[fast_elegance]

Returned to Bangalore today morning via charmadi. Roads are good throughout. There are a few rough patches here and there but nothing to worry.

Started at 6:30 am against a 4am initial plan as I was expecting thick fog. It was drizzling all the way from Mangalore to Mudigere and as expected encountered thick fog in the ghat section.

[rajivtelang]

Returned to bangalore y'day night via shiradi. Had a plan to visit dharmasthal and kukke but looking at the huge crowd postponed the plan. Did not change the route and continued via shiradi. As usual tar sections may not withstand another month of rain as they are very much gone bad. But still drivable. Fortunately not much traffic on sunday evening for me. My santro got a huge muddy water splash from ksrtc bus and whole car was covered by mud. Had to clean the front wind shield and headlights for further driving.
Started at 9:30 from udupi and reached bangalore by 8:30 due to extra distance travelled to fro Dharmasthal with a failed attempt
Next time will try charmadi for sure. Yeah one thing to add. There is somthing about shiradi as mentioned by other bhpians. People go crazy in sections after sakleshpur and drive like stupids. This behaviour is same in either direction but around same area. Is there something spooky around this area just curious since some cars doing good otherwise suddenly started overtaking on blind turns and missed brushing against vehicle from opposite side quite a few times.

[explorer09]

Has anyone tried this recently?

Blr-Tumkur-Hiriyur-Tarikere-Bhadravathi-Thirthahalli-Agumbe-Kundapur

[perty]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

People go crazy in sections after sakleshpur and drive like stupids. This behaviour is same in either direction but around same area.

Frustration ? After cruising at speeds of around 70-80kmph, a car gets stuck behind a bus or other heavy vehicle in the ghat section and the occupants have to drive slowly, inhaling fresh diesel exhaust. A few minutes later their patience wears out and they will grab the slightest opportunity to overtake, even if they don't have a clear line of sight. The thought that there could be a bus or a truck lurking around the corner probably doesn't even cross their mind.
I think the best way to deal with such a situation is to drive defensively. Stay behind a bus while negotiating the dangerous sections, so that the bus will be your pilot vehicle and prevent any surprises from the corners. Not sure if the regulars on the Shiradi route do this already, or use other techniques to avoid the rash drivers.

[roamingrao]

Having to visit a village on Mulleria - Badiyadka road yesterday, took the Madikeri - Sampaje route instead of the usual Shiradi - Kalladka - Vittla - Perla - Badiyadka route ( which is bad now )

Road taken to avoid Somwarapete - Madikeri twisties :

Bangalore - Channarayapatna - Arakalgudu - Ramnathpura - Konanur - Kushalnagar - Sampaje Ghat - Jalsoor - Mulleria - Badiyadka.

Barring a rough stretch for a couple of kms from Arakalgudu towards Ramnathpura and inside Konanur town, had a pleasant and smooth drive.

250 kms to Madikeri took 3 hours 30 mins with a 3 am start and 4 hours 15 mins on return at 6 pm.

[tsangchokla]

Hi friends,

Am planning a road trip this Oct (2016) from Bangalore - Chikkmagalur - Udipi - Jog Falls - Bangalore with side trips (if possible) to include Hasan, Belur/Halebid, Srinageri and Tumkur. Will be travelling with family. Total days planned is Sunday to Sunday. Would be grateful if somebody can post some advice with the latest road conditions. Have never done this sector.

Much Regards

[Thilak29]

Hi Folks, Has anyone taken Shiradi this week ? I would like to know if it has gotten worse ?
I have an upcoming drive to Udupi and return from Puttur. I am contemplating Charmadi route for onward journey and Madikeri -C.Patna for return trip. Pointers are welcome.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by tsangchokla

Am planning a road trip this Oct (2016) from Bangalore - Chikkmagalur - Udipi - Jog Falls - Bangalore with side trips (if possible) to include Hasan, Belur/Halebid, Srinageri and Tumkur.

You definitely have the time for the trips.

