[ALSUDA]

Thanks kannan666. any feed back on ghat patch up work from your friend? is it completed or still going on? this will help me to decide whether i should take this route or avoid.

[kannan666]

Originally Posted by ALSUDA

Thanks kannan666. any feed back on ghat patch up work from your friend? is it completed or still going on? this will help me to decide whether i should take this route or avoid.

He said that quite a bit of the work was completed but it is still WIP. However, as he traveled back in the night, there was no work going on at the time. He also said that there were still a few bad patches near Shiradi but nothing his MUV could not manage !

[speedsatya]

A relative drove did this round trip over the weekend via sakleshpur . They said the roads are being patched up and it isnt a problem anymore except for 2 small stretches .
They were able to do this in 6 hours both ways including a 20 mins break on the way

[ALSUDA]

thanks kannan,
speedsatya> which car he drove? mine is sedan Rapid & I'm not sure whether I can take this route. Via Charmadi - thru' Hassan city - belur etc...is time consuming, for me preferable is Shiradi

[hallik9]

Go with the Shiradi route. The repair work is progressing well and as mentioned earlier,there are only 2 major points which need some work. You can very easily manage this in your Rapid.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by kannan666

My friend drove down from Mangalore through Shiradi late on Sunday night and it was not closed for traffic then, hope this helps !

It will only close for heavy traffic, not cars.

[ALSUDA]

Thank you hallik & samurai.

Planned to go this week end & I'll take shiradi. Last time after reading about road condition, took charmadi. Charmadi route though it was good, passing thru' Hassan/Belur etc took more time than shiradi route.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by ALSUDA

thanks kannan,
speedsatya> which car he drove? mine is sedan Rapid & I'm not sure whether I can take this route. Via Charmadi - thru' Hassan city - belur etc...is time consuming, for me preferable is Shiradi

They went in an Amaze and a DZire. Your Rapid should be able to do the ghat easily

[ALSUDA]

speedsatya> now I confidently take the route.
BTW, are you from Indiranagar/Cambridge layout?

[guyfrmblr]

My parents traveled to Mangalore yesterday through Shiradi and they mentioned that the remaining small bad stretches have almost been patched and repair was in progress at a stretch. I'm driving to Mangalore this weekend and hope it will be completely ready by then. Will update the conditions on Saturday.

Meanwhile I drove to Nagamangala through Magadi last month and was surprised to see the milestones every km indicating the distance to Jalsoor. I was wondering who in the world wants the distance to Jalsoor in Magadi road and the surrounding areas. I came back home and checked in the google maps to understand the relation between Magadi and Jalsoor. I then came to know that the SH-85 is from Tollgate (Vijayanagar), Bangalore to Jalsoor! It passes through Magadi town - Nagamangala - KR Pete - Saligrama - Somawarapete - Bisle ghat - Kukke Subramanya - Jalsoor.

I'm driving to Mangalore again on Feb 1st week through Sullya and hence planning to take SH-85. The SH-85 is in excellent condition until KR Pete with really sparse traffic. I'm not sure about the road conditions between KR Pete and Somawarapete. From Somawarapete, I'll drive towards Madikeri and will proceed towards Sullya. The stretch between Madikeri and Somawarapete is in top condition. If the entire stretch is good, then it'll be the most peaceful route to Mangalore through Sullia even though the distance may be little longer.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

I'm driving to Mangalore again on Feb 1st week through Sullya and hence planning to take SH-85. The SH-85 is in excellent condition until KR Pete with really sparse traffic. I'm not sure about the road conditions between KR Pete and Somawarapete. From Somawarapete, I'll drive towards Madikeri and will proceed towards Sullya. The stretch between Madikeri and Somawarapete is in top condition. If the entire stretch is good, then it'll be the most peaceful route to Mangalore through Sullia even though the distance may be little longer.

That is an interesting route @guyfrmblr. I've wanted to try this route to go to Hassan for quite some time now but somehow I never went ahead and I forgot all about it. Now that you have updated the route condition, I am tempted to try this out on the next trip.

I guess the Magadi-Huliyurdurga-Nagamangala road is in good condition. but do you have any idea about the road condition between Nagamangala and Shravanabelagola?

