The art of travelling between Bangalore - Mangalore/Udupi

Samurai · 24th October 2010, 22:21

Yesterday I tried the Nelamangala option for the first time since May 2008.

The drive from Kunigal to Nelamangala is terrible thanks to construction work, reminded me of Mangalore-Suratkal stretch in 2007. In the darkness I could barely make out the diversions, needed to follow the buses few times.

The Nelamangala to ORR was a different story. The toll road pretty much starts at Nelamangala, but easy to miss the entrance if you are on the left most lane. I did miss it and traveled on the service road for few KMs cursing my luck. Then I got a second chance to enter the toll road. You have to keep to the right to enter. There are no sign boards telling you before hand. They want you to learn that the hard way. No toll is collected, the operator will raise the barrier once you approach the booth.

Once you enter the toll road, it is a breeze all the way until you exit. Unfortunately the toll road is not open all the way, we were forced to exit the toll road few KMs before ORR. Once complete, the the toll road ends just before the ORR. That is simply great.

Since I got dumped out of toll road little earlier, I had to endure few really long traffic lights. Even then I felt this route was lot shorter and took lot less time than the Magadi route.

Once the Kunigal-Nelamangala road is complete and toll road is open, nobody would consider Magadi road again.

lazybrain · 24th October 2010, 22:49

This is great piece of information Samurai. I will avoid Nelamangala for now and stick to Magadi Road route. From the above it appears that we can still afford to few km stretch of bad road near magadi town but best avoid Nelamangala to Kunigal stretch. Thanks, that was very helpful indeed!!

mohan41 · 24th October 2010, 23:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai

Once the Kunigal-Nelamangala road is complete and toll road is open, nobody would consider Magadi road again.

Well, I guess I should drive in the Nelamangala-Kunigal stretch myself to make the decision, but these are my current thoughts. If the road inside Magadi town is repaired, I prefer Magadi road even in future as I am closer to mysore road and I have to take Nice road to reach Tumkur road. If I take Nice road I dont know if the toll road is accessible from the point where Nice road joins Tumkur road. And its much longer too.

Neel · 25th October 2010, 11:29

Folks, i noticed that there are a few of you traveling the Mangalore-Shiradi-Bangalore route this week. Can you please share your route/views. I plan to drive Bangalore - Shiradi - Kukke - Dharmasthala this weekend (4 adults in a civic).

Thanks, Neel

addyhemmige · 25th October 2010, 11:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by mohan41

Well, I guess I should drive in the Nelamangala-Kunigal stretch myself to make the decision, but these are my current thoughts. If the road inside Magadi town is repaired, I prefer Magadi road even in future as I am closer to mysore road and I have to take Nice road to reach Tumkur road. If I take Nice road I dont know if the toll road is accessible from the point where Nice road joins Tumkur road. And its much longer too.

True. Travelling via Magadi road makes sense from distance point of view. for people travelling from the southern part of the city, Magadi road makes sense as it will be the shorter route to Kunigal. For people travelling from the Northern part of the city, the Nelamangala route makes more sense.

But, if the road condition on Magadi Road deteriorates, we can't help but go through Nelamangala. People like me staying near Mysore road will prefer to take Magadi road rather than take the NICE and reach Tumkur road.

Rajesh K R · 25th October 2010, 12:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

True. Travelling via Magadi road makes sense from distance point of view. for people travelling from the southern part of the city, Magadi road makes sense as it will be the shorter route to Kunigal. For people travelling from the Northern part of the city, the Nelamangala route makes more sense.

But, if the road condition on Magadi Road deteriorates, we can't help but go through Nelamangala. People like me staying near Mysore road will prefer to take Magadi road rather than take the NICE and reach Tumkur road.

