[rnidumolu]

This Sunday I became the victim of the Mysore - BLR weekend traffic. I started around 4.10PM from Chamundeswari temple and could able to reach my house at Electronics city around 9.50PM with 1 hour break at Anand Bhavan. The traffic was very hectic and I got tired like anything in this journey. Most of the traffic jams were due to the speed breakers :(. We have counted them from Mysore and there are around 55-60 speed breakers.

[kala]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

The best route for me I guess (inspite of bad road updates in Bannur) is to take the Bannur - Mallavalli - NH 209 option. It is easier to deal with potholes than moronic suicidal drivers.

Unfortunately the bad roads on SH33 aren't in and around Bannur only. When I travelled that way about 3 weeks back almost the entire stretch between Malavalli and Kirugavalu was dug up and a real mess. (I travelled only from Kirugavalu to Malavalli that time, but road construction was active between Kirugavalu and Bannur earlier itself - not sure of the Bannur-Mysore stretch).

So till they complete the construction I think Malavalli-Mysore via Bannur is not very advisable in my opinion.

[DieselLover]

My friend is driving from Bangalore to Calicut on 24th Afternoon. He will leave Bangalore only by around 1 PM on 24th. How is the traffic between Bangalore and Mysore on Saturday afternoons? He is a newbie driver and is seriously worried about the traffic/road conditions

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

My friend is driving from Bangalore to Calicut on 24th Afternoon. He will leave Bangalore only by around 1 PM on 24th. How is the traffic between Bangalore and Mysore on Saturday afternoons? He is a newbie driver and is seriously worried about the traffic/road conditions

Since it the start of the long weekend, traffic is definitely going to be on the higher side.

But apart from the Bangalore-Mysore stretch, starting at 1 means he is going to be doing Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundlepet around the ~5PM time frame when traffic is going to be heavy on the stretch. On top of that he probably will cross Bathery around 7. Which means the high traffic Bathery-Kalpetta-Churam-Thamarassery Calicut would need to done in the night and again will hit most of the high volume kerala traffic.

You mentioned he is a newbie driver and is worried about Bangalore-Mysore, I think the bigger worry is on the other parts mentioned. Hence don't think it is a good idea to leave at 1 PM.

[SyncNest]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

My friend is driving from Bangalore to Calicut on 24th Afternoon. He will leave Bangalore only by around 1 PM on 24th. How is the traffic between Bangalore and Mysore on Saturday afternoons? He is a newbie driver and is seriously worried about the traffic/road conditions

I did bangalore-mysore on Dec25th
day - friday
start time - 12 AM
end time - 3:30 PM

return mysore -bangalore on Dec 27th
day - sunday
start time -9 AM
end time - 12:30 AM

both were over 3 hrs. It will be very slow. some guys will drive nasty but it won't last because there are too many speed breakers anyways. so newbie driver can breath easy. its a good road

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Since it the start of the long weekend, traffic is definitely going to be on the higher side.

But apart from the Bangalore-Mysore stretch, starting at 1 means he is going to be doing Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundlepet around the ~5PM time frame when traffic is going to be heavy on the stretch. On top of that he probably will cross Bathery around 7. Which means the high traffic Bathery-Kalpetta-Churam-Thamarassery Calicut would need to done in the night and again will hit most of the high volume kerala traffic.

You mentioned he is a newbie driver and is worried about Bangalore-Mysore, I think the bigger worry is on the other parts mentioned. Hence don't think it is a good idea to leave at 1 PM.

Thanks Rajeev. How would be the traffic in the Bangalore-Salem-Palakkad route during the same time of the day? He has an alternate option to drive down to Palakkad, stay there overnight and travel to Calicut early morning on Sunday. Would this be a better option than taking Bangalore - Mysore - Calicut route?

[kala]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

Thanks Rajeev. How would be the traffic in the Bangalore-Salem-Palakkad route during the same time of the day? He has an alternate option to drive down to Palakkad, stay there overnight and travel to Calicut early morning on Sunday. Would this be a better option than taking Bangalore - Mysore - Calicut route?

Not really.. Bangalore-Palghat would take at least 6 hours, and Calicut is normally doable comfortably in 7 hours through the NH209 route (both from the outer peripheries of the city - time spent in city traffic is totally unpredictable as usual). And I guess the overall stress due to traffic would be more or less the same either way (Longer drive through Kerala on the Palghat route, but during a lower traffic period - and vice versa for the Calicut route)

If your friend has no issues in following routes that have been marked out on Google Maps, he can take the NH209 route and he should be in Gundlupet by around 5PM or so (Assuming he can get to the Kanakapura road/Nice road junction by 1:30), and a liesurely drive from there on should take him to Calicut by 8:30 / 9PM including normal coffee/ toilet breaks.

(P.S. I'm surprised at how large is the percentage of people who have a problem following routes that you mark out for them on GM. A lot of them use the GPS for a while and then turn lazy and put GM in navigation mode eventually ending up on a GM suggested road that is absolutely broken !! - High time Google Maps introduced a mode of directing someone to follow a preset route !!)

[sswaroop]

I would have to agree that the bigger concern is the road ahead from Mysore rather than Bangalore-Mysore. Newbie drivers take a while to reach Mysore. My Recent trips to Mysore have taken about 2.5 hrs each and I stay near PESIT.

