[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

There is nothing that can be done with SH-17 given the type of habitation it passes through. It is high time that we get an expressway b/w Bangalore and Mysore. Any idea on what's happening to Mr. Kheny's dream project?

True. The region through which the SH 17 passes, is one of the most fertile regions in the state. Any takeover of agricultural land will surely result in protests (which of course, are initiated by politicians who are responding to peoples problems).

Instead of 6 laning, bypasses to major bottlenecks/towns (Ramnagara, Channapatna, Mandya) would ease the traffic in a very huge way. But for that, you need agricultural land. Maybe what the Mandya MLA is saying, makes sense after all.

[sansvk]

Read this in todays paper:
A seven-kilometre-long flyover will be constructed in Mandya to ease heavy traffic on the Mysore-Bangalore highway.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...road-near.html

[rogercharlie]

Hi, I am planning to go to Coorg for a short break. Driving out from Bangalore I intend to take the NH209 route as advised by most folks on this thread.

Could someone advise me if I should take the right into Ring Road once I get to the outskirts of Mysore to avoid Mysore traffic? The Ring Road road swings around to the north of Mysore and rejoins Hunsur Road. Will it save me time? I plan to reach Mysore by about 9AM.

Thanks in advance!

[ankan.m.blr]

I always take the Mysore Ring Road for Coorg ( & go through the city when going to Ooty). You need to take right in the Columbia Asia hospital junction. Ring road has less traffic and few signals. But you need to be careful about people crossing the roads without noticing vehicles. Although the ring road is a divided, in some places one side of the road is not ready yet. So vehicles to-and-fro need to use one side of the road in those sections.

[kala]

Originally Posted by rogercharlie

Hi, I am planning to go to Coorg for a short break. Driving out from Bangalore I intend to take the NH209 route as advised by most folks on this thread.

Could someone advise me if I should take the right into Ring Road once I get to the outskirts of Mysore to avoid Mysore traffic? The Ring Road road swings around to the north of Mysore and rejoins Hunsur Road. Will it save me time? I plan to reach Mysore by about 9AM.

Yes, if you're reaching Mysore that late it is better to take the Ring road. You might save 3-4 kms by going through the city, but you'll probably take longer if you're passing through after 7:30 AM or so.

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

You need to take right in the Columbia Asia hospital junction.

This is applicable if you're coming on SH17. When coming on NH209-Bannur Road (as you seem to be planning), the Ring road is the first big road (divided road) that goes to the right about 2-3 kms before you reach Mysore city. You'll cross the Columbia Asia Hospital junction (SH17) after going about 5-6 kms on this road.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kala

Yes, if you're reaching Mysore that late it is better to take the Ring road. You might save 3-4 kms by going through the city, but you'll probably take longer if you're passing through after 7:30 AM or so.

Question:

If one is heading to Coorg, does 209 still make sense? Add to it an early morning drive? Should'nt Mysore road be just about OK ?
If one is heading towards Gundlupet, I agree on 209 hands down. But how efficient is 209 as an alternative to Mysore road, especially if one has to go via Mysore in any case?

[mpksuhas]

^^ Agree on the same. I guess taking NH 209 en route to Coorg is an required especially for an early morning start from Bangalore. I read elsewhere that Mallavalli - Bannur - Mysore route is better now, while I drove through that last year Bannur town was a mess. Also, Mysore ring road from SH-17 Columbia Asia hospital junction till Hunsur road had widening work going on.
My route would be to take SH-17 till Srirangapatana and then turn right to KRS road and join Hunsur road - SH-17-Hunsur road

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by ampere

Question:

If one is heading to Coorg, does 209 still make sense? Add to it an early morning drive? Should'nt Mysore road be just about OK ?
If one is heading towards Gundlupet, I agree on 209 hands down. But how efficient is 209 as an alternative to Mysore road, especially if one has to go via Mysore in any case?

When heading to Hunsur/Coorg side, my bet would be on SH 17 when it is an early start, say by 5 AM from Bangalore. Yes, you still have to live with the 80 odd speed breakers, but travel time would not be significantly more than the Malavalli-Bannur route during that time of the day.
Having said that, reaching Hunsur road from Bannur road side is not difficult even through the Mysore ORR. The 8 km ORR stretch from Bannur road till Columbia asia junction is pretty wide (6laned) and is almost devoid of traffic and is a breezy drive any time of the day.

