[vivek95]

Originally Posted by vivek95

@paragsachania @moralfibre and others, I have a good news or may be it is too early to conclude it as a good news , but still, I had a good feeling after many years about Pune--Satara highway. Basically, I drove from Mumbai to Karad today morning and was slightly surprised to see things getting spruced up. Listing out the tiny improvements that I noticed today, hoping that this will turn out to be a big upgrade in the coming months :-



--Dr. Vivek

Guys, I bring here good news again. I did 2 more drives on the Pune--Satara sector ( owing to my Mumbai--Belgaum--Mumbai trips ) since the last update above. Presently driving Mumbai--Belgaum again, have stopped at Mahabaleshwar turn off at Wai phata. The new company SDPL which has taken over the project from Reliance is making rapid progress every passing week. I bet high, in another 5 months or so, this nightmare will end and we will all get to enjoy a breezy drive on the 6 laner Pune--Satara. The entire stretch is being revamped big time, including service roads. Reasphalting is happening at many places. Check out these sample awesome stretches.

The all new avatar of Pune--Satara--Pune








However note that, this revamp may not offer runway like driving experience like the Chitradurga--Tumkur or Hubli--Chitradurga stretches as undulations might persist. But surely the road will be consistently smooth and the overall experience will be much better than the above mentioned Karnataka counterparts, given the scenic beauty of Sahyadris ( western ghats ) in Maharashtra and the sheer number of awesome eating joints/restaurants scattered all along Pune--Satara.

Some pics of work in progress

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Guys, I bring here good news again. I did 2 more drives on the Pune--Satara sector ( owing to my Mumbai--Belgaum--Mumbai trips ) since the last update above. Presently driving Mumbai--Belgaum again, have stopped at Mahabaleshwar turn off at Wai phata. The new company SDPL which has taken over the project from Reliance is making rapid progress every passing week. I bet high, in another 5 months or so, this nightmare will end and we will all get to enjoy a breezy drive on the 6 laner Pune--Satara. The entire stretch is being revamped big time, including service roads. Reasphalting is happening at many places. Check out these sample awesome stretches.

The all new avatar of Pune--Satara--Pune

Guys, drove back Belgaum to Mumbai yesterday, made a short video of the revamped Satara--Pune 6 lane. This is how the entire 136 kms stretch will be upgraded in the coming months. It is absolute fun to drive on the smooth road with beautiful scenery all around

https://youtu.be/Qn6_1O1NZ1E

[Dodge_Viper]

Good to see a change in road surface. Everything is fine till monsoons arrive. Then god bless us. I hope the new contractor will not disappoint. Every year this road used to be smoothened only till monsoons when the entire stretch turned into a horrible nightmare.

[sandeepsc]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Guys, drove back Belgaum to Mumbai yesterday, made a short video of the revamped Satara--Pune 6 lane. This is how the entire 136 kms stretch will be upgraded in the coming months. It is absolute fun to drive on the smooth road with beautiful scenery all around

Good roads drive the nation on the progress path. Good roads saves both in term of time and fuel consumption. The stretch between Pune and Satara was nightmare for driving all these years. But looking after your post things are changing for good now. Hope the new contractor will maintain the road as pristine as it look today.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Guys, drove back Belgaum to Mumbai yesterday, made a short video of the revamped Satara--Pune 6 lane. This is how the entire 136 kms stretch will be upgraded in the coming months. It is absolute fun to drive on the smooth road with beautiful scenery all around

https://Youtu.be/Qn6_1O1NZ1E

So happy to see the progress finally! By the time it is all done, traffic has grown many fold.

[deltasierra]

Originally Posted by vivek95

The entire stretch is being revamped big time, including service roads. Reasphalting is happening at many places.

Yes, I also last week did Pune - Satara - Pune. The relaying work is being done throughout the stretch. Incidentally, even the roads scratched out for repair were better to drive on than the previously potholed ones.

The patches that have been repaired have been done well and matched with existing level of road without creating the usual bumps.

[Axe77]

As someone who’s done a fair bit of motorcycling on this stretch the last few months, my one major peeve is with the manner in which they relay or work on the roads. There are large stretches which have vertical (i.e. in the direction of travel) ruts / strips along the road that make riding bikes on them very skittish. The entire rear wheel sort of wobbles along. For big bikes like ours its manageable but I can easily imagine smaller two wheelers being highly unstable on these stretches which pop every now and then. Surely there must be a better way to relay new roads. This is nothing short of a hazard on a functional highway.