Usually new drivers take longer to accelerate out of those million speed breakers on Mysore road considerably slowing them down. And stopping on the way for snacks and such will take another 30 mins or so.

I would second the Kanakpura-Malavalli-Gundlupet route mentioned above. It had taken me about 4 hrs. Traffic was scarce and this was on a Sunday in November. But this route has Zero restaurants on the way apart from local darshini type ones. So your best bet for Snacks /food would be Gundlupet

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

Thanks Rajeev. How would be the traffic in the Bangalore-Salem-Palakkad route during the same time of the day? He has an alternate option to drive down to Palakkad, stay there overnight and travel to Calicut early morning on Sunday. Would this be a better option than taking Bangalore - Mysore - Calicut route?

If the plan is to stay over in Palakkad, then it can be considered. Driving to Calicut via Palakkad in one go does not make sense. Since you get a 4 lane highway till CBE, driving will be more comfortable. But again the last part will probably be once it gets dark and the L&T Exit-Walayar stretch will be patchy.

Ultimately I guess it boils down to how comfortable your friend is with driving the Wayanad-Calicut section after sunset. If he thinks he can manage it, then he can drive to Calicut.

Originally Posted by kala

Not really.. Bangalore-Palghat would take at least 6 hours, and Calicut is normally doable comfortably in 7 hours through the NH209 route (both from the outer peripheries of the city - time spent in city traffic is totally unpredictable as usual). And I guess the overall stress due to traffic would be more or less the same either way (Longer drive through Kerala on the Palghat route, but during a lower traffic period - and vice versa for the Calicut route)

Since the plan is to halt at Palakkad, that may be a better option. I feel NH 209, especially with the Talakad-T Narspur deviation, may be a little overwhelming for a newbie driver.

Originally Posted by sswaroop

I would second the Kanakpura-Malavalli-Gundlupet route mentioned above. It had taken me about 4 hrs. Traffic was scarce and this was on a Sunday in November. But this route has Zero restaurants on the way apart from local darshini type ones. So your best bet for Snacks /food would be Gundlupet

You have Nijaguna Residency in Chamrajnagar which is good for a halt. Also, now since the bridge between Malavalli and Kollegala is closed for repairs, the route is through Talakad-T.Narsipur-Chamrajnagar. This can be tricky (as Kala has mentioned in his post) if you do not follow exact GPS directions/recommended routes since there are several options

[SunnyBoi]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

My friend is driving from Bangalore to Calicut on 24th Afternoon. He will leave Bangalore only by around 1 PM on 24th. How is the traffic between Bangalore and Mysore on Saturday afternoons? He is a newbie driver and is seriously worried about the traffic/road conditions

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

But apart from the Bangalore-Mysore stretch, starting at 1 means he is going to be doing Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundlepet around the ~5PM time frame when traffic is going to be heavy on the stretch. On top of that he probably will cross Bathery around 7. Which means the high traffic Bathery-Kalpetta-Churam-Thamarassery Calicut would need to done in the night and again will hit most of the high volume kerala traffic.

You mentioned he is a newbie driver and is worried about Bangalore-Mysore, I think the bigger worry is on the other parts mentioned. Hence don't think it is a good idea to leave at 1 PM.

I wholly agree. Mysore - Nanjangud is going to be 10 times worse than Bangalore - Mysore. Narrow Bad roads, speedbreakers worse than ones on Blore-Mysore roads with endless potholes and idiotic truckers.

If he has to do that route, suggest him to leave by 11am or earlier. Just to reach Nanjangud from Mysore will take close to an hour, or more during that time.

[DieselLover]

Guys, Thanks for the inputs. Looks like its not a great idea to start by 1pm. I will advice him accordingly.

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

Guys, Thanks for the inputs. Looks like its not a great idea to start by 1pm. I will advice him accordingly.

Get him to do the Blr-Mys stretch as per the initial plan. Take a break in Mysore, stay over and leave early on the 25th to Calicut.

[cool_dube]

Took the Kanakapura - Malavalli - Bannur route to Mysuru yesterday for a quick day trip to the Mysuru zoo! While Bengaluru - Malavalli stretch is good, cannot say the same for the remainder. Road widening / fresh laying work is in progress for most of this 40 km stretch, thereby resulting in quite a few gravel / broken patches. Work is in full swing and going by the pace, looks like being done in a few months. Once done, this will be a very good option for folks who are sick of SH17. Traffic, however, was on the lower side and the green countryside vistas were a treat to the eyes. I tried this option just for a change but net-net SH17 is a better option till this road work is done.

Came back by SH17 - nothing unusual to report. Traffic was higher than I expected, given that the long weekend ends today.

[sdp1975]

Visited Kushalnagar yesterday ( Jan 26 ) by the Blr Mysore Madikere route. Left home around 5 am and reached in 4.5 hrs.

The return journey via Mysore road was horrible. I reached Srirangapatna around 4pm . Moderate to heavy traffic till Mandya. At Mandya, long traffic jam crawling at a snails pace. Got frustrated and took a right turn on Mysore, went through the interiors of Mandya and finally reached NH209. Some of the roads sections were patchy and broken till NH209, but at least I was moving.

Mysore road is best avoided on long weekends. I should've taken NH48 via Channarapatna on the return leg.

[Tempelhof]

In Karnataka, it is very easy to have a National Highway. This is how

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle6936914.ece