[spradheep]

Originally Posted by tharian

KR Puram to Ramamurthynagar signal Ring road stretch has been patched up now. But, not a full job.
The major potholes and ditches have been covered. There was one bad patch at the begining and end of the flyover, both are patched up. On the whole, it is still a rough ride since the small cracks and potholes are still undone.

Glad to know this, especially at the end of the flyover the middle and rightmost lanes were not motorable at all. I used to stick to the leftmost lane in that stretch.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

I guess you are not aware of the situation beyond Gunjur towards Dommasandra since you take a right at Gunjur. There is a straight, downhill, runway kind of stretch for about 1 km after which there is a sharp right turn. Even loaded lorries maintain 80 kmph at this stretch. As soon as you take the sharp right turn, there is a huge square pot hole that is twice the width of lorries with depth of around 2-3 ft. It completely takes the new drivers by surprise. I have already seen a lorry going inside it and getting toppled and another one with its goods thrown across the road. I'm not sure how many tyres and suspensions it has claimed. Its present from last 2-3 months but no action has been taken by the authorities.

Yeah, that's true. I don't visit that stretch ever, unless I need to go to Tune-O-Tronics . But I do remember which potholes you were referring to. That particular pothole was huge and fortunately I was using this road last during an afternoon, and could manage to take evasive action by moving to the extreme corner of the road.

Surprising how they can turn a blind eye to such dangers on the road.

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Maintaining racing line is not enough to avoid pot holes from last week. They have become so wide that whatever line I maintain, one of the wheel definitely goes inside the square pot holes. Even Vettel cannot avoid hitting the pot holes with his racing lines. Only Nano and similar sized vehicles can avoid it now.

Originally Posted by rohanjf

I have memorised which potholes cause least damage to the car, and drive accordingly. I hope they don't fill up the potholes again. I don't want to strain my brain to memorise which patches are least damaging to my car.

What is funny is - when travelling from Springfield towards Carmelaram along Sarjapur road, all potholes have been patched up.. only until Wipro campus gate. Is this because Wipro has bribed the authorities and got it done so that their visitors/clients are not disgusted by bad roads?? Immediately after the Wipro gate, there is a huge pothole on the extreme right, and after that the story is well known anyway.

Most of the Gunjur - Varthur stretch potholes have been filled with some cement dust, which not only gets worn out in a few days but also makes the whole atmosphere around the area dusty (due to vehicles kicking up the dust). Why don't the authorities just tar it once and for all, I am clueless. This cement dust method is just a waste of money. Just curious to know, does Gunjur road maintenance come under the wing of BBMP or is it classified under another town municipality??

In other news - Massive pothole alert - when coming from Varthur towards Gunjur, immediately after coming out of Varthur and crossing the Panathur turning, there is a speedbreaker near a bakery / sweets shop on the left. Watch out for a huge pothole on the left lane right after the speedbreaker. There is no option left but to move to the opposite lane to avoid it. I hit the pit last night, fortunately I was in the Punto at crawling pace and not the Linea.

[rohanjf]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Yeah, that's true. I don't visit that stretch ever, unless I need to go to Tune-O-Tronics .

Sid Chopra is my neighbour. And still we haven't met!

Originally Posted by KarthikK

In other news - Massive pothole alert - when coming from Varthur towards Gunjur, immediately after coming out of Varthur and crossing the Panathur turning, there is a speedbreaker near a bakery / sweets shop on the left. Watch out for a huge pothole on the left lane right after the speedbreaker.

That's exactly in front of Sri Vinayaka Theatre. That's a popular place for BMTC buses to take U-turns.

I have seen that pothole grow from a tiny speck to what it is now. It's growth rate has been phenomenal. Since it comes immediately after the speed breaker, small cars cannot spot it.

I think Varthur and Gunjur come under different political domains (assembly seats or BBMP/BMRDA or whatever confusing terms they use). There is no other explanation to patching only the section from Varthur Kodi till Varthur police station, when the road is Gunjur is much worse!

