[codemarauder]

I had driven to Lucknow and back twice by NH-24 in the last year. This time as Diwali was approaching, I was excited again altogether to drive down home. But this time it was NH-2 (Delhi-Agra-Kanpur-Lucknow). Since, NH-24 is not in good shape because of it being four laned, chosing NH-2 was not a tough decision. There used to be a few areas like Etawah which were problematic, but now a days, things are good. Road is butter smooth and total toll till Kanpur amounts to Rs. 200.

We (myself and my two younger brothers) started at 1 PM from Gurgaon and headed for IIT, where I had to pick my friend. Then we headed towards Badarpur border and crossed Faridabad at 3.15 PM. I know it was not a good time to start but my friend had to appear for an examination and he did not have a ticket to return back to Lucknow.

My friend had literally snatched the driving seat at a traffic light in Faridabad, as he wanted to drive till Agra. His bad luck or good, there was a huge traffic jam 20 kms before Palwal. Someone directed us towards a village road which lead us to Palwal and we enjoyed some scenic views of sunset behind the fields. As if it was not enough, the main railway crossing at Palwal was closed for 45 minutes. At last, we hit NH-2 again at 6.00PM and overtook the same vehicles that were stuck in the jam earlier.

Came the first toll plaza at 6.20 PM after Palwal and we paid Rs.35. Traffic started reducing considerably after Palwal and those agricultural tractor-trailers dissappeared in 20 minutes. We were doing 100-120 kmph and only vehicles on the highway were cars and trucks. Again a toll plaza where we paid 35 bucks, but I failed to make an entry in the log book.

Soon, we crossed Mathura and there was very little city traffic. There is a big McDonald's somewhere after 3-4 kms from Mathura which is a good point to refresh oneself. But as we were already late and had aloo paranthas packed with us, we kept zipping past. Agra was crossed at 8.20 PM. City traffic was really troublesome as there are a number of roads that cross NH-2. We did 134 kms in 2 hours time.

It was time to change the drivers. A quick tea & paratha break at a small dhaba near a cold-storage and we again hit the road. One more pit stop at an Indian Oil bunk in Tundla, filled the tank to brim and we shot off with myself at steering wheel. Road was still good even after the monsoon. There was a small stretch of around 2-3 kms in Shikohabad where one side of road was being 4-laned, so we had to take diversion. But very soon, we were doing 90-110 kmph. Truckers are the most disciplined lot on the roads after sun down. Two dippers, and they change lane to give you the way or signal you to wait. While I found most of the car drivers breaking all the rules to overtake either by hook or crook. I found it safer to be patient and wait for their signal to overtake.

10.10 PM and we reach Firozabad toll plaza. Here we paid Rs. 50 and carried on. Etawah used to be a dangerous area for night driving, but there is a very good by pass which is open now. Before the by-pass, there were a lot of dhabas on both the sides of road, and all of them seemed well occupied. On the by-pass, we had to take diversion for 4-5 kms, as some maintenance work was being carried out.

Two toll plazas before we reach Kanpur, where charges were Rs. 45 and Rs. 35 (Kanpur Dehat). After Kanpur Dehat toll plaza, we found traffic coming from the opposite side, as they were diverted because of some maintenance. One needs to be carefull once Kanpur starts as there is a sign board pointing to the slip road on left for Lucknow while the fly over heads towards Allahabad. Once on the slip road, keep driving straight till reach another sign board. We kept following the signs and reached "Rama Devi" Circle. A tea break at 1200 midnight and drivers switch again with my friend at the wheel. We covered 224 kms in 3 hours flat.

Road from Kanpur to Lucknow is a state highway and is in a bad shape till Unnao. My friend drives frequently on it so he knows where all the potholes and mounds are. If I were to drive, I would have bent my rims or must have taken 3 hrs to cover the distance. One more traffic jam, and suddenly road becomes 6 laned few kilometers before Amausi airport. We reached home at 2.20 AM.

As it was night, and our main aim was to cover up as much delay as we can, no pics were taken. I will be driving back to Gurgaon coming weekend and would take some snaps and post soon.

[mobike008]

Nice write-up but, without pictures it somehow seems a bit incomplete

[dadu]

Nice writeup, your average speed came to apprx 75kmph (with breaks), which is impressive.

