[anainar]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

I had been upto Harihar for some personal work and boy, after Chiradurga I keep wishing I had an SUV. Bad really bad. Whats more ? Between Davangere and Harihar there is a dug up stretch on which only army tanks can move. I was petrified for the under belly of my car. Hope things improve fast.

This stretch has improved a lot with they having opened up the road that was under construction. This was the status last Sunday, 21st Feb, when I drove from Pune to Bangalore. On my onward journey to Pune on 13th, this stretch was in the same state as Prince said. Dug up, dusty and one cannot see any thing if a truck is moving ahead of you.

The conditions are slowly improving but no respite from those two railway gates, and Ranibennur town. I seriously think we should sue NHAI for collecting toll at Bankapur towards Bangalore.

Nainar

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Seriously ! When I started this thread some 3 years back the stretches around Haveri,Rani Bennur, Chitradurga, Davengere had bad patches and with the updates seen here I do not think there is any improvement in that vicinity.

I travelled on this road umpteen number of times with the patches appearing on and off seasonally and I never understand why is this part of GQ always neglected?

Again, KA stretches of highways are always accompanied by problems or maybe is it me thinking likewise?

[gururaj r]

I intend starting early morning from Mumbai to Bangalore tomorrow - Sunday. I would take the NICE road from Neelamangala to Tumkur. Any updates on the road condition Harihar-Ranebennur-Davengere-Chitradurga BP.

I drove from Pune to Bangalore on 6/7 March 2010. Driving on the stretch Haveri to Chitradurga was a torture, to say the least. My Fiat Linea's bottom got scraped twice each near Davangere and Tumkur BP, totalling four times. Even now, you have to go through Ranebennur town. No signages, no info, suddenly on-coming vehicles would be coming in front of you, two back-breaking railway level crossings, by the time you reach Chitradurga, I was totally drained. So, in nutshell, status quo continues. It is a blot on NHAI.

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by gururaj r

I intend starting early morning from Mumbai to Bangalore tomorrow - Sunday. I would take the NICE road from Neelamangala to Tumkur. Any updates on the road condition Harihar-Ranebennur-Davengere-Chitradurga BP.

??? I believe when coming from Mumbai you would get Tumkur first, then Negmanagala. When you reach Nelmanagala, try to keep left for a sudden not so well marked diversion towards the ramp to south Bangalore.

The mentioned stretches remain the same.

[canonguy]

Originally Posted by gururaj r

I intend starting early morning from Mumbai to Bangalore tomorrow - Sunday. I would take the NICE road from Neelamangala to Tumkur. Any updates on the road condition Harihar-Ranebennur-Davengere-Chitradurga BP.

I drove to Mumbai from Bangalore on 11 Mar and returned to Bangalore on 16 Mar. No change in status as far as road conditions between Chitradurga and Haveri. It is the same as reported by fellow bhpians who travelled earlier. Your best bet would be to leave early. I left Bangalore (HSR Layout) at 3:30 am on 11 Mar and reached Andheri West Mumbai by 6:30 pm (with a 50 min break in Pune for a late lunch). While returning I left at 3:30 am and reached HSR Layout by 3:15 pm (non-stop) thanks to Gudi Padwa and Ugadi

By the way, road conditions between Chitradurga and Haveri are less than optimal but not as bad as they are made out to be sometimes. Don't fret too much, leave early and you'll be OK.

[bullinb]

Originally Posted by canonguy

By the way, road conditions between Chitradurga and Haveri are less than optimal but not as bad as they are made out to be sometimes. Don't fret too much

Exactly what I felt driving to and from Goa last weekend. You just have to be a litle more alert and reduce the speed a bit. I stongly recommend avoiding this stetch during the peak hours. You can get stuck in massive traffic jams. Best is to drive at night.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by bullinb

I stongly recommend avoiding this stetch during the peak hours. You can get stuck in massive traffic jams. Best is to drive at night.

...and that is what I did over the past 6 months, travelling this stretch through the night and trust me, the chances of getting stuck in a Jam even at the 2 railway crossings are seldom (forget any other reason). Adding to that, very less commuter traffic makes it easy to drive without bothering about the tempo traxes, 3 & 2 wheelers and 'et al. KSRTC, SHARMA, Paulo Volvo can at times be acting as pilots just in case you dont remember the deviations well.

But the worst is when you do Chitradurga - Bangalore just before the dawn!! The NWKRTC night buses drive insanely and this stretch is the "best" when it comes to truckers driving on the fast lane or even in parallel for kilometers together.
They might suddenly, without an indication come over to the fast lane to overtake another truck without giving a heed to the flashing/honking signals from a car. For a while I feel, honking ("along with" flashing the beams) works in the night on this stretch since the truckers usually do not expect a private, fast moving car to overtake at that hour and a car horn like signal would possibly indicate them that its neither a Volvo nor an empty truck but rather a car wanting to overtake.
Ideally, one should pass Chitradurga around 6am and can easily reach Bangalore (NICE) by 8-45/9-00am. This has been my personal experience over the last couple of drives through the night in the past 6 months!

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Ideally, one should pass Chitradurga around 6am and can easily reach Bangalore (NICE) by 8-45/9-00am. This has been my personal experience over the last couple of drives through the night in the past 6 months!

