[arjab]

Completed my 4th Kolkata - Chennai solo trip. Vehicle of choice was our Tata Tiago petrol, manual transmission. I prefer a relaxed driving style and deliberately do not indulge in "red - eye" driving itineraries.

My schedule for this time was:
Kolkata - Bhubaneswar (1st night halt)
Bhubaneswar - Vijaywada (2nd night halt) & next day
Vijaywada - Chennai

Road conditions:
Kolkata to Bhubaneswar: Overall Ok.
Kharagpur to Balasore: Patches of broken tarmac. Some approaches to culverts have subsided a bit and results in a dip. If your vehicle has soft suspension it may bottom out.
Also a lot of roadworks are on between Belda & Balasore resulting in some lane closures and dual-carriage traffic being channelised in a single file.
Many roadworks are concentrated around Bhadrak. Traffic is reduced to a single file with frequent diversions to either flank of the highway.
Bhubaneswar to Vishakhapatnam: Excellent. Bhubaneswar exit is a "no hassle" affair. Beware of speed freaks pulling stunts on 125cc motorcycles though, that too sometimes in the middle of the highway!

Vishakapatnam to Vijaywada: Overall very good. Vishakapatnam exit is a bit congested but eases out after 20 odd kilometres. Area of concern is from the Rajahmundry turn-off to the Kovvur toll plaza. The tarmac is broken. Be careful, otherwise you may end up with damaged rims.

The Kovvur toll plaza still does not accept FasTag.

The Godavari fourth bridge is in very bad shape. The tarmac has peeled off resulting in exposing the bridge's expansion joints. The edges of the expansion joints are sharp and potential rim breakers.

Vijaywada to Chennai: Very good. I left Vijaywada,after breakfast at 8:30am & reached Chennai, Nungambakkam, at 2:40pm. The Chennai entry has been eased a lot. All the bridges, except one, at Gummidipoondi have been completed resulting in consistent traffic flow towards Chennai city.

Drive safe!

Best,

[sameer sultan]

Hello arjab

I am planning a trip to Vizag from Chennai next month. Came across your thread on the road conditions which seems to be most recent.

Some tips from your side will be helpful since I see you are regular on this route.

Car Skoda Rapid 1.0 TSI AT

Family of 4 with young children.

My Plan

Day 1

Chennai to Vijaywada depart early morning - I have done this route earlier but have always had issues finding a good breakfast place on the highway. How is the CCD ? and what time will I reach? or Pls suggest a decent place for breakfast on the highway with clean toilets.

Day 3

Vijaywada to Vishakapatnam depart at 9AM - This is going to be a first time route for me . So pls suggest how to plan this drive. Can I stop for lunch at a nice restaurant close to the highway around 1PM or I could make it to Vizag by lunch time say 2 - 3pm. How are the road conditions ? Do I need to keep in mind some things. Midway I would need to stop for a bio/coffee break for sure every 3 hours.

Day 6

Vishakapatnam to Chennai depart at 3PM - This stretch I don’t want to do it in a day. I would like to stop mid way at a nice hotel after a drive of 5 hours close to the highway. I don’t want to stay in Vijaywada as onward I am staying there. Please suggest an overnight stopover.

Thank you!

[arjab]

Last week completed yet another Chennai to Kolkata jaunt.
Nothing much to report. Road conditions are good throughout.

A few points:

1. If you are travelling from Chennai to Kolkata and want to enter Vishakapatnam city, then keep an eye out for the left loop beside the newly constructed Anakapalle - Sambhavaram bypass. It is not very well marked, yet and may be difficult to spot in the darkness. GMaps gets a bit confused and has a tendency to mislead. I relied on HMaps (Human Maps by simply rolling down the window and asking the nearest person for guidance) and it worked fine.

2. Many of the Bhubaneswar - Balasore roadworks have been completed. Remaining portions are very much manageable. In most cases one need not "cross over" to the other flank. Most diversions will require you to take stick to left hand side and go past the shoulder.

3. Orissa state is using a lot of ANPR, (Automatic Number Plate Recognition), camera's to check speeding. The camera's are installed on gantries spanning the width of the highway and can be seen from quite some distance away. The speed limit is 80 kmph,corrected, so in most mass merket vehicles, even if you touch an indicated 85kmph on the speedometer, you are still within the legal limit.
I am not sure how the penalty mechanism is calculated as I did not see any cops immediately after the camera's. I assume the cops calculate your speed based on the amount of time it took for you to cover the distance between two "gantry mounted camera set-up's" and arrive at your average velocity.

4. On the Balasore to Kharagpur, NH-60, a large part of the highway in West Bengal, somewhere between Dantan and Belda is being widened and concretised to make an emergency landing strip for the defence forces. Traffic, thus, has been restricted to a single lane in both directions.
Please exercise patience for these two / three kilometres and avoid reckless overtaking and unnecessary honking.

The NOCCI resort in Balasore is a good place if you want to freshen up. The restaurant is nice and has a decent spread.

I take it easy as I do most of these drives solo. No "pell-mell", pedal to the metal, teeth gnashing dragster like runs!

