[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by clevermax

It is the delay in constricting and operationalizing proper 6-lane highways that need to be talked about. It is already delayed by more than a decade or so, considering the amount of traffic the present 2-laned suburban road takes. We call it National Highway 66.

4 lane is no longer enough. The stretch between Aroor and Cherthala is a joke. Numerous signals, narrow roads, unscientific U-turns etc (very similar to Angamaly and Palakkad).
And now they are talking about elevated highway.

The only wide section is the toll plaza where they somehow find land to widen it.

[myavu]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

And now they are talking about elevated highway.

The scope of work includes construction of six-lane elevated corridor along with development of existing four-lane road at ground level from Aroor to Thuravoor Thekku section of NH 66 (from 366.330 km to 379.082 km of NH-66) (length - 12.752 km) under Bharatmala Pariyojana in the state of Kerala on EPC mode.

Source: https://www.projectstoday.com/News/N...Thekku-section

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by GeneralJazz

Whoa! Slow down you maniac!!

I did a Calicut Kannur drive over the weekend and here are my stats:
Yup! 3 hours 20 minutes to cover 84.4 KM. And that comes to an average of 25.3 kmph!

I take your criticism as I was going faster than 99% of the traffic, and that is the reason why I could achieve this phenomenal figure of 31kmph average speed.

Night time is a different story altogether. You could cut down the travel times by half.
Trivandrum -Cochin (actually Edappally) takes 3 hours tops, at night. You should start by 9:45 PM or so, or early in the morning at 4:30 AM.

Here are my stats from a night drive from Trivandrum outskirts to Edappally, Cochin. Achieved an average speed of around 65kmph. Had done the same stretch in 2 hours 45 minutes when I started once in the morning at 4:40 AM.



Here's a night drive time-lapse from my dashcam, from Oachira to Trivandrum outskirts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji5-2gLNez4

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by clevermax

Had done the same stretch in 2 hours 45 minutes when I started once in the morning at 4:40 AM.

Reminds me of this old thread.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...-possible.html (Cochin - Trivandrum (200kms) in 2 hours. How the heck is it possible ?)

I remember those Tvm-Ekm timings boasted by the drivers of those days, especially my uncle's driver in a Qualis.

But I guess most of the top timings would be bagged by a former CM who was famous for his love for Mercs.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by DicKy

Reminds me of this old thread.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...-possible.html (Cochin - Trivandrum (200kms) in 2 hours. How the heck is it possible ?)

I remember those Tvm-Ekm timings boasted by the drivers of those days, especially my uncle's driver in a Qualis.

But I guess most of the top timings would be bagged by a former CM who was famous for his love for Mercs.

Times have changed. Roads have improved, vehicles have become more powerful, but traffic density has gone up many folds. There are millions of trucks on this road at night. They move in clusters. Some are super-clusters and some are mega-clusters, and that is a terrifying sight. Overtaking them, without spending too much time stuck behind, is not an easy task with most cars with just-enough power under the hood.

My timings are not a result of doing very high speeds. I haven't triggered any speed camera (well, almost all of them have stopped working anyway). Mine is the result of a very consistent cruising at around 80-90kmph and spending very little time stuck behind those truck clusters. I don't intend to boast about the timing of 2hrs 45 minutes, I am sure it can be reduced further as the insanity levels are increased. Of course, more quicker and driveable cars will come in handy too.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by clevermax

. I don't intend to boast about the timing of 2hrs 45 minutes, I am sure it can be reduced further as the insanity levels are increased. Of course, more quicker and driveable cars will come in handy too.

Didn't mean that.

Just that the 2.xx hours timing reminded me of those days. More so, as when I started driving and doin the tvm-ekm dash, the traffic was heavy and the roads were horrible. Especially that maze of Alappuzha town. Four way junctions and criss crossing canals, I can never remember the route except follow the signboards. Am used to spending 4-6 hours for the trip.

Ofcourse, with the by-passes coming up at Alappuzha and Kollam, with the four laning of most highways in TVM, the timing should sure be less now. Afterall a mere 210-240 kms intercity trip shouldn't take more than 2.5 hours in most sane places.

[pjbiju]

During my recent (Sep 2022) drive from Pune to Leh, I found Gujarat had the worst set of highways with so much of potholed sections. Maharashtra had the second worst roads (Agra Mumbai road and Nashik Pune road). Always had heard of people praising GJ highways. May be things have gone bad in recent times. I did Pune-Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad-Udaipur.