Don't you experience jams at Nelmangala early in the mornings say 7 - 9 AM ? Just asking as I have got stuck twice. Maybe the roads have cleared a bit now.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

Don't you experience jams at Nelmangala early in the mornings say 7 - 9 AM ? Just asking as I have got stuck twice. Maybe the roads have cleared a bit now.

Not at all if I can remember my 7 trips in the past since I would touch Nelemangala (NH4 & 48) Intersection around 8-15am and traffic would've just started to build up. best part is that the Commercial Tax check post is all clean with hardly any trucks parked and from there, hardly any jams.

Once I had to pay dearly for starting from Pune around 5pm and got stuck in Nelemangala near the check post around 4am for almost 45 minutes without moving an inch and I vowed never to start from Pune at 5pm and rather stick to my 10pm timing. Trust me, after driving for 11/12 hours in open roads you really dont want to get into a traffic jam just before a few kilometers from your destination.

BTW - I am referring to my experiences from Aug-2009 till Feb 2010.

[litesaber]

Wow really good timings. I've done this route twice once in a Santro and second time in an Innova but always halted at Dharwad. I am planning another trip next Month and want to make it to Mumbai without a overnight stopover.

Looks like leaving at around 3am is the best bet to reaching Mumbai on the same day.

Did you stop for breakfast etc? You have just mentioned one break near Pune. When did you reach Belgaum? I was planning to have lunch there.

Originally Posted by canonguy

I drove to Mumbai from Bangalore on 11 Mar and returned to Bangalore on 16 Mar. No change in status as far as road conditions between Chitradurga and Haveri. It is the same as reported by fellow bhpians who travelled earlier. Your best bet would be to leave early. I left Bangalore (HSR Layout) at 3:30 am on 11 Mar and reached Andheri West Mumbai by 6:30 pm (with a 50 min break in Pune for a late lunch). While returning I left at 3:30 am and reached HSR Layout by 3:15 pm (non-stop) thanks to Gudi Padwa and Ugadi

By the way, road conditions between Chitradurga and Haveri are less than optimal but not as bad as they are made out to be sometimes. Don't fret too much, leave early and you'll be OK.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by litesaber

Wow really good timings. I've done this route twice once in a Santro and second time in an Innova but always halted at Dharwad. I am planning another trip next Month and want to make it to Mumbai without a overnight stopover.

Looks like leaving at around 3am is the best bet to reaching Mumbai on the same day.

Did you stop for breakfast etc? You have just mentioned one break near Pune. When did you reach Belgaum? I was planning to have lunch there.

Bangalore - Pune/Mumbai can be done in a single day with decent stops for Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks and refuelling. I usually do Pune - Bangalore in my WagonR with at least 3 stops and a refuelling stop which in all add to at 1 hr 15 minutes. My usual timings (If starting at 4am from Bangalore) are between 12-13 Hours and cruising speeds between 90-100kmph. So if you add another 3 Hours, you can be in Mumbai by night on the same day!

But Having travelled these many times over the past, there have been advangates and disadvantages of starting early or driving through the night.

Starting early would mean getting rid of the chaotic city traffic in no time and before the town and village wakes up, one would've covered good number of kilometers. Even passing Ranibennur town at 8am is a breeze. But after hitting Kolhapur around 1-30/2-00pm, the traffic doubles/trebles up and its constant honking and braking to get past the 2 wheelers and the tempos. This kind of irritates you when you have done 600 Kms and the last leg of 200Kms is like this all the way. Moreover the toll booths are usually busy during the day in Maharastra. Kolhapur - Pune takes a good 3 Hours or more with normal speeds (in any car) during the day but the same would take 2.5 hours if done past 12am.

I've usually started at 4pm from Bangalore to reach Kolhapur by 1am and reached Pune by 3-30/4-00am. Way back I have stuck to staring Pune at 10Pm and be in Bangalore by 9-00/9-30am (North Bangalore suburbs) and this has worked immensly well since the whole 840 Kms stretch has thinner traffic and crusing speeds can be maintained at 90-100kmph since truckers also follow lane discipline and heed to flashing of beams when signalled for overtaking.

The best timing so far for me from Pune to Bangalore has been 10 Hrs - 45 minutes with 3 stops including refuelling through the night. It was the new year's eve and private traffic was also very less everywhere. Driving during Public holidays is also a good caclutation.

[StarVegabond]

Hi

Can somebody who travelled recently from Bangalore to Mumbai and back
share the exact toll both positions and exact toll amount at each booth ?

thanks,

[hvkumar]

CENTRAL & SOUTH INDIA, January 2010 - hvkumar | Google Groups
Check out the toll info in the excel file (above link), on the return journey (Expenses worksheet)

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Hi

Can somebody who travelled recently from Bangalore to Mumbai and back
share the exact toll both positions and exact toll amount at each booth ?

thanks,

Nelemangala - 24/-
Tavarekere - 40/-
Doddasiddavanahalli - 35/-
Bankapura - 40/-
Hubli-Dharwad bypass - 31/- (AFAIK)
Bagewadi - 30/-
Hattaragi - 30/-
Kognoli - 25/-
Kini - 46/-
Taswade - 46/-
Forgot the place before Shivpur but its 25/-.
Shivpur - 45/-
Pune Mumbai Expressway is 140/-

Ooops. hvkumar sir, I submitted this response this later to your reply since I remembered them due to my frequent BLR-Pune trips in the recent past!