The second aspect is the random vehicles that keep driving wrong side on the left. I guess that’s not unique to this stretch but they seriously need stringent action against them. Mostly locals who think they’re entitled to drive / ride however they please.

[Guru_Shikhar]

Originally Posted by Axe77

As someone who’s done a fair bit of motorcycling on this stretch the last few months, my one major peeve is with the manner in which they relay or work on the roads. There are large stretches which have vertical (i.e. in the direction of travel) ruts / strips along the road that make riding bikes on them very skittish. The entire rear wheel sort of wobbles along. For big bikes like ours its manageable but I can easily imagine smaller two wheelers being highly unstable on these stretches which pop every now and then. Surely there must be a better way to relay new roads. This is nothing short of a hazard on a functional highway.

+1

I have faced this issue while taking my Himalayan to Kolhapur region for ride for many times.

You even feel this while driving your car. One needs to hold up the steering. These undulations guide the car directions this and that way.

There also a reason of this road work has been ramped up. The new Khambataki ghat tunnels are expected to get ready by the end of this year / early next year. This is going to increase the traffic flow and then there will not be time to work slow and cover up never ending repair processes which may also lead to accidents.


Cheers.

[Minardi]

I don't understand why the completion of Khambatki tunnel should increase the traffic. But it's good to hear that the Pune-Satara stretch is improving fast!

[akshaydandekar]

Oh yes!! Recently did a Mumbai-Kolhapur and return journey, and the quality of the tarmac was superb. Was clocking triple digit speeds (not extended on account of the constant audio alert) in my Nexon ZXA+. Never felt a bump or unevenness. Did my Kolhapur-Pune stretch in 3 hours. ♥️


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[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Guys, drove back Belgaum to Mumbai yesterday, made a short video of the revamped Satara--Pune 6 lane. This is how the entire 136 kms stretch will be upgraded in the coming months. It is absolute fun to drive on the smooth road with beautiful scenery all around

Wow, looks inviting! Hope they maintain the same even through the monsoons, which will test the true ‘character’ of the asphalt.

Need to plan another Mahabaleshwar trip soon!

[IamGetz]

Originally Posted by vivek95

It is absolute fun to drive on the smooth road with beautiful scenery all around

Absolutely spot on vivek95

The flowering shrubs / Bougainvillea are a treat for sore eyes and a visual delight. May a thousand flowers bloom �� (snap attached from my journey)

[Dodge_Viper]

All the high expectations from the new contractor have gone down to the drain with just one spell of monsoons. The car breaking craters are back on Pune Satara stretch. Guys please be careful while driving specially at night time.

[rd18]

Originally Posted by Dodge_Viper

All the high expectations from the new contractor have gone down to the drain with just one spell of monsoons. The car breaking craters are back on Pune Satara stretch. Guys please be careful while driving specially at night time.

The worst affected are the service roads which are also supposed to be maintained by NHAI. Be very careful and avoid them as much as possible specially when in city limts.

[FlamebkWoodpkr]

Drove MH-43 to KA-25 on 1-Apr, returned 6-Apr.

Mumbai Pune expressway: Didn't find too much traffic fortunately and even at toll plazas vehicles were clearing out quickly. Some intelligent people were paying cash in the Fastag-only lanes of course. Newly laid concrete lanes are a pain to drive on.

Pune to Satara to Karad: So much better than what I had seen back in Oct-2021. You will find a few pot-holes spread across, but overall it's now an enjoyable drive.

Road/flyover construction work going on in Karad, causes some crawling traffic for a bit.

Nippani to Belgaum: This stretch is being expanded to 3+3 from 2+2 lanes and it was the most painful to travel through thanks to frequent diversions, narrow lanes.
More surprising was the heavy traffic I encountered on this stretch, contrary to what I was expecting.

Belgaum onwards things are smooth and quick.


Return Leg:
Road conditions were quite similar to the onward journey, and overall much more pleasant to drive compared to my Oct-2021 memories. Always watch-out for the odd pothole.

Near Pune, expect lots of challenging speed limits enforced by cameras when you're driving downhill.

All these cams and a downhill drive from Pune on the expressway resulted in a nice 23 KMPL mileage on this leg.

Also:
Not sure if I just didn't observe these earlier but found a bunch of Reliance petrol stations which was heartening to me. Been using their fuel for the past few months and my Tiago (AMT) seems to be driving smoother with a slightly bumped up mileage, both in city and highway conditions.
Also saw some Tigor EVs being charged at one of these places.