[TuxDiesel]

I drove to Mangalore last weekend (15th Oct).

We were on Shiradi ghats at 0300. Was very tired and it felt like the bad roads would never end. Roads were bad (read craters) after Shakalespur till Gundya (turn for Kukke). There was a heavy smell of brakes burning with trucks and buses speeding through this section. On the way back we crossed this section during daylight. It felt better.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

There is another road from Mysore Road to Magadi Road. This is slightly longer but a very good road.

Take a right turn near Rajarajeshwari Engg and Dental college on Mysore Road and pass through Big Banyan Tree and Chandrappa circle and reach Magadi road a few Kms before Thippagondanahalli.

This option seems very good. Detour around Magadi road and driving on the NICE road all the way till Magadi road exit is quite a loop.

Thanks for sharing. Is this OK to drive early morning hours? (5-7AM)

[Rajesh K R]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

My dad traveled on this road last week and the conditions are same as reported earlier. The road passes through a few villages and it is broken in the village limits. Other than that, it should be fine. This is a shorter route to Magadi road. Btw, my dad has taken his Linea (read, very low ground clearance) on this road and has not faced any problem. Try to avoid this stretch late in the evenings as it is very desolate and no vehicles would pass through apart from the odd BMTC bus.

There is another road from Mysore Road to Magadi Road. This is slightly longer but a very good road.

Take a right turn near Rajarajeshwari Engg and Dental college on Mysore Road and pass through Big Banyan Tree and Chandrappa circle and reach Magadi road a few Kms before Thippagondanahalli.

Is there some way we can avoid the mess inside Magadi town? (No, not Nelmangala-Kunigal) is there some road from BLR side which will join the main road after Magadi town?

There is one road approaching from Ramanagara side, which meets the main road near the Magadi KSRTC Bus Depot. (after the bad roads end)

[lohithrao]

Try crossing the town before 6:30, earliy morning no issues. once the town wakes up then you had it

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

Is there some way we can avoid the mess inside Magadi town? (No, not Nelmangala-Kunigal) is there some road from BLR side which will join the main road after Magadi town?

There is one road approaching from Ramanagara side, which meets the main road near the Magadi KSRTC Bus Depot. (after the bad roads end)

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by ampere

This option seems very good. Detour around Magadi road and driving on the NICE road all the way till Magadi road exit is quite a loop.

Thanks for sharing. Is this OK to drive early morning hours? (5-7AM)

Yep, there should be no problem in the early morning hours. Just watch out for unmarked humps though.

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

Is there some way we can avoid the mess inside Magadi town? (No, not Nelmangala-Kunigal) is there some road from BLR side which will join the main road after Magadi town?

There is one road approaching from Ramanagara side, which meets the main road near the Magadi KSRTC Bus Depot. (after the bad roads end)

AFAIK, the Ramanagara road joins Magadi road before Magadi town. You still have to pass through the mess in Magadi if you come through this road. I think the road you are talking about near the bus depot is the Huliyurdurga road.

On this route, I don't think there is any choice other than crossing Magadi town.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

AFAIK, the Ramanagara road joins Magadi road before Magadi town. You still have to pass through the mess in Magadi if you come through this road. I think the road you are talking about near the bus depot is the Huliyurdurga road.

On this route, I don't think there is any choice other than crossing Magadi town.

That is quite a roundabout. I would say not worth taking? Have your tried that option? Does it save time?

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by ampere

That is quite a roundabout. I would say not worth taking? Have your tried that option? Does it save time?

It is a waste of time trying to avoid Magadi. There are no alternate roads to avoid Magadi town.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

It is a waste of time trying to avoid Magadi. There are no alternate roads to avoid Magadi town.

I thought so. But the Banyan tree route is worth it if the road is good as you say.
I checked in google maps. Its saves 30Km.

[hondadude]

Originally Posted by ampere

I thought so. But the Banyan tree route is worth it if the road is good as you say.
I checked in google maps. Its saves 30Km.

There are quite a few speed breakers on that road, at least till Banyan tree. So, while the distance seems lesser, not sure if it is equally fast.

[Samurai]

Amazingly, it is still raining in the coast. And I am driving back to Bangalore today.

[pramod]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Amazingly, it is still raining in the coast. And I am driving back to Bangalore today.

I firmly believe, the monsoons have shifted by a month in the last few years...

[sad-damn]

wish samurai was travelling a few days earlier so I had a better idea which road to take myself !
I am travelling back to blore (from mlore) tomorrow morning.
I took his/team-bhp advise while travelling blore-to mlore last week and took the shiradi ghats route. Except for the 50 km stretch after Sakleshpur, the rest was manageable. I am hoping things do not deteriorate much in the past week, since now I am taking my wife and infant daughter along.
I am planning to take the shiradi ghats route (I drive a swift).
will post road conditions once i reach home and recover.

[lazybrain]

Originally Posted by lazybrain

I too usually travel my Magadi road and would prefer not to take magadi route this time because of bad road conditions near magadi town. i am sure this must have further deteriorated after my drive last month. Sorry for my poor understanding - Since i am heading to mangalore few days from now before diwali does it mean that this time i can take Nelamangala route instead of magadi? please advise . i just wanted to make sure/reconfirm whether Nelamangala route is now motorable or at least by Oct 31

Thanks for your inputs!

Hi Guys, i didn't receive any response on the above from anyone. I would really appreciate if someone can guide me whether it is now OK to take nelamangala route since i will be driving down next sunday.

[prabhusati]

Depends on the time of start. If you are starting from Bangalore early morning or non-peak hours, i think it is better to take the Nelamangala route to Mangalore.

[mohan41]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

There is another road from Mysore Road to Magadi Road. This is slightly longer but a very good road.

Take a right turn near Rajarajeshwari Engg and Dental college on Mysore Road and pass through Big Banyan Tree and Chandrappa circle and reach Magadi road a few Kms before Thippagondanahalli.

I went to Hassan today morning, took this road to reach Magadi road. The road is really very good, except for the speed breakers. There are about 10-12 of them all the way till Magadi road. It saves about 15 kilometers for me and also was more peaceful as there was no traffic (around 8 AM in morning). Thanks to addihemmige for sharing this info.

The condition in Magadi town is really very bad. Otherwise the Magadi route is excellent. I dont know how the Kunigal - Nelamangala stretch is currently. While coming back in evening, my cousin told me not to take Nelamangala route if I cannot reach Nelamangala before 7 PM as the traffic is too much it seems after that. Several kilometers stretch of road before and after Kunigal town is also quite bad and slow moving traffic makes it difficult.