- Bangalore-Chikkamagulur : 4-5 hours of easy drive. (Belur/Halebedu can be done)
- Chikkamagulur-Udipi : Chikkamagulur-Mudigere-Charmadi-Belthangady-Karkala-Udipi
- Udupi-Jog : Do you want to visit Jog? I doubt if there would be any water. But you sure can plan places around Jog/Shimoga/Thirthahalli. Or head -up towards Honnavar and visit Murdeshwar on the way.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

Hi Folks, Has anyone taken Shiradi this week ? I would like to know if it has gotten worse ?
I have an upcoming drive to Udupi and return from Puttur. I am contemplating Charmadi route for onward journey and Madikeri -C.Patna for return trip. Pointers are welcome.

I would suggest charmady or sampaje. I traveled M'lore > B'lore last Wednesday and can say it has gone worse. It is like craters on ghat section and if it is raining tough to make out the depth. There were heaps of mortar stones on the wayside, so they might be planning to even the roads.

All in all, time to look for alternatives to Shiradi section.

[vijjuvk]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

I would suggest charmady or sampaje. I traveled M'lore > B'lore last Wednesday and can say it has gone worse. It is like craters on ghat section and if it is raining tough to make out the depth. There were heaps of mortar stones on the wayside, so they might be planning to even the roads.

All in all, time to look for alternatives to Shiradi section.

Has the condition of Shiradi Ghat deteriorated so much? I will be traveling to Mangalore on Saturday and a bit worried about the condition of Shiradi as I would be taking my new car. Would you recommend taking the Charmadi route ? Please advise.

Thanks,
VK

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by vijjuvk

Has the condition of Shiradi Ghat deteriorated so much? I will be traveling to Mangalore on Saturday and a bit worried about the condition of Shiradi as I would be taking my new car. Would you recommend taking the Charmadi route ? Please advise.

Thanks,
VK

I wouldn't know the condition of charmady, but from the posts here it seems to be much better than shiradi.

The present condition of shiradi + the rains will be a back breaking combination. At least for me, couldn't figure out the craters n huge holes coz of the rain.

[fast_elegance]

Originally Posted by fast_elegance

Returned to Bangalore today morning via charmadi. Roads are good throughout. There are a few rough patches here and there but nothing to worry.

Originally Posted by vijjuvk

Has the condition of Shiradi Ghat deteriorated so much? I will be traveling to Mangalore on Saturday and a bit worried about the condition of Shiradi as I would be taking my new car. Would you recommend taking the Charmadi route ? Please advise.

Originally Posted by JMaruru

I wouldn't know the condition of charmady, but from the posts here it seems to be much better than shiradi.

I would definitely suggest charmadi. I took this route on Aug 15th (quoted) and the road conditions were good then.

I will be travelling to M'lore again on Sep 10th in my BIL's new baleno.

Please update post your travel.

[hangover]

Best travel time for this section and reasons:

Karnataka's PWD conducted a road usage survey in 2010. This was a part of a study to get a loan from Asian Development Bank for a project to construct a 22 km road through the Ghats. We will discuss this later.

Interesting Numbers
The percentage of passenger cars, buses, light commercial vehicles and heavy commercial vehicles (trucks, bullet shaped gas carrying trailers and ore (besides iron) carrying multi-axle vehicles) were 40%, 20%, 10% and 25%, respectively, of the traffic volume.

So, 20+10+25 =~60. Thus, commercial vehicles are 60% of the traffic volume.

The "core Ghats" section of Shiradi is ~30 km. Its total length is ~50 km. This 30 km section has many hairpin turns and long, steep gradient curves. The average speed of the commercial V's is 10 km/h.

Regular drivers may know already that the overall traffic peaks at three nasty hours - 10:00 am in the morning, 15:00 pm noon and 17:00 hours in the evening.

There is a simple reason for the peaks. Most buses and trucks going from Mangalore to Bangalore are fully loaded.

