[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by graaja

Thanks Parag. So that means I may get a ticket after all for the Chitradurga stretch. When there are no speed markers any speed I should adhere to? Is 100 OK?

Most of the times, I end up crossing Chitradurga - Davanagere stretch before 10am and hence I have always missed these interceptors.

Else you see them almost every day between Chitradurga and Davanagere and both directions at the same time at different locations. During one of my return drives from Rajkot last May, I noticed one near Sira also (towards Bangalore).

Hence, you should be OK to maintain good cruising speeds if you are doin this very early mornings (before 10) or late evenings. Otherwise, 90-100 should be safe enough although the limit is 80 KMPH.

On the other hand, please be assured of no Interceptors anywhere between Belgaum and Pune or beyond. The only one time I noticed cops holding a proper Speed sensor resting on a Tripod on the Median in MH was way back in 2009-10. After this, I have never witnessed them ever after.

Secondly, its super hot and I haven't really seen a cozy Tempo Trax or a Tavera used by MH cops to rest inside and catch the offenders ever. With this summer, they cannot really place that Sensor on a median and keep an eye on anyone under the hot sun. That said, the answer still remains a firm no. No speed sensors anywhere in MH between Belgaum - Pune - Shirdi.

[graaja]

Successfully completed the Coimbatore-Shirdi-Coimbatore trip, a total of 2900kms in 4 days.

My heartfelt thanks to Parag, ampere, NPV, SanthoshBhat and arun_josie for your guidance. Without your inputs, I would not have been able to complete the trip. Here are some highlights of the trip.

Day-1

Did 900kms from Coimbatore to Belgaum. Started at 4:30AM from Coimbatore and reached Belgaum at 7:30 in the night, a total of 15 hours. This included 2:45 minutes for two fueling breaks and breakfast, lunch and evening coffee breaks. Stayed at Sankam Residency in Belgaum. Very decent hotel with comfortable rooms and restaurant with very good food.

Road conditions were quite good through out day 1 except a few stretches of horrible traffic. After Krishnagiri, there was crazy truck traffic, sometimes three trucks trying to overtake each other blocking all the lanes, and at the same time some crazy tempo traveller carrying vegetables comes crashing into the gap. Was lucky to get out of this mess in one piece. After Chitradurga till Hubli, there was heavy two wheeler traffic, and traffic coming in the opposite direction - two wheelers, cars and sometimes tractors. Had to drive very cautiously in this stretch. Also, this stretch had lots of speed signs with 80kph and also spotted a speed trap. So, mostly cruised at 90kph and occasionally at 100kph.

Day-2

Did 550kms from Belgaum to Shirdi. Started from Belgaum at 4:30AM and reached Shirdi at 3:30PM, a total of 11 hours. This included 1:45 minutes for two breakfast and lunch break and one fuel stop. Stayed at Dwaravati Bhakt Nivas. Was too tired to visit the temple that day. So, just rested in the room for the rest of the day.

About 100kms before Pune, there is lot of 6 laning work going on with lots of diversions with heavy bottlenecks. This created two issues. Because of the bottlenecks introduced by the diversions, the average speed dropped significantly. In these bottlenecks had to be very careful of maniacs trying to jump into gaps or push me out of the road. How much ever quickly I accelerated and left these maniacs behind, they would be back in the next bottleneck. This was a totally stressful stretch.

Because of this stretch, reached Khed-Shivpur toll at 9:40AM, and got caught in peak Pune traffic. Parag's map was a life saver. Loaded his map and used it to navigate through Pune. Took 1:30 hours to cover 40kms.

From Pune to Shirdi, though it is mostly 4 lane except for a 20km stretch of 2 lane roads, there was heavy 2 wheeler and truck traffic. Took 3:30 hours to cover the 200kms.

Day-3

Did 550kms from Shirdi to Belgaum. Had a good darshan at 8:00AM and spent a couple of hours in the temple. Left Shirdi at 11:30AM and reached Sankam residency Belgaum at 10:30 in the night, a total of 11 hours. This included 2:00 hours break for coffee, dinner and fuel stop.

