[alstonlobo]

We drove from Mangalore to Bangalore last weekend. Decided to take Charmadi route for a change and it was a refreshing change. The roads in bantwal taluk are in for works at few patches but it was no dampener. Post that the road conditions are great. Traffic was sparse. No heavy vehicles or buses unlike Shiradi. The ghats had a few patches undergoing roadwork too. All in all a great scenic drive. Going back the same route to Mangalore this weekend. Shiradi is out of my books for next few years now.

[yd_gli]

I did a Pune - Udupi - Bangalore - Pune drive last week with family. On the way from Udupi to BLR, we took the Kundapur - Tirthahalli - Bhadravati - Kadur - Arsikere - Channaraypattna - BLR route. We wanted to take the route via Tiptur and Tumkur but we missed a turn off somewhere. The route until Channarayapattna was super. A few broken patches but the nothing that would trouble the Hexa.
The C'pattna -BLR drive was a mess. Insane traffic and people were driving like crazy. I am used to the Pune - Mumbai expressway runs and its a fairly disciplined affair for the most part. The Hassan - BLR highway was just a real world version of the Fast and the Furious. Bananas!! Never again. I'd rather go via Hiriyur.

[Samurai]

I drove from Bangalore to Udupi last week, and this time chose CKM-Balehonnur-Sringeri route, just to avoid the culverts between Kottigehara and Mudigere. It is kind of mixed... the stretch between Belur and CKM has many rough spots. Even the route between Aldur and Balehonnur is undergoing construction in many places.

And here is the bad news. Generally, the aldur-balehonnur route has no heavy vehicles at all. However, due to restriction on heavy vehicles in Charmady, plenty of them have shifted to this route. So I am driving back in Charmady.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by yd_gli

.....
The C'pattna -BLR drive was a mess. Insane traffic and people were driving like crazy. I am used to the Pune - Mumbai expressway runs and its a fairly disciplined affair for the most part. The Hassan - BLR highway was just a real world version of the Fast and the Furious. Bananas!! Never again. I'd rather go via Hiriyur.

....and we Bangaloreans think Hassan-Bangalore highway is one of the more peaceful NH in/out of Bangalore
On a lighter note, next time you should try Mysore-Mandya-Bangalore on a Sunday evening. That will teach you a new meaning for "Fast and the Furious"

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by yd_gli

The Hassan - BLR highway was just a real world version of the Fast and the Furious. Bananas!! Never again. I'd rather go via Hiriyur.

Originally Posted by srvm

....and we Bangaloreans think Hassan-Bangalore highway is one of the more peaceful NH in/out of Bangalore
On a lighter note, next time you should try Mysore-Mandya-Bangalore on a Sunday evening. That will teach you a new meaning for "Fast and the Furious"

The Hassan - Bangalore stretch is the new Mysore road . The way idiots drive on this road, combined with multiple eateries that have sprung up all along the highway in recent years reminds me of the Mysore road that was 10-15 years ago. I have been traveling on this highway since late 80s and have never seen such a madness before. The traffic used to be pretty disciplined on this highway. I drove back from Mangalore recently on a Sunday noon and it was an absolute mayhem. I could hardly touch 80 kmph between Hassan - Bangalore. I also drove back from Mysore on couple of occasions on Sunday evenings recently, believe me or not, the traffic was much more disciplined and the flow was smooth even with all the construction work between Mysore - Bangalore. The only bottleneck I encountered was near Kumbalagodu due to the metro construction work.

The Bangalore - Mysore route thread in this forum used to be titled "The misery of traveling between Bangalore - Mysore" few years back. I won't be surprised if this thread gets that title in the coming days.

[yd_gli]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

The Hassan - Bangalore stretch is the new Mysore road . The way idiots drive on this road, combined with multiple eateries that have sprung up all along the highway in recent years reminds me of the Mysore road that was 10-15 years back. I have been traveling on this highway since late 80s and have never seen such a madness before. The traffic used to be pretty disciplined on this highway. I drove back from Mangalore recently on a Sunday noon and it was an absolute mayhem. I could hardly touch 80 kmph between Hassan - Bangalore. I also drove back from Mysore on couple of occasions on Sunday evenings recently, believe me or not, the traffic was much more disciplined and the flow was smooth even with all the construction work.

I will have to agree with this. I have driven the BLR -Mysore stretch quite a few times over the last 5 years but have never experienced so many near misses and aggressive drivers. It was a Sunday evening when I drove back and it seemed everyone wanted to have one last shot at redlining their turbos before entering the gridlock that is BLR . When you see an Audi Q7 trying to unsuccessfully outrun a Creta you know that things have gone too far!

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

The Hassan - Bangalore stretch is the new Mysore road . The way idiots drive on this road, combined with multiple eateries that have sprung up all along the highway in recent years reminds me of the Mysore road that was 10-15 years ago. I have been traveling on this highway since late 80s and have never seen such a madness before.

Since I did 3 trips in the last one month, I was wondering why I didn't see it.

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

I drove back from Mangalore recently on a Sunday noon and it was an absolute mayhem.

Here is the keyword, Sunday. I have been driving only on weekdays.

