[subhro1988]

Thank you so much moralfibre for this beautiful and informative thread.
Planning to go to Harihareswar from Mumbai in the middle of February. Would it be advisable to take this road?
Ideally where should I take a turn to go towards Harihareshwar? Google Maps is suggesting Nagothane; or shall I go ahead further till Mangaon and then take a right turn?

[bejoy]

Alappuzha (Aleppey) bye pass was thrown open for traffic yesterday after initiating the construction in 1980! A total length of whooping 6.8kms! A record of sorts!



There is a section of road that runs parallel to the beach. It is a two lane single carriage way with separate lanes for two wheelers. It is not really narrow as it looks from the pictures, but wish it could have been 4 lane.



For many travelers including me, it is a long forgotten project and had lost all hopes of ever driving through it. It will be a time saver for crossing Alappuzha town, but doesn't really solve the dreaded single carriage way road from Aroor till down south.

No plan for tolls currently.

Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the bypass, passing through the western side of NH66, via video conferencing, in a function attended by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.

The bypass, which links Komadi to Kalarcode, has an elevated highway -- Kerala's longest -- which spans 4.8 kilometres parallel to the beach. This includes a 3.2-kilometre flyover.

The project cost Rs 348 crore of which Rs 174 crore each was borne by the State government and the union government. Apart from this amount, the state government also spent Rs 25 crore for developing the Kalarcode and Kommadi junctions.

The first phase of the project was completed in the 1980s, but work on the bypass then go stuck due to a host of reasons including permission from Railways.

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[Ketan_R15]

Recently rode to Chiplun from Mumbai via Mumbai Goa Highway. Initially thought of taking NH4 and then reaching Chiplun via Patan but heard that Umbraj Patan road is not in good condition, so decided to take NH17 instead.

Overall road condition is rideable but still a lot of diversions and patchy roads. Section between end of Kashedi ghat (Goa side) and Bharne naka, Khed is complete and was fun to ride on. Kashedi ghat was in decent condition overall.

Sharing a few pictures we clicked on NH17 and a small drone video of Kashedi ghat I shot on our way back to Mumbai.

YouTube Video -

At around 01:00 you can see the ongoing Kashedi ghat tunnel work in the distance, part of the four lane highway project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHzgWMpGr_g

[Maits]

Hey, I wanted to know the status of the nh66 from Goa to Kerala. Most of the posts seem to be about the status from mumbai to goa. Has the southern half of this highway completed it's widening yet?

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Maits

Hey, I wanted to know the status of the nh66 from Goa to Kerala.

Did Goa-Mangalore a couple of times last year, most was 4-lane. Panaji-Margao is wide except for a short stretch. Margao-Karwar has the long ghat section just before Canacona, narrow but in good condition. A couple of diversions around Karwar and a couple of narrow stretches. Also a short stretch around Kundapur is still very narrow because of flyover construction. But the rest is great.

Haven't been on the Mangalore-Kerala stretch recently. Did Mangalore-Cochin back in 2016, don't remember anything majorly wrong, road was narrow, 2-lane in Kerala as always in sections but was in good condition as far as I can remember.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by Maits

. Has the southern half of this highway completed it's widening yet?

As Am1M mentioned below, KL side work is yet to commence. Few of the sections, work contract was done this year. Expect it to take another few years for completion.

[samaspire]

The Kundapura Flyover has finally opened for traffic, so one major bottleneck is gone.






This, of course, is the Marvanthe stretch.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by samaspire

The Kundapura Flyover has finally opened for traffic, so one major bottleneck is gone.

That was quick and it is such a relief. I drove in March and back then it never gave any hints that it will complete soon.

This will indeed save some good amount of time for those wanting to bypass the town instead of crawling on the bumpy service lane earlier.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by samaspire

The Kundapura Flyover has finally opened for traffic, so one major bottleneck is gone.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

That was quick and it is such a relief. I drove in March and back then it never gave any hints that it will complete soon.

It was opened for traffic in April itself

Video shot by co-passenger

https://youtu.be/uVeaDmbGsko

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

It was opened for traffic in April itself

Video shot by co-passenger

https://Youtu.be/uVeaDmbGsko

Is that a sped up video playback? If that's a normal speed video playback, I feel you're driving too fast for wet road conditions, very unsafe to do so.

I'd have stuck to max 70 kmph in such wet road conditions.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Is that a sped up video playback?

Nope

If that's a normal speed video playback, I feel you're driving too fast for wet road conditions, very unsafe to do so.

Alright if it looks very fast or makes you feel so . I don't think the speeds were very high though.

[moralfibre]

Some interesting updates from NH66:

I believe the Panvel to Pen stretch is quite complete. Pen to Indapur is completely broken and still under construction. Majority of the roadwork in Raigad and Ratnagiri continues to be pending.

Sindhudurg district onward to Goa appears to be more or less complete. Some tweets from Sahil with copyright to respective owners:

Jul'21:

After sound barriers were installed on both side of NH66(Mumbai goa highway) passing through karnala bird sanctuary,NHAI has installed a monkey ladder for them to safely cross highway and looks like 🐒 are already using it😀
©️ Bhalchandra Jumledar

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#NH66
Mumbai goa highway
The start of beautifully completed 4 lane section from Oni onwards to Goa border.Various shades of green are a treat to watch.Cant wait to drive here later this week.
©️Super Subodh

Source

#nh66 what is this
@nhai

#mumbaigoahighway

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Jun'21

Mumbai Goa Highway Updates #NH66 . #Kalmath to #Zarap section completed by Dilip Buildcon last year.

#NH66
Just like Panvel-Indapur in MH ,this stretch of highway from goa border to Kundapur, KA has been u/csince the longest http://time.It has been termed completed but not entirely as section where land couldnt b acquired is stil 2 lane.
©️NHAI PIU mangalore

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#NH66
Mumbai goa highway
Its that magical time of the year when the entire konkan turns green and the only people who wil enjoy the highway are between Oni and goa border as its the only section 100% complete.
Near Kankavli
https://Youtu.be/kf4GhHzQoEM

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[arun_112]

NH 66 from Panvel to Vadkal is better buy from Vadkal to Kolad is very bad. There is no toll on this patch. I recently drove on this highway on 15 August 2021 from Panvel to Kolad.
After returning I filed an RTI with the authorities asking when it would be repaired.
I am attaching the reply here for reference.

[Figopian]

Any recent updates on the road condition for the stretch between Pali/Hatkhamba and Chiplun? Planning a drive from Kolhapur to Guhagar during Diwali.

[abhi_tjet]

I did a morning ride on NH66 from Panvel till Kolad (Pune-Panvel-Kolad-Tamhini-Pune)on 2nd May 2022. Some observations-

1. Panvel to Vadkhal section is 4 laned. However, lots of speed breakers are present. I myself saw 2 ‘just happened’ accident due to that.
2. Road quality is deteriorating. Lots of patching. Quality is average at best.
3. Vadkhal to Kolad is mess. Full of diversions and uneven surface. Work is completely stopped.
4. So, despite mentioned in RTI response(as shared by fellow bhpian couple of post above ) that work shall be completed by March 2022, it hasn’t.
5. Also, it’s mentioned in RTI response that around 67kms of road is 4 laned(upto DBM level. What’s that?). I doubt if this is the case since distance of Vadkhal from Panvel is hardly 40 odd kms.