As I did not know how to reverse plot Parag's map on Google, I let Google plot the route for Pune exit. As this was Sunday, there was very minimum traffic. Was able to cross Pune in 1:10 hours.

Same bad traffic after Pune due to 6 laning work, and after Kolhapur from 7:00PM to 9:00PM there was heavy two wheeler and truck traffic. After 9 PM the traffic reduced significantly and was able to make good speed to Belgaum.

Day-4

Did 900kms from Belgaum to Coimbatore. As I was very tired due to lack of sleep and early starts in the past days, rested well in the night and left the hotel after breakfast at 8:10 in the morning. Did not face much traffic (even two wheeler traffic was low) till Bangalore. Entered NICE road at around 3:45, and got caught in Bangalore traffic after exiting NICE road. Took about 1:45 minutes to reach Attibele toll gate. There was some crazy traffic with trucks and cars trying to get out of Bangalore. Traffic was bad all the way till Krishnagiri with lots of trucks.

Post Salem, felt very tired and drowsy. The last 200km was the toughest. Had to take a couple of coffee breaks. Reached home at 11:20 in the night. A total of 15:10 hours, including 3:00 hours break for food and fuel stops.

In hindsight, I feel 900kms was a stretch for the fourth day considering all the drives and lack of sleep in the previous days. Next time, I will probably spend an extra day in Shirdi with a couple of more darshans, recover well and also instead of doing Belgaum-Coimbatore in one day, make another halt maybe at Hosur. And maybe my wife will be able to share some driving giving me some breaks.

Thank you all once again in guiding me in completing my first such long trip.

[ampere]

Nice!

Originally Posted by graaja

As I did not know how to reverse plot Parag's map on Google, I let Google plot the route for Pune exit. As this was Sunday, there was very minimum traffic. Was able to cross Pune in 1:10 hours.

This is where I love Garmin!

In hindsight, I feel 900kms was a stretch for the fourth day considering all the drives and lack of sleep in the previous days. Next time, I will probably spend an extra day in Shirdi with a couple of more darshans, recover well and also instead of doing Belgaum-Coimbatore in one day, make another halt maybe at Hosur. And maybe my wife will be able to share some driving giving me some breaks.

This is the issue. 900km / day is actually doable. What kills you is Tumkur-Bangalore, NICE, Attibele and Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri.
They are the real time hogger and fatigue inducers.

As regards to Shirdi: Best would be as you said not 1-2 but take 3-4 days. Also visit Aurangabad where you can see Ajanta/Ellora etc as well.

And yes a break at Hosur definitely would help. As I said its not a matter of distance which you cannot cover. Its a matter of impediments which you cannot avoid.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by ampere

As regards to Shirdi: Best would be as you said not 1-2 but take 3-4 days. Also visit Aurangabad where you can see Ajanta/Ellora etc as well.

Thanks. That is a good idea. Next time, I am definitely going to do that, a full week trip. With the Ajanta/Ellora caves, I am also thinking about doing Belur-Halebeedu-Shravanabelagola which have some historical monuments. My children should love these places.

Originally Posted by ampere

This is the issue. 900km / day is actually doable. What kills you is Tumkur-Bangalore, NICE, Attibele and Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri. They are the real time hogger and fatigue inducers.
...

Totally agree. The tiredness was more mental than physical in driving through the unruly traffic, and trying to keep everyone safe!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by graaja

Thanks. That is a good idea. Next time, I am definitely going to do that, a full week trip. With the Ajanta/Ellora caves, I am also thinking about doing Belur-Halebeedu-Shravanabelagola which have some historical monuments. My children should love these places.

Again Parag knows about that place. Check with him

- Shirdi has nice hotels for all budgets
- Same for Aurangabad. Thanks to Ajanta/Ellora and some other critical aspects (Like Automobile base?) you have good luxury hotels as well.
- You can do a short tour of Aurangabad and Ellora (along with Grishnewar one of the Jyotirlings, Verul).
- Nashik is also close by. You can plan for Triambak as well. Not to mention Shani Shignapur on the Nagar-Shirdi road.

