[roamingrao]

Latest on Sampaje - the ghat road is still closed. Sulya and Madikeri locals have been given permits to drive on the under - construction road. Outsiders also could take permits from DC of respective places and drive, or worst, pay bribe and drive at night. This apart, the sampaje village - sulya stretch is said to be horrible. May take months...


We need to travel to Badiadka this weekend. All these years, sampaje ghat was the best option ( Bangalore - Mysore - Madikeri - Sulya - Jalsoor - Mulleria - Narampady - Badiadka )

Now, I have three options, after ruling out reaching subramanya via Bisle ghat.

1. Bangalore - Shiradi ghat - Gundya - Subramanya - Guthigar - Jalsoor - Mulleria - Badiadka

2. Bangalore - Shiradi ghat - Uppinangadi - Puttur - Vittla - Perla - Badiadka

3. Bangalore - Shiradi ghat - Uppinangadi - kalladka - Vittla - Perla - Badiadka ( longer, but easy and straight )


Request members if any of you have travelled on these routes, please update on road conditions. Many thanks in advance.

From badiadka, we drive to Kundapura on sunday on NH17 and back to Bangalore the same night.

[gopalnayak]

Originally Posted by roamingrao

2. Bangalore - Shiradi ghat - Uppinangadi - Puttur - Vittla - Perla - Badiadka

3. Bangalore - Shiradi ghat - Uppinangadi - kalladka - Vittla - Perla - Badiadka ( longer, but easy and straight )

I had taken these 2 routes about 4 months back. (2) is better than (3) considering the total length of the bad roads. Vittla-Uppinangadi was in a better shape than Kalladka-Vittla. The stretches between Vittla-Perla and Vittla-Kalladka were really bad. I am not sure if it has improved now.

[askids]

I will be traveling from Mysore to Udupi next week. Which is the best route that I can drive in my Figo? Appreciate your response!

[prasad14]

Originally Posted by roamingrao

1. Bangalore - Shiradi ghat - Gundya - Subramanya - Guthigar - Jalsoor - Mulleria - Badiadka

I took this route in Oct. We all know the latest status till Subramanya. For the next part:

1. Subramanya-Jalsoor: Good, winding, scenic but narrow single road, with occasional potholes. Difficult to overtake if stuck behind a bus/lorry. In some stretches, you need to drive backwards to find a stretch to give way to oncoming trucks/buses. But the traffic is not much and the drive would be enjoyable. (not sure whether I touched Guthigar)

2. Jalsoor-Mulleria: Brilliant roads, mostly two laned, with river Payaswini for company to your left. In oct the forest and the farm lands were lush green and it was a treat to drive on this stretch.

3. Mulleria-Badiyadka: Good roads, occasional bad surfaces. (Actually I was headed to Kasargod and somewhere missed a turn/fork and ended up in Badiyadka).

You'll surely enjoy the drive till Badiyadka from Subramanya and I strongly recommend this route.

Prasad

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by askids

I will be traveling from Mysore to Udupi next week. Which is the best route that I can drive in my Figo? Appreciate your response!

Drive to Hassan first, and then you can pick between various options from there.

[MCR]

Originally Posted by askids

I will be traveling from Mysore to Udupi next week. Which is the best route that I can drive in my Figo? Appreciate your response!

I would recommend this route. I had gone to udupi on January 1st and 2nd 2011. The roads are good with occassional rough patches. Total distance is around 356 kms.

Mysore - Hassan - Belur - Gendehally - Mudigere - Kottigehara - Kalasa - Kudremuka - Karkala - Manipal - Udupi.

[addyhemmige]

Did anybody travel between Hassan-Bangalore yesterday (sunday) evening? There was a huge traffic jam just after Kadabahalli (between Hirisave and Bellur Cross). I had to take some interior roads and join the highway at A.Nagathihalli.

The length of the jam was approx 2 kms. I heard that there was an accident. I was probably one of the first few cars which took the narrow interior roads (before traffic started on the other direction)

Will see if I can plot it on the map.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

The length of the jam was approx 2 kms. I heard that there was an accident

Not surprising at all, given the numerous diversions due to the ongoing 4-lane work as well as some morons who take it as their birth-right to drive on the wrong side of the road as long as it is 'under construction'.

It is very risky to drive on the 4-lane stretch, especially in the night. You tend to touch three digit speeds and suddenly you come across an unmarked/poorly marked diversion! Last week while driving back from Hassan, I was taken by surprise when three huge mounds of mud/sand loomed up right in front of me to indicate a diversion!!!! I was able to slow down in time only because of good visibility (thanks to my Philips x-treme power) and the fact that I was doing 90-100 kmph or else I would have been the cause of traffic jam that day!

[roamingrao]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Did anybody travel between Hassan-Bangalore yesterday (sunday) evening? There was a huge traffic jam just after Kadabahalli (between Hirisave and Bellur Cross).

Yes Addy, we crossed this point around 8pm on our way back to bangalore from Kundapura. We did not face any jams at that time - a severely mangled grey innova was being towed away. The way the car was damaged, the driver and the person seated behind him had no chance of survival. We were proved right this morning :

Mangalorean.Com- Serving Mangaloreans Around The World!


