Hyderabad to Ujjain via Aurangabad: Would I take the same route again?

I was able to cover 206 km on the Samruddhi Mahamarg in less than 2 hours. I think it is better built than the NE4 Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.

BHPian abhishekjoshi84 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Did the planned route on Friday. It was exactly a 15-hour drive, including 5-8 minute breaks every 2 hours.

Hyderabad (Kondapur) - NH161 - Nanded - Washim:

Completed about 394 KMs to a petrol pump before Malegaon Jahangir in about 5h 10m. The NH161 new stretch till MH-TS border is built really well and is mostly partial access-controlled. One can easily maintain speeds of 90-100 safely in the early morning hours. It does not pass through populated areas and all town passings are either via flyovers or bypasses. There are a couple of active speed cameras.

Degloor to Nanded is a mix of 2 lane with good surface but bad road leveling and a stretch of good (but old) 4 lane with speed breakers every 2-3 kms around village bus stops. One can maintain speeds of 40-50 on 2 lane stretch and 60-80 on 4 lane stretch. Nanded till Samruddhi Mahamarg is new 4 lane without many speed breakers, and 80-90 isa  comfortable speed in this stretch.

Samruddhi Mahamarg

I got on the expressway from Malegaon Jahangir and exited via exit 17 after Aurangabad to take the NH52 towards Dhule. Kept the car on cruise control at 117 for almost the entire stretch and needed to brake only a couple of times over the entire 206 kms. Was able to complete it in less than 1h 50 minutes. This expressway, in my experience, is better built than the NE4 Delhi-Mumbai expressway, with all the approach slabs on culverts/bridges fixed and no sudden jumps in road level. There was one accident on the other direction lanes at one place. Didn't want to stop on the expressway so not sure how serious it was.

Aurangabad - Kannad - Chalisgaon - Dhule:

Another good 4 lane. Was able to maintain 80-90 most of the stretch till a few kms from Dhule.

Till Dhule, I was doing good speeds and crossed Dhule around 2.10 PM.

Dhule - Sendhwa - Indore - Ujjain:

Truck traffic increased significantly as soon as I took a right to join the Agra-Bombay Highway on the outskirts of Dhule.

High traffic persisted throughout the route from Dhule until I crossed Indore to take the Kshipra-Ujjain bypass. Roads are mostly good 4 lanes, but one can drive mostly at 70-80 speeds with frequent braking because of heavy traffic. There are a few ghat sections (Khalghat, Ganpati Ghat etc.), which, although mostly straightened out, still slow the traffic down significantly because of struggling trucks.

One suggestion for anyone driving this route, for Ganpati Ghat, going from Sendhwa towards Indore, you can go on the wrong side of the 4 lane, as there is a new separate road for traffic coming from the Indore side. I did not realise it and continued on the left 2 lanes, getting stuck behind trucks while most cars crossed over to the right 2 lanes and would have saved significant time here.

Indore bypass has a couple of flyover works going on, traffic is high but mostly moving until one reaches before Kshipra village on Dewas road, where lanes were closed and I spent close to 20+ minutes crossing 1.5 kms.

Overall, smooth sailing for the first 750 kms till Dhule and then slower speeds for 320 kms from Dhule till Ujjain. Did make the journey in planned 15 hours, however, heavy traffic on the last stretch was also tiring for sure. Would I take the same route again? Not 100 % sure. However, the journey back is a different deal.

I have not decided yet which route I will take while going back. The Nagpur route overall will be more peaceful. However, I feel like the same Indore Dhule Aurangabad route might be somewhat better while going back, as I will be crossing Indore before 6 AM and traffic would be less.

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