The main players on the Ghats - Chasing each other at 10 km/h
For those unfamiliar with this, imagine a convoy of gas carrying bullet trailer trucks behind fully loaded passenger buses carrying a uniformly loaded 6 feet height of parcels and boxes all along on their rooftop.
These will be seen trailing a TATA 407 loaded with fresh fish (for me) headed to Bangalore. The 407's are turbo charged. Hence, a good driver can make good time and reach Blr. so that the fish will not have died in vain.
Naturally, TATA LPT 1610's with colorful "Punjab" bodies carrying logs of wood are also determined to conquer the Ghats. It is actually just 2-3 huge logs. Maybe 200-300 year old trees.

Business Reasons for Traffic Jams
These commercial V's time their departure to a business dependent time of arrival in Bangalore.

Approx. 70% of buses travel in this section during the night and early morning hours (between 19:00 hours and 7:00 hours) in both directions. The day busses are, usually state owned carriers, charters, and the odd private ones. I think Durgamba and CPC travels have a day trip.

The volume of the Mangalore-bound traffic is larger in the morning and the volume of Bangalore-bound traffic is larger in the afternoon.

Therefore, for a comfortable BLR to MLR drive you may leave by 5 am. Avg. 60 km/h. Reach by 12 noon. You may stop once or twice to water the plants. If possible, do not waste too much time eating breakfast and lunch. There is enough variety in MLR. You already knew this. Now you have the statistics that prove you were 100% right.

A breath-taking vision
If you leave BLR at 11:30 pm, chase down the last departing bus in peak summer, and reach the Ghats by 3.30 - 4 am, you may see some spectacular rings of fire like a laurel around a few peaks. Forest fires.

I have seen this only twice in these few years. I have not taken any photos of these. It is just my personal thing. Nobody else is interested. It is IMHO, controlled fires by the forest dept. as it rarely burns below a certain height. However, the ones in April 2016 seem to have caused a bit of damage.

Anyhow, this post is about the road and proposed changes. The fire is a different topic.

What is going to built someday
The proposed new road is a 22 km stretch between Maranhalli and Gundya. Frankly, I had not heard of Maranhali until now. In some places, it is spelt as Masnahalli too. The images below explain better.

• The first image is the section of the Ghats, the metaphorical 10,000 feet view of the location of this bypass road.
• The second image is a satellite view of the same, closer. It will be a brown desert after this road is built.
• The third image shows two alternate routes considered by the survey team and their comments.
• The last image is a crude image showing six tunnels and five bridges joining those two places.

You may also go through the 300-page project report of this same road here:
http://www.meti.go.jp/meti_lib/report/2015fy/000469.pdf

[DragonHawk]

Yesterday I returned from my hometown, left at 8 in the morning and reached BG Road nice road junction at 2.30pm. Overall journey took 6.30hrs which included 1 hr break. Here is my update on the road condition.

* Puttur-Uppinangady is in horrible condition and is worse than Shiradi ghat.
* Stretch between Gundya and Shiradi gate is fast deteriorating and driving in night and continuous rain will make driving bit difficult on this stretch. Craters are present but nothing alarming as such which will damage the underbelly of your car.
* Patchwork was in progress between Sakaleshpur town and Marnahalli. As of yesterday work has been completed till Manjarabad fort junction.

I will be driving back on 10th Sept and since long time I have been missing the drive in Somwarpet-Madikeri stretch. So this time however I am planning to fulfill my wish.

[pramodpk]

I will be driving to Bekal on Sep 3rd and returing on Sep 5th.

I plan to take

Bangalore-Channarayapattana-Holenarsipur-Arkalagud-Shanivarasanthe-Somwarpet-Madikeri-Sullia-Jalsoor-Cherakala-Bekel while going.

For the return, which of these is better?

Bekal - Jalsoor - Subramanya - Gundya - Sakleshpur - Bangalore

or

Bekel-Cherakala-Jalsoor-Puttur-Uppinangady-Shiradi ghat-Sakleshpur- Bangalore

Any good places for food while returning?

While going planning to Stop at Swati Delicay near Bellur cross. Are there any decent food options after than on Madikeri route?

Thanks in advance.