deteriorate. The traffic overall was sparse and the progress was steady.
After Kolhapur the traffic got a little rowdy with many bully drivers wrestling their way through. With the sunset, the full on horn blaring and headlamps flashing assault begins. Very similar to Tumkur road just before Bangalore, when a lot of city traffic mixes up. Best to let them through to keep your mood calm and composed.

Witnessed 2 accidents due to rash driving by other cars and had 2 narrow misses.

Road conditions are overall good after Kolhapur however in some places the lanes are not well marked and the road undulations creep up unexpectedly. Watch out.

Note -
1. No RTPCR asked anywhere

2. Cops check for documents and are usually very polite on both sides of the border

3. Eateries are well documented in earlier posts on this thread. I find Vittal Kamat to be good with quick service and good food on MH side.

4. I tried my best to not overtake from the extreme 3rd lane as much as I could but sometimes you just need to do it for your own safety. Watch out for such conditions and prepare ahead, some lorries just don't budge.

5. Over 10 times of travelling on the Pune Bangalore route, off-late, though the road conditions have improved the traffic sense has worsened. Even lorries sometimes are caught up trying to bully their way through. Hence be careful and try not to overspeed and stick to a lane

[W@SIM]

Travelled from Bangalore to Pune on this week.
overall excellent roads till KA border, Just 2 diversions which are very neat.

As expected Cops stopped me on entering MH, politely showed them documents and refreshed my marathi.

between Karad and satara there are 2 diversions.

satara to pune the road is done but the quality is not good, my fully loaded car had to slow down to 60-70kmph due to the unevenness in the road.

lastly will recommend a petrol bunk prior to davangere https://goo.gl/maps/rtTTrfFaVTo8RChB8
clean restroom and polite staff, google map navigation to the bunk is not right as you can find an access just 100m ahead of this bunk.

[IamGetz]

Originally Posted by no_boundaries

After Kolhapur the traffic got a little rowdy with many bully drivers wrestling their way through. With the sunset, the full on horn blaring and headlamps flashing assault begins. Very similar to Tumkur road just before Bangalore, when a lot of city traffic mixes up. Best to let them through to keep your mood calm and composed.

Witnessed 2 accidents due to rash driving by other cars and had 2 narrow misses.

Travelled back from Pune to Bangalore on 11th May / 12 May with a night halt at Denissons, Hubli.

I would like to second above observation specially for Tumkur Road around 45 kms before Bangalore. To be honest felt a little nervous driving this strech as compared to the entire 852 kms Pune Bangalore journey. It felt like a F1 race and I was in a car racing game trying to save my life. This was on a Wednesday afternoon around 4pm. Even though was maintaining steady speed limits/ lane discipline, some rash driving and bullying by bigger vehicles was very evident.

The other caution relates to the Hubli Dharwad bypass single lane carriageway. My onward journey from Bangalore to Pune and caution from BHPians had me well prepared. But the return journey saw 2 narrow misses for myself. Again was maintaining lane discipline and driving at a safe distance behind vehicle before me. A truck which was overtaking the vehicle behind me suddenly cut ahead of me to avoid oncoming truck. Thank heaven for small mercies that I was maintaining sufficient distance and could brake to avoid collision

These minor escapes mar an otherwise wonderful driving experience.

I wish the planned Rs 40,000 crore Bangalore Pune expressway comes to fruition soon.

[mayukh42]

Originally Posted by IamGetz

I would like to second above observation specially for Tumkur Road around 45 kms before Bangalore. To be honest felt a little nervous driving this strech as compared to the entire 852 kms Pune Bangalore journey

True, the 4-lane stretch between Nelamangala and Tumkur is the real bottleneck now between BLR and Mumbai, apart from the Hubli-Dharwad bypass. We urgently need the former to be 6-lane, at least between Tumkur and Dabaspete where trucks can divert northward. Currently the trucks decide how much time it will take to cross those 35 kms.