How are the road conditions and are they single, double or four laned ??

[deky]

Nice writeup, was it done on ur Fiat Palio? what was the overall mileage that u were able to get?

[codemarauder]

I could not take pics earlier because it was night and all I have is a camera phone. On the return journey, by the way, I took a few pics.

Here is the URL for NH-2 chainage chart by NHAI .:NHAI:.Completed Stretches on Golden Quadrilateral

Started from Lucknow at 8.30 am and reached Gurgaon at 7.30 pm. 11 hours door-to-door, including 35 mins break at McD Mathura, 45 mins traffic jam at Rama Devi Kanpur. I had also lost way in Faridabad while looking for way to Gurgaon and wasted good 40 mins.

My Palio Stile 1.6 gave a mileage of 14 kmpl when I kept speedometer between 85-115 kmph on open stretches. Previously, I had managed to retrieve 16kmpl by keeping constant speeds and not exceeding 80kmph on NH-24 (Delhi-Lucknow via Moradabad, Bareilly, Sitapur).

Lets hit the road now. Lucknow is far better in public infrastructure than many of other cities. It is miles ahead of Gurgaon for sure. This diwali they have introduced AC low floor TATA-Marcopolo city buses.

This is the new 8 lane bridge connecting Gomti Nagar to Lucknow across Gomti river:




This is the road across Gomti leading towards CM residence:



Road through Lucknow cantonment towards Ambedkar Maidan/Airport/Kanpur:



This is still a city road made by PWD:



At last, out of Lucknow, on NH-25 leading towards Kanpur. Road is butter smooth till Unnao.



Once we reached Kanpur, the most difficult task was to get on to the NH-2. But, alas, due to last leg of construction, one needs to drive along with NH-2 flyover on a service road until Panki industrial area. It was quite frustrating as you can see vehicles zipping on the highway, while you are looking for entry from the service lane . Main highway goes all over the Kanpur city for 28 kms like this:



After that, it is butter smooth road and one can not identify the near by cities by these pics:





Only bad stretch is in Shikohabad for around 3 kms. Here 4-laning is under implementation.








NH-2 becomes 6-laned between Tundla and Agra, but I do not have any pics for that. Everyone knows about Agra-Delhi expressway and this report can not be completed without its pic:



On this route, there are very few good options for breaks between Kanpur and Agra. For loo, IOC and BP petrol pumps are good options even for ladies. There are many dhabas after Etawah by-pass and one can see a lot of truckers there during night. In the day time, I found very few cars on this route and hence nearly zero cars at those dhabas.

If ladies are accompanying you, they might get tempted while crossing Firozabad which is popular for glass bangle industry. Since, highway is barricated from both the sides, one can not stop and go to the bangle shops directly. If you wish to do some shopping, pull into the service lane at the junction where left turn leads to railway station while straight road is going towards Agra. There are big signages mentioning "Railway Station" and "Agra".

One needs to be careful of on coming traffic, as NHAI closes lanes at a few places for repairs in order to keep highway in shape.

I found this road far better than NH-24 which is still under implementation for 4-laning and NHAI website says it will take at least 3-4 years.

[Rajesh Rawal]

good to see the 8 lane bridge on the gomti! mayawati looks as sad as ever though ,its been a while i visited my hometown (lucknow) ,feels nostalgic seeing the couple of pics u have posted ,did i also spot a cng auto in the pics? have they replaced the old diesel vikram which adds to the pollution.

[codemarauder]

Originally Posted by Rajesh Rawal

good to see the 8 lane bridge on the gomti! mayawati looks as sad as ever though ,its been a while i visited my hometown (lucknow) ,feels nostalgic seeing the couple of pics u have posted ,did i also spot a cng auto in the pics? have they replaced the old diesel vikram which adds to the pollution.

4 lanes of this 8-lane bridge are operational, while other 4 will open soon. This bridge will ease heavy traffic on the Gomti barrage.

Yes, that's a CNG auto! I have seen Vikrams running on some specific routes, but don't know whether they still run on diesel or CNG.