+1 to the above. I stay very close to the NICE link road toll plaza in BSK 3rd Stage and taking the NICE Rd + Magadi Road to Hassan & onwards is the best option for me.

shamanth · 26th October 2010, 09:58

This week when i went to hassan, i took nelamanga route as i had horrible experince of roads after Dasrahalli in magadi road and magadi town last time. Lot of time gets wasted till i reach nice road junction of magadi road and inside magadi town another 15-20 mins. And i come from Indiranagar, so this time i took nelamanga route after i heard its open for traffic. I left bangalore at 5-30AM, and reached hassan 8-15AM, way better than Magadi road timings, which would have taken 3 and half hours. Also felt Nelmanaga-kunigal is good if you do early in morning, sunday evening it gets crowded a bit, but not as bad as it was when it used to be single lane, looks 60% of work is over in this stretch.

lohithrao · 26th October 2010, 10:11

I agree Magadi route takes a lot of time and i guess will try nelamangala next time, but am sure the good old charm of nelamangala is gone now...

Quote:

Originally Posted by shamanth

This week when i went to hassan, i took nelamanga route as i had horrible experince of roads after Dasrahalli in magadi road and magadi town last time. Lot of time gets wasted till i reach nice road junction of magadi road and inside magadi town another 15-20 mins. And i come from Indiranagar, so this time i took nelamanga route after i heard its open for traffic. I left bangalore at 5-30AM, and reached hassan 8-15AM, way better than Magadi road timings, which would have taken 3 and half hours. Also felt Nelmanaga-kunigal is good if you do early in morning, sunday evening it gets crowded a bit, but not as bad as it was when it used to be single lane, looks 60% of work is over in this stretch.

Samurai · 26th October 2010, 10:18

The nelamangala-Kunigal is the most tiring part, thanks to construction work.

nutmello · 26th October 2010, 10:24

hir all, the highway from mysore to mangalore thro madikeri will be closed for 5 months from 1st of nov between madikeri till sampage. so plan your travel thro alternate roads.

addyhemmige · 26th October 2010, 10:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by nutmello

hir all, the highway from mysore to mangalore thro madikeri will be closed for 5 months from 1st of nov between madikeri till sampage. so plan your travel thro alternate roads.

Are there any alternate roads nearby? AFAIK, the nearest ghat road is Bisle ghat and then Shiradi.

hvkumar · 26th October 2010, 11:46

Does it mean that you cannot travel from Madikeri to Mangalore via Sulya & Puttur?

suhasark · 26th October 2010, 11:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by uvmallya

I did the Mangalore - Bangalore route yesterday via Puttur-Madikeri-Kushalnagar-Srirangapatna-Mandya-Kengeri-Hebbal. I had done this very same route a month ago. But on this trip I observed that the road on the ghat section was better because the craters had been filled with some kind of cement mixture. The ride on the ghat section was definetely far better than a month ago even though you cannot call it the smoothest. Overall I feel that it is worth driving on this route when compared to the Shiradi Ghat route even though you incur the 30 odd extra kilometres.

Thanks uvmallya - I am planning to take this route for a Bangalore - Mangalore trip this weekend (October 30th).I will update this thread with my experience.
How is the stretch between Kushalnagar and Madikeri ( is was horrible a year back) ? and how long did the Mangalore- Bangalore journey take ?

-Suhas

suhasark · 26th October 2010, 11:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by nutmello

hir all, the highway from mysore to mangalore thro madikeri will be closed for 5 months from 1st of nov between madikeri till sampage. so plan your travel thro alternate roads.

Thanks for the info. I was planning to take this road to Mangalore over the weekend (October 30th) so should be fine if they are starting the works from Nov 1st.

- Suhas

Samurai · 26th October 2010, 12:15

Thinking of a different route for the next trip.

Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001 to Manipal, Karnataka 576104 - Google Maps

Any idea about the road conditions between Chikmagalur and Bangalore?