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

Sid Chopra is my neighbour. And still we haven't met!

Haha, I didn't know his house is also in the vicinity there. I was referring to their office actually, which is between Amruth parkland hotel and Decathlon.

I think Varthur and Gunjur come under different political domains (assembly seats or BBMP/BMRDA or whatever confusing terms they use). There is no other explanation to patching only the section from Varthur Kodi till Varthur police station, when the road is Gunjur is much worse!

True, plus even that piece of work was selectively done, only for big potholes where cars are likely to scrape. There's a string of medium sized potholes exactly in the centre of the road along the full stretch of Varthur main road too, until the right turn where tractors and cabs go away before the bridge.

The Gunjur town stretch is in extreme condition as on yesterday. One particular speedbreaker-converted-to-pothole is treacherous for low vehicles, just before the bus stop / temple where some buses take a turn. That thing has been patched up hundreds of times since last year, but it keeps becoming deeper and deeper. Yesternight I saw a Merc E250 producing the infamous scraping sound when he hit the sudden dip, poor soul could do nothing.

[Mr_Bean]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

only until Wipro campus gate. Is this because Wipro has bribed the authorities and got it done so that their visitors/clients are not disgusted by bad roads?? Immediately after the Wipro gate, there is a huge pothole on the extreme right, and after that the story is well known anyway.

.

Back in 2002-03, it was a village road to begin with. Azim Premji has expressed his displeasure with the way the road was managed, here is the link:

http://articles.timesofindia.indiati...ai-azim-premji

I remember visiting a go karting club on this stretch & this road used to be dark and lonely by 7:30-8pm, scary indeed!!

[rohanjf]

Quelle Surprise!
The potholes around Carmelaram railway crossing (on Carmelaram to Gunjur road) are being patched up, since today evening. KarthikK will be happy.

Oh wait, there is a catch. He will probably drive on that road only on Monday. Don't point at me if the potholes are back by then!

[ankan.m.blr]

Good news: Filling of potholes and patchwork was being done on Banerghata Road between Dairy Circle & Jayadeva Hospital on the side that goes towards Jayadeva.The work was being done at peak traffic hours (5-30 PM) blocking one car-lane. Naturally there was traffic congestion. But the patchwork was being done very quickly , so there was no major traffic holdup.

[rohanjf]

It seems that half the population of in southern Bangalore is away on vacation. I had such a peaceful drive to office, as there were very few cars on the road, and not a single school bus belonging to some international school.

In other news, authorities have destroyed potholes in Gunjur over the weekend. However, one pothole has managed to escape the authorities' atrocity, and still stands well in front of Maharaja restaurant. I hope it grows and spawns more potholes.

Also, the notorious potholes near Varthur police station and KarthikK's favourite one in front of Sri Vinayaka theatre have been spared. These potholes continue to harrass traffic, and also work as effective speedbreakers (complementing the massive speedbreakers in the vicinity).

And the massive "dry lake bed" like pothole after Gunjur almost took a life today morning. As I was driving, I could see an empty tipper about one kilometre in front of me. Although I was doing 70-80 KMPH, I couldn't reduce the distance between us. Meaning, he was doing pretty much the same speed as me, or may be more.

Here is an image of the cluster of potholes (red arrow indicates the tipper's direction and grey line is "assumed" median):


When the tipper suddenly spotted the first small cluster, the driver swerved left and went off the road. The he spotted the HUGE cluster and swerved right. At this point, he missed a biker, who had decided to go through the larger pothole instead of going on its right!

For a moment, I thought tipper is going to tip over and fall to its left, because it didn't seem like he had slowed down or applied brakes. Fortunately, there was no oncoming taffic, and he managed to control the tipper. Had it been a usual school day, the story would have been different. There usually are plenty of school buses that go in the opposite direction of the tipper.

EDIT: just realised my mistake. The massive pothole completes the left lane. There is no tar on the left side of that pothole, unlike shown in the picture.

