[manolin]

Originally Posted by KALINGA

That place is called "PAHALA". Its famous for the "RASSOGOLLAs"

The Cuttack-Bhubaneswar road is already a four lane..but due to incresing traffic now its palned for 6 lane . Hope the work will begin soon.

Another four lane road is in progrees through Nandankanan Zoo touching cuttack.

for once widening of roads is a sore point - some family land is being acquired in the process.

[julupani]

@manolin

I hope its just land and no structure or other asset exists on the land. Within Bhubaneswar city, there are areas where some people will end up having to lose their homes for the expansion of the highway. The NHAI is going to acquire about 10ft inside the residential plots in a few areas, which open out on to the service lane of the highway.

[black_panther]

I am planning for a quick weekend trip to Puri from Kolkata.

Any update on the latest road conditions after the monsoons this year would be helpful.

Does the Orissa RTO still take the entry tax at Jaleshwar?

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by black_panther

I am planning for a quick weekend trip to Puri from Kolkata. Does the Orissa RTO still take the entry tax at Jaleshwar?

No. I went to Puri three months earlier with my family and was not charged anything. Had to pay the road tolls only at the toll plazas.
However, if you see too much truck traffic in the highway blocking your way, you may take a right turn to go through Jaleswar town and meet the highway again few KM ahead. But this is recommended only if you drive during the day.
Regards,
Rahul Biswas
Calcutta

[omar1310]

Hi!

I took this road trip on 8th January 2016 from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar.

1. Alipore start time : 19:30 hours
2. Kolkata - Kharagpur bypass :- The road is good ( road condition score = 8/10, traffic score = 7/10). Kona expressway is good however it's not a express way as it passes through many villages, intersections without having a traffic free exits like true expressways , e.g Mumbai Pune Expressway). We took about 2 hours to cross Kharagpur bypass.
3. Kharagpur - Balasore :- The roads condition score is 8.5/10 to at times 9/10. Traffic situation improved as it was late night. But the road was excellent with 2-3 diversions only. We could cross Balasaore before 11:15pm.
4. Balasore - Chandikhol :- The road condition remains excellent with a score of 8.5/10 however the number of diversions are about 7-8 in the entire stretch.
5. Chandikhol - Cuttack :- The road condition is 8.5/10 with about 5-6 diversion in the entire stretch. But overall it was a good drive. Traffic was only trucks as it was mid night.

I reached Cuttack (OMP Chowk just after crossing Mahanadi Bridge) at around 02:30am. That is 7 hours drive from Kolkata at a speed which I didn't exceeded beyond 115 Kmph, but driving most of the time inside 100kmph.

Overall, it was a much relaxing drive with no surprises on the way.

Cuttack to Bhubaneswar was another 20 min at that hour.

Overall road condition score will be about 8/10 from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar. Total time taken about 7.30 hours with 30 min break. Total construction related diversions were about 15.

Key points to note : Watch out for surprise humps/ speed breakers in diversions. Also, we noticed broken down trucks with no indications or hazard signals. We also notices rare but pedestrians crossing roads, bicycle riders crossing roads in surprise stretches.

Of the total distance of 450kms, about 70% stretch is 6 lane and balance is 4 lane.

The stretch has eateries and file stations well placed.

My expert advice : Don't hurry on this road and maintain a speed of 100-110kmph. It will still take the same time even if you rush to higher speed and slow down at intersections and diversions.

Hope this helps to future travellers.