- Ajanta is further up.


Here is one such attraction in Aurangabad (Bibi ka Maqbara). (Cross posted from another thread where I had actually posted)

[graaja]

Originally Posted by ampere

Again Parag knows about that place. Check with him

- Shirdi has nice hotels for all budgets
- Same for Aurangabad. Thanks to Ajanta/Ellora and some other critical aspects (Like Automobile base?) you have good luxury hotels as well.
- You can do a short tour of Aurangabad and Ellora (along with Grishnewar one of the Jyotirlings, Verul).
- Nashik is also close by. You can plan for Triambak as well. Not to mention Shani Shignapur on the Nagar-Shirdi road.

- Ajanta is further up.

Here is one such attraction in Aurangabad (Bibi ka Maqbara). (Cross posted from another thread where I had actually posted)

Wow. Had absolutely no idea about all these places nearby! Will make proper plan next time and cover most of these place.

That photo of Bibi ka Maqbara looks absolutely breathtaking, almost a mini Taj Mahal!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by graaja

Successfully completed the Coimbatore-Shirdi-Coimbatore trip, a total of 2900kms in 4 days.

. Super Duper. Glad it was an uneventful trip!!

After Chitradurga till Hubli, there was heavy two wheeler traffic, and traffic coming in the opposite direction - two wheelers, cars and sometimes tractors. Had to drive very cautiously in this stretch. Also, this stretch had lots of speed signs with 80kph and also spotted a speed trap. So, mostly cruised at 90kph and occasionally at 100kph.

This is a section where you will spot too many wrong side traffic and although the traffic is sparse, the comparatively higher cruising speeds and these wrong side traffic makes it an ideal road for Fatal accidents. You would be equally surprised to learn that MH part of this highway has at least 5 times the traffic than here and not even a single speedbreaker anywhere (Except of course at those diversions due to 6 lane work).

Regarding speed interceptors, they have been there since past 4-5 years now and mainly Chitradurga - Davanagere side. The good thing is if one starts from Bangalore by 5, you will miss them all and be at Belgaum by the time they open shop.

About 100kms before Pune, there is lot of 6 laning work going on with lots of diversions with heavy bottlenecks. This created two issues. Because of the bottlenecks introduced by the diversions, the average speed dropped significantly. In these bottlenecks had to be very careful of maniacs trying to jump into gaps or push me out of the road. How much ever quickly I accelerated and left these maniacs behind, they would be back in the next bottleneck. This was a totally stressful stretch.

You are only lucky. The state of this Work-In-Progress road only 1 years back was "HORRIBLE".

Today, much of the 6 laning is done, including Pune bypass and even the diversions have a motorable tarmac. Circa 2014, there was no road on any of these diversions and the main corridor also was super rough.

The average speed as of today is comparable to yesteryear when roads were 4 lane. I felt there was absolutely no difference whatsoever. You lose time at these diversions but you gain back over those 6 lanes again. Earlier, when the whole stretch was 4 lane, it was even slower.

Once the complete 6 lane work is accomplished, this will save at least 30-45 minutes between Pune and Satara (the 110 kms stretch where 6 laning is in progress)

Because of this stretch, reached Khed-Shivpur toll at 9:40AM, and got caught in peak Pune traffic. Parag's map was a life saver. Loaded his map and used it to navigate through Pune. Took 1:30 hours to cover 40kms.

0940 and 90 Minutes is indeed good considering peak time. You have may experienced traffic on almost all roads you took to bypass Pune is all I can imagine at this time.

As I did not know how to reverse plot Parag's map on Google, I let Google plot the route for Pune exit. As this was Sunday, there was very minimum traffic. Was able to cross Pune in 1:10 hours.

My mistake that I totally forgot to mention that. I have many times mentioned a different (& faster) option to get out of Pune when driving south mainly due to the trafic pattern.