[theredliner]

Originally Posted by _chikku

Interceptors were always there in pre-covid times too. Many of them didnt see it because this stretch was covered during weekends and early mornings. You can spot them in Hasana by-pass and CR Patna by-pass.

I had heard of CR Patna bypass one, but had never seen one even during afternoons. This is the first time I'm hearing about Hasana bypass having them. Gotta be careful in the future.

Just an update: I rode on a weekday sometime last week in the afternoon till somewhere close to Yediyur. No popo anywhere.

The stretches which didn't have lane marking when I last saw them almost a year back are still in the same condition

[Samurai]

I drove back to Bangalore yesterday via Charmady. Some how the culverts between Kottigehara and Mudigere felt more gentler, probably because I was driving the i10, which has a shorter wheelbase.

I left Udupi at 12:23pm and reached Mayura at 6:03pm, that is 20 minutes less than the standard 6 hours for me. Which means this was one of the fastest drive for me, considering I was driving i10 auto which would complete 10 years in 3 months. So the road was deserted and very clean.

I left Mayura at 6:23pm, fairly confident that I would reach home by 8pm. Instead, I reached home at 8:45pm. How did that happen?

Well, when I turned on google navigation while leaving Mayura, I was surprised to see a prediction by Google maps that it will take 2 hours. I wondered why, and I got the answer exactly an hour later when I found the peenya flyover traffic reversed.

The 4 kms long flyover in peenya is now catering to traffic getting out of bangalore only. Which means the incoming traffic is pushed to the lower level, facing taffic signals every often. I lost 45 minutes in this 4 kms stretch. Once I escaped that hell, it was a breeze all the way home.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Samurai

The 4 kms long flyover in peenya is now catering to traffic getting out of bangalore only. Which means the incoming traffic is pushed to the lower level, facing taffic signals every often.

Is this a permanent change ? Defeats the purpose of having the flyover to avoid multiple traffic lights at the intersections en route

[Rohan24]

I will be travelling to a resort near Sakleshpur next weekend. I am expecting there to be more traffic than usual on the Mangalore highway, being a Saturday.
So I wanted to avoid some of it, as well as the slightly bad Hassan-Sakleshpur stretch, and hence, planning to take a detour from CR-Patna via Holenarsipur - Arkalgud. I feel, even though this will add some km to my trip, it will be a more peaceful drive on good roads.

I wanted to know if anyone has driven the stretch between Arkalgud and Sakleshpur, specifically Arklagud-Mallipatna-Kodlipet-Magalu-Bykaravalli-Sakleshpur? Any inputs on the road conditions would be very helpful. Or any suggestions regarding an alternate route.

This is the route suggested by Google Maps:


P.S. Having driven a lot of times on the Hassan highway, I wanted to try out this set of SHs because I came across these roads on a few threads and they look really inviting.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Rohan24

I wanted to know if anyone has driven the stretch between Arkalgud and Sakleshpur, specifically Arklagud-Mallipatna-Kodlipet-Magalu-Bykaravalli-Sakleshpur? Any inputs on the road conditions would be very helpful. Or any suggestions regarding an alternate route.

Much better than the Hassan Sakleshpur stretch. Also you get an early excuse to get off NH75 at CR Patna itself and have a peaceful drive till destination.

In fact, all internal routes, especially around Kodlipete Maaglu remain in good shape.

[Rohan24]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Much better than the Hassan Sakleshpur stretch. Also you get an early excuse to get off NH75 at CR Patna itself and have a peaceful drive till destination.

In fact, all internal routes, especially around Kodlipete Maaglu remain in good shape.

Thanks Parag ji. Reading the last few posts, it seems like NH75 isn't the peaceful drive it used to be before, especially on weekends.
I am aware that there aren't many restaurants on this internal route(post CR-patna), so would like to know of any safe, hygienic options on NH75 until CR-patna for a breakfast stop. I am expecting Swati Delicacy to be crowded as it usually is on weekends, and wanted to avoid that given the current situation. Worst case scenario, thinking of packing light snacks and eat on the way.

A little OT : Does anyone know how to get to the famous meadows we see in pics of Sakleshpur? Is there a motorable road to get there or are they all just on trekking trails?

[ramanan.skr]

Planning for a group ride in January towards Western Karnataka. We have Kukke, Dharmastala, Sringeri, Agumbe, Udipi in the mind. One of the pax gave an idea of going through Bisle ghat instead of the Shiradi.
Hence, please help me understand --

1. Is Bisle Ghat road open and safe for tourists to go?
2. How is the road condition and is it possible to take a hatchback?
3. Are there any stay options available nearby?

Thanks in Advance!

[jkrishnakj]

Rohan24 : Swati Delicacy will be crowded for sure. If you do manage to get a place to get your car near them , they serve in the car itself.

If not , there is an A2B ahead , and on the left itself. Not sure of the distance but should not take more than 15-20 min or so.

Ramanan: I had taken the Bisle Ghat route from Kukke to Bangalore last month. Barring a very small stretch , the road is super good.

I have stayed at RNS One at Kukke. Very decent hotel. Food isn’t that great ( it has a restaurant serving North Indian ) , the stay both times was good. From Kukke , you can do Dharmasthala and Sringeri. For Udupi, you may want to find a good place to stay.