It is a pleasure to see that roads have been put in shape just after monsoon and that too so fast. Gurgaon roads are still potholes ridden while authorities keep dozing

[samsag12]

Guess am a bit late. But hey its after approval one can contribute something. So to take it further, some updates on the city development. Well all the 8 lanes of new Gomti bridge are operational. Though a couple of accidents have taken place after its inauguration, it still serves the purpose for which it was built TRAFFIC EASE. Its a delight to drive over this bridge in the morning between 6 to 7 AM. Had touched 80Kmph in my Fiat (PPS1) last year.
As far as the motorized public transport is concerned all the diesel vehicles have been converted to CNG. The major public transportation share is of the Bajaj CNG autos followed by buses which include normal city ones being manufactured by Ashok Leyland along with the AC and non AC TATA Marcopolo plying on different routes. The Vikram tempos,(SIL) model 1500CG, are also in use but majority of them run on old city routes including Aminabad, Chowk, et al. All the tempos are converted to CNG so the color is changed to dark green from white or yellow ones. Although some 750d tempos (the diesel ones) still ply on the Faizabad road route near chinhat chauraha.
Hope i have not crossed the limit of on this thread but couldn't resist myself from updating it. If mods allow, will post some updated pics of the city's development.

[MX6]

I keep reading so much about Mayawati's statues in UP. How come I don't find a single one in any of the photos you've posted till now?
And why is Mayawati sad as ever? The roads look too good though!
Interesting bit about the bangle factory place. My wife loves glass bangles.

[phamilyman]

MX6 - go to Lucknow. It is BSP central. You will see BSP artwork at every major corner!

[LongDrive lover]

Originally Posted by samsag12

Guess am a bit late. But hey its after approval one can contribute something. So to take it further, some updates on the city development. Well all the 8 lanes of new Gomti bridge are operational.

If mods allow, will post some updated pics of the city's development.

Nice update samsag12. Thanks. I think mods won't have any objection to you posting update pics? Am I correct mods?

[samsag12]

Originally Posted by MX6

I keep reading so much about Mayawati's statues in UP. How come I don't find a single one in any of the photos you've posted till now?
And why is Mayawati sad as ever? The roads look too good though!
Interesting bit about the bangle factory place. My wife loves glass bangles.

Oh never saw anybody showing so much interest in the statues of BSP supremo. The major ones of Kanshiram and herself are situated at the banks of Gomti just before the Ambedkar path (baapu setu previously). Will try to upload some in a few days.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

MX6 - go to Lucknow. It is BSP central. You will see BSP artwork at every major corner!

What sort of BSP art work are you referring to. Please state clearly as i didn't got you.

[samsag12]

Originally Posted by LongDrive lover

Nice update samsag12. Thanks. I think mods won't have any objection to you posting update pics? Am I correct mods?

Thanks for the appreciation Mr. LDL. Till date i haven't received any confirmation regarding this so a bit hesitant to upload as its a travelogue thread.

Mods: Can i upload some updated pictures related to the city.

[shantanumishra]

Originally Posted by codemarauder

Once we reached Kanpur, the most difficult task was to get on to the NH-2. But, alas, due to last leg of construction, one needs to drive along with NH-2 flyover on a service road until Panki industrial area. It was quite frustrating as you can see vehicles zipping on the highway, while you are looking for entry from the service lane . Main highway goes all over the Kanpur city for 28 kms like this:

Sorry to bump into this a bit late, however, the trick to get to the flyover is while coming from Lucknow end, take a left and go towards the Industrial area from the roundabout where the flyover starts, go about 4 kms, you will find a U turn from where you can go onto the flyover and zip over the horrendous traffic of Kanpur,

Mind you, by taking the slight detour, I could complete this 28 km stretch in less than 20 minutes, other wise, it can take you upto 2 hrs to cross from below the flyover.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by samsag12

Oh never saw anybody showing so much interest in the statues of BSP supremo. The major ones of Kanshiram and herself are situated at the banks of Gomti just before the Ambedkar path (baapu setu previously). Will try to upload some in a few days.

What sort of BSP art work are you referring to. Please state clearly as i didn't got you.

I was in Lucknow recently when the BSP's 25 year anniversary (or some such event was about to happen).

Every major corner around Hazratganj (and the road leading to airport from cantt) was lit up in blue and had either statues or something related to the BJP.

Those statues are the ones near Gomti nagar, na? God level, they are!

ofc, I was too focused on driving to bother the specifics :-)