This weekend I am traveling to Madikeri and will be heading to Hassan from there via Somwarpet. Will see if I can take the Somwarpet-Konanur stretch of the SH-85 and further on towards Arkalgud and to Hassan.

A friend's native place is near Saligrama, will check with him about the road conditions on that stretch and let you know.

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

That is an interesting route @guyfrmblr. I've wanted to try this route to go to Hassan for quite some time now but somehow I never went ahead and I forgot all about it. Now that you have updated the route condition, I am tempted to try this out on the next trip.

Even though the road conditions are good via magadi road it takes more time to reach NH-48 near Kunigal compared to the 4-Lane via Nelamangala, because of the single lane traffic on Magadi Road. And you have private buses plying on this stretch who drive rash and do not allow you to overtake easily. But I am sure you will love those curves on Magadi road which is a pleasure to drive.

And I am not sure on the Magadi - Huliyurdurga-Nagamangala Road, but one of my friend had told its been repaired and a breeze to drive. Update on the route if you travel by.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

Even though the road conditions are good via magadi road it takes more time to reach NH-48 near Kunigal compared to the 4-Lane via Nelamangala, because of the single lane traffic on Magadi Road. And you have private buses plying on this stretch who drive rash and do not allow you to overtake easily. But I am sure you will love those curves on Magadi road which is a pleasure to drive.

And I am not sure on the Magadi - Huliyurdurga-Nagamangala Road, but one of my friend had told its been repaired and a breeze to drive. Update on the route if you travel by.

I think Addy and most of us here (Including me) have been taking the Magadi road once in a while whenever we got bored of 4 lane roads and want to get back our good old days of some single carriageway driving. Even during those days when Magadi town was all bad fron start to end and time consuming and only got asphalted later to make things better.

Magadi road used to be a preferred option during the days when the NH was undergoing 4 lane work.

I remember discussing this with Addy a few days back on how one could drive all the way to Hassan without touching the NH (and obviously not paying any toll though that is not the sole intent). This report from guyfromblr is indeed inviting and worth exploring!

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

but do you have any idea about the road condition between Nagamangala and Shravanabelagola?

The SH-85 part of this stretch is very good. For going to Shravanabelagola, one has to take a deviation from SH-85 at some village (forgot the name). I'm not aware of the route to Shravanabelagola beyond this point.

The Bellur Cross - Nagamangala stretch is too good. there are some occasional scientific speed breakers but the road is very wide and smooth.

This weekend I am traveling to Madikeri and will be heading to Hassan from there via Somwarpet. Will see if I can take the Somwarpet-Konanur stretch of the SH-85 and further on towards Arkalgud and to Hassan.

Are you planning to reach Arakalgud from Somawarapet through Shanivarasante? If yes, there is a bad stretch of around 4 km before a small place called Mallipatna between Shanivarasante and Arakalgud. Once you cross this bad stretch, its a pleasure to drive until Madikeri. Very good roads.

If possible, ask the locals in Shanivarasante about the road conditions to reach Mallipatna through Kodlipete handpost. If its good, you can avoid the 4 km bad stretch.

Originally Posted by fusionbang

And I am not sure on the Magadi - Huliyurdurga-Nagamangala Road, but one of my friend had told its been repaired and a breeze to drive.

Thanks for the info. Then I'm all set to drive on SH-85 on Jan 31. I'll update the route conditions.

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I think Addy and most of us here (Including me) have been taking the Magadi road once in a while whenever we got bored of 4 lane roads and want to get back our good old days of some single carriageway driving. Even during those days when Magadi town was all bad fron start to end and time consuming and only got asphalted later to make things better.

Magadi road used to be a preferred option during the days when the NH was undergoing 4 lane work.

that is when you get the feel of driving actually. Trust me till now I do not enjoy much driving on 4 lanes more than what I do on driving on single lanes. And Magadi Road is one of my favorite routes to drive on.

I remember discussing this with Addy a few days back on how one could drive all the way to Hassan without touching the NH (and obviously not paying any toll though that is not the sole intent). This report from guyfromblr is indeed inviting and worth exploring!

And seriously it is good to take these roads without touching any tolls until you are in a hurry or you want to save some fuel, since it is really heavy for the pocket to pay all these tolls inspite of paying heavy road taxes here in south.

Anytime I would prefer exploring roads as you and Addy would like to do