EDIT: Suhas, any update on the current condition of Sriragapatna-KRS road-Yelvala bye pass ? Last when I did it a year ago, it was in dire state.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

When heading to Hunsur/Coorg side, my bet would be on SH 17 when it is an early start, say by 5 AM from Bangalore. Yes, you still have to live with the 80 odd speed breakers, but travel time would not be significantly more than the Malavalli-Bannur route during that time of the day.

Thats exactly my take. How much delta does one gain my 209. I am not very sure.

EDIT: Suhas, any update on the current condition of Sriragapatna-KRS road-Yelvala bye pass ? Last when I did it a year ago, it was in dire state.

As far as I think ORR is still just about OK. Only thing is we need to take care of those abrupt diversions which still have not been completed.

[kala]

Originally Posted by ampere

Question:

If one is heading to Coorg, does 209 still make sense? Add to it an early morning drive? Should'nt Mysore road be just about OK ?
If one is heading towards Gundlupet, I agree on 209 hands down. But how efficient is 209 as an alternative to Mysore road, especially if one has to go via Mysore in any case?

NH209 is very unlikely to save you any time when travelling to Mysore (it may even take 10-15 minutes more compared to a low traffic period on SH17).

However not being too familiar with SH17 and the locations of speed breakers on it these days I end up using Bannur Road / NH209 many a times just for the reason that I hate having to be all the time on the watch out for the next speed breaker. In fact every time I've travelled on SH17 in the recent past, I've ended up not slowing town in time for at least 2 or 3 of them resulting in very unpleasant situations for my fellow passenger (Very dangerous when the co-passenger is your better half in the middle of a nap )

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by ampere

As far as I think ORR is still just about OK. Only thing is we need to take care of those abrupt diversions which still have not been completed.

I would prefer the KRS road-Yelawala bye pass over the ring road if the condition of the former is good. Yes, there is a railway crossing to negotiate, but overall, 6kms driving distance saved and also the bye pass is relatively traffic free, while the 8km stretch from ORR Hunsur road junction to Yelawala (on Hunsur road) can have lot of traffic during day time. Plus the additional speed breakers one has to negotiate on the stretch from ranganathittu diversion point to Columbia Asia junction, There are too many of them on this short stretch!
(We would go off topic if we continue this discussion on the bye pass/ORR! )

[Tempelhof]

Yesterday (Sunday) evening I travelled from Mysore to Whitefield. Distance 160 kms. Time Taken 5 hours. (State Highway)

Two weeks back on another Sunday morning I travelled from Chidambaram to Whitefield. Distance 385 kms. Time taken 6 hours. (Predominantly National Highway)

[mpksuhas]

SH 81 between Gundelpet and Chamarajnagara is not in best of condition. Traveled through here on 18 Aug, the road condition is noticeably bad compared to my last trip in April mid. Didn't come across any potholes however the patch up work is very uneven at many locations.

[kala]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

SH 81 between Gundelpet and Chamarajnagara is not in best of condition. Traveled through here on 18 Aug, the road condition is noticeably bad compared to my last trip in April mid. Didn't come across any potholes however the patch up work is very uneven at many locations.

Interesting.. I drove through the same route on the 17th morning and 18th afternoon (return journey), and didn't see too much problems with the Gundlupet-Chamarajanagar sector. I felt it was more or less the same as what it has been for the past couple of years.

On the other hand my observation was that the NH209 stretch from Chamarajnagar to Bangalore has developed a few nasty trenches (which run right across the road) in at least 3 or 4 places that really catch you by surprise. So it forced me to be always on the lookout for these during my return journey and that spoiled the fun somewhat - The major attraction of driving on NH209 used to be the fact that you could be very relaxed in your drive with the knowledge that the road surface was very dependable all through, now no longer true.

[SunnyBoi]

Travelled from Mysore to Bangalore via Malavalli and Kanakpura yesterday. 2 hours 45 minutes home to home, really wanted to avoid the traffic. Took this route since I was alone driving as well as wanted an "exciting" route instead. 15KMs and ~20 minutes more but it was worth for the traffic free experience.

Observations:

1. Small stretch between Mysore and Bannur without tar has improved somewhat with a new layer of stones; was able to go over doing 25KMPH as opposed to earlier 10-15.
2. Bannur - Malavalli route has new potholes :(