I did a Muzaffarpur to Gurgaon return trip last month. It was a planned trip but mainly to test waters whether my 2 year old son would like such a long road trip or not. And thankfully, he thoroughly enjoyed it.
I would like to report the road conditions on the stretch of NH27 (earlier NH28) from Muzaffarpur to Lucknow via Gopalganj and Gorakhpur, and thereafter from Lucknow to Gurgaon on the Lucknow Agra expressway, Yamuna expressway, NH19(earlier NH2) and KMP expressway.
Muzaffarpur to Lucknow -
The roads are pretty much fine till Pipra where one has to take a left turn towards Gopalganj. On this road, there are depressions like rail track on the fast lane due to heavy truck traffic. It's better to drive on the left lane so as to avoid losing control of car due to the tracks. The bridge on river Gandak is still 2 lane with no sign of the parallel bridge being made. It has been like this since last 8 years. The roads post the bridge is also fine except a couple of incomplete flyovers in Gopalganj. But road conditions have improved a lot. The sole railway crossing near Kuchaikote has got a flyover now. Infact while going, it was in final stages of road laying work and while coming back, one lane was fully functional. Once you cross into UP, the roads are much better, but traffic remains of similar kinds. Thanks to Gorakhpur bypass, one saves atleast 1 hour. There are 8 toll booths till Lucknow and I'm pleased to say that all have working FasTag in all lanes. Another pleasant surprise was well made out highway nests or break points with snacks and loos for males, females and disabled.
The loos are very clean in Bihar but not so well managed in UP. This helped us in taking breaks at toll plazas without stopping anywhere on the side of road. We were carrying home made food so there was no issue at all. Lucknow entry was also easy and Google Maps directed us to our place of stay in Cantt. There wasn't anything wrong during this leg other than poor roads initially. The car gave an excellent average of 21.1kmpl with full time AC and it wasn't switched off anywhere in between even when we were taking a break. I never crossed into triple digits except maybe on 3 occasions for overtaking. The temperature hovered around 42℃ to 43℃.
Lucknow to Gurgaon -
We had a late night so our start was of course delayed. We left Cantt at 9am and exited Lucknow via VIP road onto the Lucknow Agra expressway. On the expressway, I set the cruise on 95/96 kmph and stuck to the 2nd lane. Traffic was sparse. We crossed the first toll booth where I had to tell the operator that I have FasTag. He asked me the registration number of car and we crossed it. We did not feel like taking a break so we continued without stopping on the expressway. Although the 2 stops on expressway have petrol pump also both ways. Once we reached towards the end, we came to the 2nd toll booth. There also I had to tell them the number. And we passed without paying cash. A total of Rs.585 was deducted from FasTag. On the Inner Ring Road of Agra, FasTag is not accepted. So it was the first place I paid cash. The we kept on maintaining 90kmph on Yamuna Expressway and paid toll of Rs. 140 as we were supposed to leave at Vrindavan. Lunch break was at the rest stop but food is nothing to be talked about. We left the expressway at Vrindavan and followed the route as given by Google maps. It took us through new roads with negligible traffic on to the NH19 (NH2 earlier). The NH19 had heavy traffic with a few flyovers under maintenance leading to jam like situations. Kosikalan has a bottleneck just after the railway over bridge. We took the KMP expressway from Palwal. This road is also good but has maximum truck traffic. It's a 4 laned road with speed limit of 100kmph. It has a toll booth at entry point and I was handed over a slip which was given back to the operator once leaving the expressway near Manesar. Toll paid was Rs. 75 cash. No FasTag here also. Then we hit the NH48 (NH8 earlier.) and continued our journey to Gurgaon. The car returned an average of 20.2kmpl on this leg. Speeds were in 2 digits with occasional burst to 3 digits.
Gurgaon to Lucknow -
The start was again at 9am and route taken was NH48 to KMP and then NH19. We were routed through a barricaded road in Vrindavan but were directed by the police to Yamuna expressway. The entry to expressway was in very bad shape. Once on expressway, there was no issue. We took a break at the first break point on Agra Lucknow expressway. Didn't check the restaurant but the loo was fine. The loo for ladies is non functional in the first stop. So we used the one at IOCL Petrol bunk just next to it. Second stop has a functional loo for ladies also. Reached Lucknow at 4:15pm. The average mileage was 19.8kmpl.
Lucknow to Muzaffarpur -
We started early after a good night's rest at 5:45 am. We encountered little bit of rains for about 10 mins. Return journey was uneventful and we reached home at 2:30pm.
The total trip was of about 2600kms which includes around town drive in Gurgaon also. I was the solo driver, my wife couldn't drive as my son wouldn't let her go. Our main aim was to check how our son would handle it and after completion of trip, I can very well say that we will take more longish road trips.
I'll attach a few snaps. Throughout the trip, my wife and kid were on the rear seats, kid was either in his car seat or in wife's care. The snaps were clicked by her from rear seats, whenever she had little free time. So snaps are less.
Grooves on road on NH27.
Grooves on road on NH27.
Picturesque KMP.
KMP
140% Veg Dhaba on NH19!
Strange entry to Yamuna Expressway.
Beautiful Yamuna Expressway.
Entry to Agra Lucknow Expressway.
Entry to ALE.
Burnt Ecosport on ALE.
First toll gate.
Thanks to FasTag indeed.
The stop on ALE.
Emergency contact on ALE.
Beautiful ALE.
Runway on ALE.
Panda enjoying the trip.
Cheesy lines on a truck.
Road grooves on return leg on NH27.
The Machine.