Nowadays, I sometimes take the northward Yelahanka-Tondebavi-Madhugiri-Sira, if I have 20-30 mins and it is day time (I start from Koramangala, so Yeshwantpur is diametrically opposite anyway).

As for the Hubli-Dharwad bypass, it has been a shame for such a long time. My own experience is a few posts above, where I actually took the city and still covered the distance within comparable time (I had the spare time that day, of course is not a replacement solution). I hope it gets a new bypass, because the existing one is private (same owner as NICE road) so there is no hope for revival.

Originally Posted by IamGetz

I wish the planned Rs 40,000 crore Bangalore Pune expressway comes to fruition soon.

Actually most of the existing route is already good enough. All we need to do is add a lane on each side to Tumkur Road and Kognoli-Satara section after MH border. And if I am not mistaken, we already have space for it.

[BlackMambaXX]

Update on Pune Bypass status: NH48 is undergoing several construction works inside pune. The bypass is no longer a bypass and seems like a city road. Its a huge weak link in the Bombay-Bangalore journey.
Currently there is some construction going on post singhad road before warje which is causing huge 30 min traffic jams. The road is reduced to one and a half lanes on both sides.
Also there is a new speed camera installed before Navle bridge a couple of kms after Katraj Tunnel and Viaduct. Keep your speed below 60kmph in that section.

[kiran_aithal]

Originally Posted by mayukh42

All we need to do is add a lane on each side to Tumkur Road and

This is already in the pipeline - physical work got stuck because of Covid and (ironically), the current toll operator going to court stating that they need more time operating this stretch to overcome the shortage of toll collection due to Covid
6 lane work is supposed to commence soon and, officially end by mid next year.

[autoweirdo]

One more big accident on dreaded Hubballi Bypass, why doesn’t govt scraps agreement with Nandi quickly and then expedites atleast 4 laning of this stretch.

http://toi.in/_c1Hha

[W@SIM]

Originally Posted by autoweirdo

One more big accident on dreaded Hubballi Bypass, why doesn’t govt scraps agreement with Nandi quickly and then expedites atleast 4 laning of this stretch.

http://toi.in/_c1Hha

Very sad news, for 400kms both sides of this bypass are excellent roads and this patch is terrible with a heavy 100 Rs toll. For my next drive i am planning put lunch stop in Hubli city and avoid this bypass totally.

[autoweirdo]

Originally Posted by W@SIM

Very sad news, for 400kms both sides of this bypass are excellent roads and this patch is terrible with a heavy 100 Rs toll. For my next drive i am planning put lunch stop in Hubli city and avoid this bypass totally.

Next weekend i am planning for Pune Bangalore drive, will be taking route via Solapur- Bijapur - Chitradurga as it has compartively less traffic and ok roads. Will update thread once completed.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by autoweirdo

Next weekend i am planning for Pune Bangalore drive, will be taking route via Solapur- Bijapur - Chitradurga as it has compartively less traffic and ok roads. Will update thread once completed.

Will be looking forward to your updates as I have been planning a Bangalore Akkalkot trip for some time now.

[narayans80]

Chitradurga-Solapur is mostly done up. The only annoyance is those massive speed breakers between Almatti and Bijapur. Bijapur-Solapur work too has progressed, what was previously a 2.5 hour drive, is now 1.5 hours.

For Pune it doesn't really make sense, since it would take 2 hours over the prime Hubli-Kolhapur route.

[autoweirdo]

Originally Posted by narayans80

For Pune it doesn't really make sense, since it would take 2 hours over the prime Hubli-Kolhapur route.

I stay on eastern side so can avoid traffic of crossing the city saves me atleast half hr. Last week while travelling to Kolhapur I was stuck more than half hour on Khambatki ghat and post Satara there was heavy traffic build up so wanted to avoid it. I hope traffic would be comparatively lesser on Solapur route.