[bharat4ever]

Rohan, I suggest you get back to using the ORR -> Kundhalahalli route to come to Whitefield again. Good roads, and I always reach SAP in 45-50 min from HSR.
Even better is when going back from SAP to HSR in the evenings. Irrespective of when I start, be it 5 PM, or 7 PM, or 8 PM, i always reach HSR in 50 min - 1 hr tops. Best advantage is good roads, and good speeds from Marathahalli to HSR.

[rohanjf]

Originally Posted by bharat4ever

Rohan, I suggest you get back to using the ORR -> Kundhalahalli route to come to Whitefield again..

I don't work for SAP anymore
My office is near EMC2, near Doddanekkundi.

I avoid taking ORR for two reasons:
1. The railway crossing in front of Decathlon on Sarjapur road. The detour is very bad. The railway crossing is good only if there is no train crossing. If there is a train, you may get stuck for up to an hour!
2. The signal in front of Soul Space Arena/Samsung. This is one dreadful signal, if you are going from Marathahalli side towards KR Puram. There is a board that says "No U-turn", but you will see not just cars and school buses, but also full-sized buses taking U-turns. Going from this side to the service road on the opposite side is very difficult, and confusing.


Talking about the level crossing in front of Decathlon, here is what my wife experienced when she was returning home in her company cab on Thursday evening:
As her cab approached the level crossing, it was time for the gates to close to make way for a train. However, not a single car/bike slowed down, even as the gates were coming down. So the railway gate operator (I forgot the right term to describe his job) decided to teach the people a lesson. When two cars were on the railway line, he closed the gates. People shouted and asked him to open the gates. He simply told them to adjust there.

So the two cars did some twists and turns and parked parallel to the gate, right next to the tracks. Until they finished their parking, the train waited at the Carmelaram station.

I think the gatekeeper did the right thing. He knew that the train was already parked, and it wouldn't move until he signalled it. He knew he would not cause any harm to human lives or properties. He had to teach at least some people a lesson.

But once the gates opened, there was more chaos. Bikers just rushed ahead, without letting these two cars to turn. This created a deadlock that took more than half an hour to clear.

That day, my wife reached home 45 minutes later than usual.

[Mr_Bean]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

So the railway gate operator (I forgot the right term to describe his job) decided to teach the people a lesson. When two cars were on the railway line, he closed the gates. People shouted and asked him to open the gates. He simply told them to adjust there.

People always learn it the hard way; I am sure the driver in those cars would have panicked and pissed in their pants

[D'Artagnan]

Do you guys believe most of our problems will disappear if we follow lane discipline?

I certainly do believe so. Once traffic follows lane discipline there will be few jumping the signal or two wheelers risking life and limb to inch forward, no more honking and yelling and no longer do we need to reach late.

[Blr_RK]

I believe traffic mess can be reduced by setting and enforcing speed limits. If a speed limit of 30 is set and anybody who doesnt follow the limit is punished, then there will not be any question of overtaking, honking or rash driving.

Automatically, the traffic discipline will get inculcated in the drivers.

[dass]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

2. The signal in front of Soul Space Arena/Samsung. This is one dreadful signal, if you are going from Marathahalli side towards KR Puram. There is a board that says "No U-turn", but you will see not just cars and school buses, but also full-sized buses taking U-turns. Going from this side to the service road on the opposite side is very difficult, and confusing.
.

I stay close by, so completly agree with your statement. On the U turn, I may be wrong, but the U turn is blocked only for busses. However, that doesnt stop anyone from taking a U turn there.
If you are on a two wheeler, then right after Karthik Nagar, take to the service road near the HP petrol pump, continue straight towards the Total mall. Sometimes you can get to the opposite service lane at the signal and if its RED, then continue straight and take a U turn below the flyover. This is a longer route, but less traffic this way and you will reach EMC2.

If you are in a car, disregard all of the above and stick to the main road.

[Chetan_Rao]

I commute to & from the EMC campus mentioned above, and that signal is a daily nightmare. Add to that the erratic cabbies and the general chaotic traffic, I'm concerned I'm going to get t-boned in traffic one of these days.