In fact, I have reported the return route as in the post below:

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Similarly for return you can take Nagar Road all the way till Yerawada Bridge, then Pune RTO - Sangam Bridge - Sancheti Flyover - JM Road - LB Shastri Road - Sinhaghad Road and finally Satara Road. This is mainly because there will be lot of traffic specially on Sholapur Road towards the city if you are passing this in morning or evenings as well.

Same bad traffic after Pune due to 6 laning work, and after Kolhapur from 7:00PM to 9:00PM there was heavy two wheeler and truck traffic.

Trust me, most of the 2 wheelers on Sunday after Kolhapur go to the other side of the State into KA to refill their tanks as fuel is cheaper.

Again trucks are more here for the initial 20 kms due to the commercial tax check post at the Border.

[Hayek]

Reviving an old thread. Am planning a Coimbatore to Bombay drive towards the end of the year, and planning to halt at Hubli on the way. Google maps shows me three options



Coimbatore - Salem - Bangalore - Tumkur - NH48
Coimbatore - bannari - Kollegal - Maddur - Tumkur - NH48
Coimbatore - Chamrajnagar - Mysore - Bellur - NH48 (Just south of Sira)

Which is these routes would be the best bet. Will start reasonably early from Coimbatore (5 am) and would like to make Hubli before dark with breakfast, lunch and tea breaks.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Reviving an old thread. Am planning a Coimbatore to Bombay drive towards the end of the year, and planning to halt at Hubli on the way. Google maps shows me three options

Attachment 2238973

Coimbatore - Salem - Bangalore - Tumkur - NH48
Coimbatore - bannari - Kollegal - Maddur - Tumkur - NH48
Coimbatore - Chamrajnagar - Mysore - Bellur - NH48 (Just south of Sira)

Which is these routes would be the best bet. Will start reasonably early from Coimbatore (5 am) and would like to make Hubli before dark with breakfast, lunch and tea breaks.

For Coimbatore, your best bet is via Bangalore. Will be the most suitable option given the fact that you will mostly be on fast dual carriageway corridors

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Coimbatore - Salem - Bangalore - Tumkur - NH48
Coimbatore - bannari - Kollegal - Maddur - Tumkur - NH48
Coimbatore - Chamrajnagar - Mysore - Bellur - NH48 (Just south of Sira)

Undoubtedly the first option. This is fastest, smoothest, and most convenient road to drive on. All smooth and fast highways with plenty of excellent options for food and restroom breaks on the way.

However, the other two options offer some rustic charm with some lovely two-lane state highways. If one wanted to be a bit adventurous and try those just for the heck of exploring some countryside in Karnataka, those could have been good options. The roads there are slow but scenic. However, in the current time I would not recommend these options at all because last I heard, the road conditions were a mess. This year the monsoon in this part has been brutal and it has taken a toll on most of the rural roads (and some national highways too). So specifically at this time of the year, I would not recommend these rural roads. Some other time (before the monsoon, for example), these could have been interesting alternatives.

Sorry for the long answer. In short, stick to your first option without a doubt!

[jkrishnakj]

Though Cbe to Blr via Bannari and Kollegal is the shortest, scenic route, I’ll still recommend the option 1. You don’t want to be steering through 2 dozen plus hair pin bends after Bannari and that too at 7 am, plus, not finding a decent place for a chai/coffee s well.

You have a very long drive and you’ll be yearning for good surface and Tarmac and therefore option1.

[ampere]

Roads within KA have definitely improved. But still the 4-lane tops it all in terms of the easy of commute.

The Malavalli-Maddur-Kunigal is a fantastic option. But still 4-lane through Bangalore will be swift and easier.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Which is these routes would be the best bet. Will start reasonably early from Coimbatore (5 am) and would like to make Hubli before dark with breakfast, lunch and tea breaks.

Option #1 is the best if you want to reach Hubli in a day. The other two options have major distances through 2 lane roads and it can become tiring. If you have some time to spare, do ping me. We can catch up for coffee.