Hassan - Channarayapatna - Bellur cross stretch is now famous for high speed collisions. Hope 4 laning is extended to Hassan from Bellur cross.

Sad

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by roamingrao

Yes Addy, we crossed this point around 8pm on our way back to bangalore from Kundapura. We did not face any jams at that time - a severely mangled grey innova was being towed away. The way the car was damaged, the driver and the person seated behind him had no chance of survival. We were proved right this morning :

Mangalorean.Com- Serving Mangaloreans Around The World!

Hassan - Channarayapatna - Bellur cross stretch is now famous for high speed collisions. Hope 4 laning is extended to Hassan from Bellur cross.

Oh!! According to the news report, it was a collision between three vehicles. I was at that spot at around 6.30 pm and it was blocked. Good that the block was cleared early.

While we almost reached the highway at Nagathihalli, vehicles had started to appear from the other side. It was sure to create another traffic mess on the narrow road, but luckily I could get through.

This is the map of the place. The blue line is the route which we took. The accident might have happened between the 2 points.


Work for the 4 laning between Bellur Cross and Hassan has begun. Upto Hirisave, they have started groundwork. They will start felling trees after Hirisave shortly.

Originally Posted by cool_dube

It is very risky to drive on the 4-lane stretch, especially in the night. You tend to touch three digit speeds and suddenly you come across an unmarked/poorly marked diversion! Last week while driving back from Hassan, I was taken by surprise when three huge mounds of mud/sand loomed up right in front of me to indicate a diversion!!!! I was able to slow down in time only because of good visibility (thanks to my Philips x-treme power) and the fact that I was doing 90-100 kmph or else I would have been the cause of traffic jam that day!

I agree. At this stage of construction, you can never be careful enough.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by roamingrao

The way the car was damaged, the driver and the person seated behind him had no chance of survival. We were proved right this morning :

Mangalorean.Com- Serving Mangaloreans Around The World!

Oh god, he is the Principal of Vijaya College Mulki! Lots of my relatives, include my brother attended that college. Many of my relatives might know this person.

[lohithrao]

Thats really sad! may his soul RIP!

This stretch is very dangerous esp the ksrts semi luxry buses are driven very recklessy, other saw couple of them crashed head on...ironically these buses are much faster then the rajahamsa's!

[roamingrao]

Originally Posted by roamingrao

We need to travel to Badiadka this weekend.
1. Bangalore - Shiradi ghat - Gundya - Subramanya - Guthigar - Jalsoor - Mulleria - Badiadka
2. Bangalore - Shiradi ghat - Uppinangadi - Puttur - Vittla - Perla - Badiadka
3. Bangalore - Shiradi ghat - Uppinangadi - kalladka - Vittla - Perla - Badiadka ( longer, but easy and straight )

Originally Posted by gopalnayak

(2) is better than (3) considering the total length of the bad roads. Vittla-Uppinangadi was in a better shape than Kalladka-Vittla. The stretches between Vittla-Perla and Vittla-Kalladka were really bad. I am not sure if it has improved now.

Thank you gopalnayak. Another source who had taken the kalladka - vittla stretch recently had suggested this route as Puttur - vittla has gone bad over the months. Kalladka - vittla is patched up now though vittla - perla is horrible !

Originally Posted by prasad14

1. Subramanya-Jalsoor: Good, winding,
2. Jalsoor-Mulleria: Brilliant roads, mostly two laned,3. Mulleria-Badiyadka: Good roads, occasional bad surfaces.

Prasad14, Thank you for your suggestions. Yes, we were aware that Jalsoor - Mulleria - badiadka stretch is good but were apprehensive on the latest state of Subramanya - Jalsoor stretch. Not wiiling to take risks with my aged parents, we opted for the shorter Kalladka route to reach badiadka.

----

Drove on this hectic circuit on 5th and 6th March ( saturday and sunday ) with my parents ( 80+ ) to visit their ailing siblings all over DK and Udupi districts.

Bangalore - Hassan - Uppinangadi - kalladka - Vittla - Perla - Badiadka - Kasargod - Mangalore - Udupi and Manipal - Koteshwara and Kundapura - Haladi - Agumbe - Sringeri - Chikmagalur - Hassan - Bangalore ( 996 kms )

Road conditions :

Bangalore - Hassan - Kalladka : 310 kms, 5 hours

Bangalore - Kunigal - Bellur cross : 4 laning almost complete except for detour into Kunigal town ( byepass may take couple of months more ). Well marked diversions onto opposite lane at 5 or 6 places - transition is rough as also onto additional layer of asphalt.

Bellur cross - Hassan - Sakleshpur - Shiradi ghat - Uppinanagadi - kalladka : Good roads throughout. Channarayapatna - Hassan is freshly laid, all bends in shiradi ghat are patched except for the last 3 kms before Gundya - work in progress. Gundya - Uppinangadi - BC road is excellent - jet black top. What happens during monsoon is another story !

Hotel Aditya ( restaurant ) on NH48 near Uppinangadi is good !


Kalladka - Vittla - Perla - Badiadka : 45kms, 90 mins.