24th October 2010, 22:21	#2701
Samurai Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore/Udupi Posts: 25,813 Thanked: 45,447 Times View My Garage	Yesterday I tried the Nelamangala option for the first time since May 2008. The drive from Kunigal to Nelamangala is terrible thanks to construction work, reminded me of Mangalore-Suratkal stretch in 2007. In the darkness I could barely make out the diversions, needed to follow the buses few times. The Nelamangala to ORR was a different story. The toll road pretty much starts at Nelamangala, but easy to miss the entrance if you are on the left most lane. I did miss it and traveled on the service road for few KMs cursing my luck. Then I got a second chance to enter the toll road. You have to keep to the right to enter. There are no sign boards telling you before hand. They want you to learn that the hard way. No toll is collected, the operator will raise the barrier once you approach the booth. Once you enter the toll road, it is a breeze all the way until you exit. Unfortunately the toll road is not open all the way, we were forced to exit the toll road few KMs before ORR. Once complete, the the toll road ends just before the ORR. That is simply great. Since I got dumped out of toll road little earlier, I had to endure few really long traffic lights. Even then I felt this route was lot shorter and took lot less time than the Magadi route. Once the Kunigal-Nelamangala road is complete and toll road is open, nobody would consider Magadi road again.
	() Thanks

24th October 2010, 22:49	#2702
lazybrain BHPian Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Bangalore/Mangalore Posts: 223 Thanked: 122 Times View My Garage	This is great piece of information Samurai. I will avoid Nelamangala for now and stick to Magadi Road route. From the above it appears that we can still afford to few km stretch of bad road near magadi town but best avoid Nelamangala to Kunigal stretch. Thanks, that was very helpful indeed!!
	() Thanks

25th October 2010, 11:29	#2704
Neel BHPian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 178 Thanked: 35 Times	Folks, i noticed that there are a few of you traveling the Mangalore-Shiradi-Bangalore route this week. Can you please share your route/views. I plan to drive Bangalore - Shiradi - Kukke - Dharmasthala this weekend (4 adults in a civic). Thanks, Neel
	() Thanks

26th October 2010, 09:58	#2707
shamanth Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 1,003 Thanked: 634 Times View My Garage	This week when i went to hassan, i took nelamanga route as i had horrible experince of roads after Dasrahalli in magadi road and magadi town last time. Lot of time gets wasted till i reach nice road junction of magadi road and inside magadi town another 15-20 mins. And i come from Indiranagar, so this time i took nelamanga route after i heard its open for traffic. I left bangalore at 5-30AM, and reached hassan 8-15AM, way better than Magadi road timings, which would have taken 3 and half hours. Also felt Nelmanaga-kunigal is good if you do early in morning, sunday evening it gets crowded a bit, but not as bad as it was when it used to be single lane, looks 60% of work is over in this stretch. Last edited by shamanth : 26th October 2010 at 10:02.
	() Thanks

26th October 2010, 10:18	#2709
Samurai Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore/Udupi Posts: 25,813 Thanked: 45,447 Times View My Garage	The nelamangala-Kunigal is the most tiring part, thanks to construction work.
	() Thanks

26th October 2010, 10:24	#2710
nutmello BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: mysore Posts: 102 Thanked: 175 Times	The art of travelling between Bangalore - Mangalore/Udupi. With road repairing update hir all, the highway from mysore to mangalore thro madikeri will be closed for 5 months from 1st of nov between madikeri till sampage. so plan your travel thro alternate roads.
	() Thanks

26th October 2010, 11:46	#2712
hvkumar Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 7,369 Thanked: 3,454 Times	Does it mean that you cannot travel from Madikeri to Mangalore via Sulya & Puttur?
	() Thanks

26th October 2010, 12:15	#2715
Samurai Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore/Udupi Posts: 25,813 Thanked: 45,447 Times View My Garage	Thinking of a different route for the next trip. Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001 to Manipal, Karnataka 576104 - Google Maps Any idea about the road conditions between Chikmagalur and Bangalore?
	() Thanks