[paragsachania]

The KR Nagar - Hassan road is one less taken by BHPians, Obviously. It remains in excellent shape ever since it was relaid by Valecha Engineering Group way back in 2001-2002 (same consortium that did Belur-Hassan). This is THE road opted by all those from Hassan, Chikmagalur and Shimoga district travelers to drive to Mysore since years.

But like Addy mentions, it makes zero sense to drive to Hassan from Mysore when the destination is Bangalore. Its got plenty of humps right from Ilvala all the way till Holenarasipura, good enough to irritate you if you are a first time driver on this stretch. Holenarasipura to Hassan has almost none.

Good roads in Karnataka comes with complimentary speed breakers! That is a part of the Tender invite.

There are a lot of shorter (if not better) options if one wants to beat the Bangalore Mysore mess.

[hallik9]

Friends,
Planning to drive down to Mangalore over the weekend for a wedding. Could someone confirm if the Shiradi ghats are still operational?

[Samurai]

The dates are not fixed yet.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/45339364.cms

[NPV]

Originally Posted by hallik9

Planning to drive down to Mangalore over the weekend for a wedding. Could someone confirm if the Shiradi ghats are still operational?

This will likely be decided after a meeting on Dec 4 2014 with NHAI engineers, deputy commissioners, district in-charge ministers, etc.
News article link - here ("Meet on Shiradi Ghat Diversions"), New Indian Express 2 Dec 2014

[Samurai]

The decision has been delayed to December 10th. So we still don't know when it will close.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/45377020.cms

I am surprised to hear they will develop Bisle Ghat to take over the overflow traffic. Have these guys seen how narrow Bisle ghat is? It will take months to get Bisle ghat widened and made into a practical alternative.

With two weeks go, now they wonder about alternatives?

Anyway, how is the Kalasa route, has anyone checked it out recently?

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I am surprised to hear they will develop Bisle Ghat to take over the overflow traffic. Have these guys seen how narrow Bisle ghat is? It will take months to get Bisle ghat widened and made into a practical alternative.

I highly doubt it. I heard that they are planning to make Bisle ghat and surroundings (Pushpagiri reserve) as UNESCO world heritage site. If they do this, there won't be any development activities there.

It'll be better if they leave the Bisle ghat as it is. I don't want to see pesky tourists spoiling the nature there.

[Samurai]

I was planning to drive via Kalasa today, but changed my mind before the turn off at bajagoli. Instead I decided to drive Shiradi after 3 months, just before they close it.

Shiradi is still the fastest route, did Gundya-Sakleshpur in 45 minutes. Roads around Sakleshpur have been fully patched.

[motomaverick]

Hi folks there might be a trip to Udupi this week, work related, any ideas on how to proceed towards Udupi without touching Mangalore? Is taking NH101 from Modankap all the way up to Karnad a good idea or just stick to the usual NH17 that somewhat bypasses the town. Would be reaching Mangalore somewhere around early morning.

Also, I assume taking the current road conditions of Shiradi ghats, its ok to drive at night ?

[Samurai]

I travel to Udupi/Manipal all the time without even coming 50kms of Mangalore.

Try this route. I don't recommend driving in any ghat at night. If you have to do it, Shiradi is safer because of the wide roads.

Meanwhile, the Devihalli toll (nearest to Hassan) fee has jumped from ₹20 to ₹30 since Saturday. That's a 50% jump.

[DragonHawk]

Just back from weekend trip to my native. Both ways I traveled through Shiradi Ghat. Regarding the road condition in Ghats, it is not at its worst and you can easily maintain 40km/hr speed throughout the entire stretch. As of today morning patch work was being carried out near chowdeshwari temple shiradi gate and you won`t find any potholes all the way till Uppinangady once you cross Gundya .

I left via KSRTC clubclass at 12pm Saturday and got down in Uppinangady at 6.30, took mere 2.30 hours to reach Uppinangady from Hassan. On my way back I traveled by my car, left Puttur at 4.30am Monday and reached my Bilekahalli home at 9.30am with 10mins stoppage at Kamat Upachar Udaypura.
All in all I don`t know what is happening with respect to decision of Shiradi ghat closure and if they are really closing the ghats for repair then I dont understand the purpose of patch work being done.

