[paragsachania]

^^ wont taking the Sinhaghad Road on the Bypass and then turning left onto Shastri Road and passing Garware Bridge to reach Shivajinagar work too?. Just asking because Sinhaghad road is not B2B always and its usually the Santosh Hall and Hingne Signals that are busier but eventually, it doesn't consume much waiting time at both these places.

[heman_369]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

^^ wont taking the Sinhaghad Road on the Bypass and then turning left onto Shastri Road and passing Garware Bridge to reach Shivajinagar work too?. Just asking because Sinhaghad road is not B2B always and its usually the Santosh Hall and Hingne Signals that are busier but eventually, it doesn't consume much waiting time at both these places.

Better to avoid sinhagad road during morning and evening peak times. Road via chandani chowk, pashan, university circle is your best bet to reach shivajingar avoiding traffic.

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by Limpid

I am planning to drive from Bangalore to Pune next weekend. When I drove on this stretch last May, I found condition of KA side of NH 4 far better than MH side in terms of traffic, time spent at toll gates and potholes.

I somehow want to avoid traffic and long waiting time at toll gates at MH side, but looks like I can’t avoid it if I start from Bangalore at my usual time of 4 AM.

Please share any other updates / road condition if someone has recently travelled on this stretch of NH 4

Can't help the traffic once you reach Kolhapur. The traffic on this stretch picks up in the evening and the trucks invariably take up the right side of the road and you have to manouvere the vehicle through flurry of two wheelers from Kolhapur onwards which is painful and consumes lot of time.

The only way out is as Parag mentions in his post above is to reach Kolhapur around 9 PM. I am not sure wheter you are comfortable driving at night.

[shipnil]

I am not a regular on those roads, but whenever I travelled by those roads I find there are quite a few signals. Besides you will be passing through busy sections like Nal Stop and Deccan to reach Shivaji Nagar.

[Limpid]

Reason I can't avoid peak Puné traffic is I will have to go to 'Maharshi Nagar' near Swargate before heading towards my final stop. Too many relatives in Puné and very less time to meet everyone. I guess I need to make an optimized plan

I am planning to take old Katraj road -> Satara Road-> Market yard.

Is there any other option?

[honeybee]

You could always invite all of your relatives out to a dhaba for a lunch/dinner meet! Avoid the traffic but still meet the relatives!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Limpid

Reason I can't avoid peak Puné traffic is I will have to go to 'Maharshi Nagar' near Swargate before heading towards my final stop. Too many relatives in Puné and very less time to meet everyone. I guess I need to make an optimized plan

I am planning to take old Katraj road -> Satara Road-> Market yard.

Is there any other option?

I had taken the old Katraj road to cross Swargate to head towards Hadapsar and Wagholi via Kharadi Bypass way back in December 2010. It was 6pm when I touched Katraj Depot from where traffic all the way till Swargate it easily took another 45 minutes. Traffic was very dense and blame in on the BRTS and all the haphazard peak hour flow of traffic, it was a messy affair. By the time I touched Nagar road after Kharadi it was 8PM and again I had another 240kms to drive to Aurangabad from here.

Since you need to reach adjoining areas near Swargate, I am not really sure if there are any other alternatives that Punekars can suggest.

[suniladhiya]

@limpid: I am from Pune and agree with paragsachania has said. I suggest that instead of taking the old Katraj Ghat, you proceed via the new Katraj tunnel, cross the viaduct, join the Dehu Road Katraj Bypass near the big flyover, take a left in Mumbai direction, then take the left exit just before the road overbridge over the Sinhagad Road, take a right under this bridge and you are on Sinhagad Road heading straight towards Swar Gate. Advantages are that you will completely avoid the torturous old Katraj Ghat which is not four laned and has horrific bus and truck traffic in the evenings. Secondly you will also avoid the stretch of old Pune-Satara Road between old Katraj Ghat and Swargate which is complete mess, what with the BRTS lanes and peak indisciplined evening traffic. Sinhagad road four laning with divider is now complete. There will be traffic on this road in the evening but I feel a lot better than old Pune-Satara Road.

Other Punekars welcome with suggestions to help limpid.