Kalladka - Vittla is a patched up old and narrow road - drivable at 45 - 60 kmph. Vittla to Perla and onto Kerala border is bad, very bad - Narrow, curvy and heavily potholed. Kerala border to Badiadka is a good smooth broad road. Kalladka to a village near Badiadka took 90 mins ( 45 kms ). till sampaje ghat opens, is this the shortest route from Bangalore to Kasargod ?

info gathered from locals and relatives on state of other roads in the area :

Uppinangadi - Puttur is good but Puttur - Vittla is bad.

Mani on NH48 to Puttur and onto Sulya and Sampaje is very bad ( SH88 ) - widening is in progress.

We all know Gundya to Subramanya is excellent but Subramanya to Jalsoor via Guthigar and Doddathota is heavily potholed. Subramanya to Uppinangadi via Kadaba is also bad. Also, Subramanya to Puttur via Bellare is bad but drivable at 40kmph.

Jalsoor to Mulleria to Badiadka is good as also Mulleria to Kasargod via Cherkala.

Badiadka to Kumbla via neerchal is out of bounds for all vehicles - takes 60 mins for 15 odd kms.


Badiadka - Kasargod ( via Edneer mutt ) - on NH17 to Kumble - Manjeshwara - Talapady - Mangalore ( pumpwell circle ) : 72 kms, 2 hours.

Good road throughout ! Kasargod to Kumble is patched up. Some bridges on NH17 is rough as this near Mogral.





Manjeshwar to Mangalore is fresh laid asphalt.







Ullal bridge





Mangalore - we had to go to Kulshekar. From pumpwell circle, instead of going straight to Nantoor cross and taking right towards bikarnakatte, we took right at pumpwell, reached padil and took left towards kaikamba - big mistake - avoid this road at all costs for the next 2 to 3 months.


Mangalore ( kottara chowki ) - Udupi ( arch ) - 49 kms, 75 mins.

Mangalore to Suratkal is a good 4 lane road. Suratkal to Udupi is being 4 laned - the worst part being Padubidre to Kaup.

Samurai, you seem to have transformed udupi roads, especially Kalsanka to Manipal - Kudos to you ! We were here last in May 2010 - sea of change ! This time though my favourite BP station at Kunjibettu disappointed me - faulty pump. Stayed at home in Indrali.


On Sunday, Udupi - Kundapura : 35 kms, 60 mins.

Entire stretch - 4 laning in progress, worst part - Brahmavara to Saligrama ( road reduced to single lane ).

OT - At Koteshwara, road widening came as a blessing in disguise for our large family - made us a united family again. Coming under a common survey number, we were served a common notice ! Thank you NHAI !


Kundapura - Haladi - Someshwara - Agumbe - Sringeri - Balehonnur - Vastare - Chickmagalur - Hassan : 240 kms, 5 hours 30 minutes.

Kundapura - haladi : excellent road. Good road extends upto start of Someshwara wildlife sanctuary 15 kms before Someshwara. The road through the sanctuary is narrow and rough - may not survive another monsoon.

Gathered info on other roads in the area :
Haladi - Vandse - Kollur road is good. Kundapura - Vandse is also good. Kollur - Baindur is rough and potholed.


Kundapura - Haladi





Haladi - Goliangadi - Someshwara





Inside Someshwara wildlife sanctuary





Someshwara - Agumbe - Sringeri - Jayapura - Balehonnur stretch is good. A stretch of 10 kms between Balehonnur and Aldur is very rough ( between Sangameshwarapete and Kanathi to be precise ). Aldur - Vastare - Chikmagalur is good. Chickmagalur - Belur is newly laid. Sushrutha, when are they going to repair Hiremagalur village stretch ? - been there like this for almost 4 years now !

Belur - Hassan stretch has always been a drivers delight.


Hassan - Bangalore ( 8th mile ) - 170 kms, 3 hours

Hassan to Bangalore on a sunday evening / early night ? frustrating !

Sorry for a loooong post.. hope this helps.

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by roamingrao

Someshwara - Agumbe - Sringeri - Jayapura - Balehonnur stretch is good.
A stretch of 10 kms between Balehonnur and Aldur is very rough ( between Sangameshwarapete and Kanathi to be precise ).

I agree I had taken this route 3 days back(Sunday) when travelling to Theerthally, There's a very bad patch of road just before Kanathi (Just after the bridge)

Sushrutha, when are they going to repair Hiremagalur village stretch ? - been there like this for almost 4 years now !

GOD knows, I don't know the exact reasons as why on first place they have a deviation there. Yes it's been almost 4 years and nobody is bothered to repair the stretch, neither CKM City authorities nor the state Highway officials, till then one has to enjoy the detour.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by sushrutha

GOD knows, I don't know the exact reasons as why on first place they have a deviation there. Yes it's been almost 4 years and nobody is bothered to repair the stretch, neither CKM City authorities nor the state Highway officials, till then one has to enjoy the detour.

From what I know, this detour was created to build a railway bridge on the proposed Kadur-Chikmagalur railway line. But then neither the railway line nor the bridge was constructed and so, the sad road still remains as it is.