[recshenoy]

Originally Posted by DragonHawk

Just back from weekend trip to my native. Both ways I traveled through Shiradi Ghat.

All in all I don`t know what is happening with respect to decision of Shiradi ghat closure and if they are really closing the ghats for repair then I dont understand the purpose of patch work being done.

Your signatures indicates that you own a figo. Owing to low ground clearance of Figo, how easy/difficult you found driving figo on Ghat section. Couple of my friends had complained about lack of pick up in Figo while climbing ghats even when roads were good condition (compared to a swift). Have you experienced any such issue?

Completed another "Mangaloreyaana" (Mission On Mangalore).
Traveled in Airavata Volvo both the way but looks like craters on the way have become less now. Like dragonhawk mentioned above, lot of patch work has been done and journey was much better than one i had couple of weeks back. Especially after Sakaleshapura i have noticed good patch done work till Munjrabad fort area.

Looks like road wont be closed this year. I highly doubt if they will be able to complete the road work before May end when occasional rain starts which is then followed by Monsoon. Unless they follow very efficient way of road construction and aggressive time lines, repair will overlap with monsoon thence causing even more delay and possibly bad quality construction

[hallik9]

Completed my trip to Mangalore and returned back to Bangalore earlier today. Left Mangalore at 8.15am after a yummy breakfast at Tajmahal Cafe and managed to reach Bannergatta road(Hulimavu) by 2.30pm. The only stop was at Kamat's(Near Channarayapattana) for lunch. This was a 40 minute stop.
The roads at Shiradi ghats were manageable and as mentioned by our friends on this forum,its holding up good and the patch work is in progress. I am not sure why the patch work is being done now before the closure.
Anyways,there are only 2-3 stretches on this ghat where your speed could be as low as 20-30kmph.

Pretty happy with the traffic as well due to a MOnday. All in all, a very pleasant drive.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I travel to Udupi/Manipal all the time without even coming 50kms of Mangalore.

Try this I don't recommend driving in any ghat at night. If you have to do it, Shiradi is safer because of the wide roads.

Meanwhile, the Devihalli toll (nearest to Hassan) fee has jumped from ₹20 to ₹30 since Saturday. That's a 50% jump.

Thanks for the route map, I am assuming that the route is safe to be traveling at night? Since its an official trip cant miss work during the day, hence, have to start after 8PM. With a couple of stops and seeing member timings I am assuming at night it will take around 9-10 hours of travel time.

What are the options of tea on the way considering its night and I am assuming we will reach Sakleshpur at around 1am if starting from Bangalore at 8PM.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Thanks for the route map, I am assuming that the route is safe to be traveling at night? Since its an official trip cant miss work during the day, hence, have to start after 8PM. With a couple of stops and seeing member timings I am assuming at night it will take around 9-10 hours of travel time.

What are the options of tea on the way considering its night and I am assuming we will reach Sakleshpur at around 1am if starting from Bangalore at 8PM.

There are tea stalls at the start of the ghat on the LHS of the road . Yes , Shiradi is the safest and quickest option available . Not sure of the road condition from Nellyadi to Dharmasthala .

BTW do we have any updates on the ghat ?

[DragonHawk]

Originally Posted by recshenoy

Your signatures indicates that you own a figo. Owing to low ground clearance of Figo, how easy/difficult you found driving figo on Ghat section. Couple of my friends had complained about lack of pick up in Figo while climbing ghats even when roads were good condition (compared to a swift). Have you experienced any such issue?
construction

Your friends are right, when compared to swift pick up of figo in ghats is very sluggish. With 3 people on board more often or not I had to juggle between 2nd and 3rd gear to keep it moving. I didn't faced any problem with respect to low ground clearance in ghats, but unscientific city humps has a lot of contribution for scrapping the underbelly.