[litesaber]

The toll booths were never more than 4-5 cars deep. Not too much of a bother. I would pick up Saturday to travel over Friday.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Since 1st OCT was a Saturday, I too want to know the time you spent at each of those 4 toll booths in Maharashtra Side. I am planning BLR-Mumbai-Surat on 22nd OCT and have been dillydallying on whether to do that on Friday or Saturday since I will be covering 1250Kms on day 1.

Was very regularly doing Bangalore-Pune in 2010 and just a couple in 2011 and that too on weekdays and odd timings to beat the toll booth traffic in MH and hence your inputs on the toll plaza waiting time will be helpful.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by litesaber

The toll booths were never more than 4-5 cars deep. Not too much of a bother. I would pick up Saturday to travel over Friday.

Thanks litesaber, I have been doing Pune-Bangalore runs since the past 5 years and it is only since the past 2 years that I keep facing massive jams at the 4 toll booths in MH. Last I drove was in August and again at odd times by leaving Pune around 10pm.

It would again depend on which direction I am headed to. Once I left Pune at 7-45am and was stuck at each of the 4 booths for at least 20 minutes and the biggest of all the jams was the Shirwal toll after Pune.

Due to this reason, I usually change my driving time such that I pass Pune-Kolhapur section (either directions) only between 9pm and 6am.
This time however, I am driving all the way to Surat from Bangalore and hence I don't have a choice.

[noopster]

I have a question: if my destination is MG Road or thereabouts, what is the best route when entering the city by NH4? It's been a while since I drove in Bangalore and there may be quite a few options than the ones I am used to.

[goandude]

Originally Posted by noopster

I have a question: if my destination is MG Road or thereabouts, what is the best route when entering the city by NH4? It's been a while since I drove in Bangalore and there may be quite a few options than the ones I am used to.

best bet would be continue to Yeshwantpur, IISc, at Mekhri circle turn right and go via Le Meridien to MG. But if you enter at rush hour it will be painful at Yeshwantpur.

[nileshch]

Originally Posted by noopster

I have a question: if my destination is MG Road or thereabouts, what is the best route when entering the city by NH4? It's been a while since I drove in Bangalore and there may be quite a few options than the ones I am used to.

Originally Posted by goandude

best bet would be continue to Yeshwantpur, IISc, at Mekhri circle turn right and go via Le Meridien to MG. But if you enter at rush hour it will be painful at Yeshwantpur.

@noopster, the other option is to use the Jalahalli Cross road to reach Hebbal via the ORR. From there, you go as usual to MG road. It has been described here in detail:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2535692

This road should help you avoid the royal traffic mess in Yeshwanthpur.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by nileshch

@noopster, the other option is to use the Jalahalli Cross road to reach Hebbal via the ORR. From there, you go as usual to MG road. It has been described here in detail:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2535692

This road should help you avoid the royal traffic mess in Yeshwanthpur.

Thanks Nilesh for pointing this out. If one follows the above route till BEL Circle and get onto New BEL Road and proceed towards Mekhri Circle via Sadashivanagar Police Station, it will definitely work favorably(No need to even take Hebbal). Moreover, Traffic on New BEL road in the evening in this direction is sparse as most of the traffic will be in the opposite direction.

The only catch here is to make sure that one stays on the service road when approaching Jalahalli Cross else there is every chance that you cannot take that left from NH4 as buses and other vehicles always continue straight even from the service lane making it impossible for those on the main lane to take left. This also means that one needs to be attentive enough not to continue on the Elevated section and take the road below instead after the PARLE factory on the right hand side.

There is one more option of using the watch factory road to reach BEL Circle but it is always a gamble since the Yeshwantpur Jam at time starts right from this section making life even more miserable after driving those 850-1000 Kms from Pune/Mumbai.

Best is to target reaching Bangalore after 9-30/10-00pm and take the Yeshwantpur, IISc, Mekhri Circle road to reach MG Road.

[prabhuferrari]

Originally Posted by noopster

I have a question: if my destination is MG Road or thereabouts, what is the best route when entering the city by NH4? It's been a while since I drove in Bangalore and there may be quite a few options than the ones I am used to.

At what time are you reaching Bangalore? Depending on that will suggest the route. Also where in MG Road as there are 2 to 3 optimum routes to avoid one way and U turns.