This time I took an overnight halt at Bhubaneshwar.
Reasons were two:
1. If you are coming in from South you are probably doing the Vishakhapatnam - Bhubaneswar stretch on the 2nd day. Estimate is that you will be passing Bhubaneswar somewhere between 1530 - 1630 hours and if you do not halt at BBSR and proceed further, you will be crossing Bhadrak - Balasore et al, somewhere around 1730 hours. In these pre-summer months, in that particular stretch, it is prime "Nor'-Wester"storm season.
Yes, it is a lovely experience driving through a Nor'-Wester on the highways, but please be careful of two things: (because i have experienced it)
a) Crosswinds. When you are travelling to Kolkata from Bhubaneswar you are travelling North-North-East. Basically the right side of your car is exposed to the full might of the gusts that blow in from the Bay of Bengal. Some of the gusts are so severe that they may actually veer you off course a bit. In a low slung sedan or a low hatch you are fine - but be prepared to take corrective steering action if you are driving high sided/slab sided vehicles and you are caught in one of these summer storms.

b) Hail. Sometimes these summer storms dump a fair bit of hailstones. Reduce speed as some of these ice cubes are large enough to crack your windscreen!

c) Also crossing Bhubaneswar in the late afternoon means you will be hitting Kolkata late night and I need not mention the truck menace as you approach the city late night

By the way: The erstwhile ITDC Hotel Kalinga Ashok has been fully refurbished. Rooms are neat and clean and charges are extremely reasonable. And it's quiet. They have a huge parking lot as well which self driving BHP-i'ans will like.
Yes, their service is slow and is more 1820's than 2020's - but what's the hurry? They'll even let you speak to the chef and let you tell him exactly how you want you dinner to be prepared!
And if you are still unhappy you can pop down to a swanky mall right next door and have your fill at the Food Court.

Onto the vehicle: the Tiago ran like clockwork. As it was packed to the roof liner the l'il fella' was squatting on its suspension and it felt like I was driving a vehicle with "active supension" woth hardly any body roll to speak of!
It is a very stable car and on more than a couple of occasions handled high speed recovery from highway dips and undulations, impeccably well, with nary a shudder or course deflection.
The Yokohama tyres, (which i had changed to, two years back, from the stock Bridgestone's), were very grippy as well. Air retenton is commendable.
Got a "brim - to - brim" fuel efficiency of 20.2 kmpl with AC set at 23degs C and speeds between 85-100 kmph. Vehicle was full loaded with at least 80-90 kgs of luggage and another quintal of lard - that's me!
After Balasore the weather was beautiful and intermittent usage of AC saw the fuel efficiency improving to 21.5kmpl, "brim - to - brim"

Logging off for now. Stay safe & drive safe everyone!

Cheers!

[RogueRobot]

Originally Posted by arjab

Last week completed yet another Chennai to Kolkata jaunt.
Nothing much to report. Road conditions are good throughout.

A few points:

Logging off for now. Stay safe & drive safe everyone!

Cheers!

Thank you! Very informative! Will do the drive tomorrow. Will update after!

[ssjr0498]

Glad to hear that the Bbsr-Balasore is done! I'm surprised that they have still not completed the landing strip, it was almost 80% done when I did Blr-CCU in April this year! Those speed breakers are really not required there I feel as the traffic is crawling anyway!

I always get those speeding tickets when I'm on my way back from Kolkata! Will have to keep an eye on the new one's!

Cheers,
Shrey

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by RogueRobot

Thank you! Very informative! Will do the drive tomorrow. Will update after!

Please update the road conditions if you have done the trip.

Thanks.

[ssjr0498]

Trust you completed your trip safely! Did you have to take any detours to get to Naidupeta? Last time around, I was busy talking and took a diversion that google maps recommended and ended up taking left from Yerpadu and bypassed Naidupeta to reach NH16! It was a harrowing experience as I was in my Jetta! Hope no detours for you and the roads were good till Naidupeta!


Thanks,
Shrey

Originally Posted by RogueRobot

Thank you! Very informative! Will do the drive tomorrow. Will update after!

[arjab]

Another Kolkata - Chennai round trip completed as of this week.
Road conditions continue to remain good throughout. Summarising for all:

In Odisha, some highway expansion civil work are still going on between Bhubaneswar and Balasore. Of particular mention: the concreted portion of NH-16 which connects Balasore to Kharagpur, the stretch in Orissa, that is from Balasore to Dantan (WB) is not in good shape. It does not have potholes but the concreted surface has worn off and it has become very bumpy and rough. The joinery between the culverts and the road have also deteriorated. Do exercise caution to prevent your vehicle from "bottoming out". After Dantan (OD-WB border) the concreted highway is absolutely smooth.

In Andhra Pradesh, the short stretch between NH-16 and NH-216A "Y-junction" at Devanchere, upto Kovvur Toll Plaza, both sides, have developed furrows in the rightmost lane. The asphalt appears to have subsided and you can clearly spot the depressions on the right side. Better to avoid, as much as possible, the right lanes on this short stretch, because when you are traversing the furrowed lanes, there will be a tendency for passenger cars; which usually have smaller wheels and tyres compared to a truck; to "shimmy & tram-line".
The Vishakhapatnam bypass is an enjoyable drive and now you can skirt past the city in less than half an hour.

Roads in Tamil Nadu are "ok-ish", I would say. Some broken patches have cropped up after the Tada border and not repaired yet, very unlike TN!

West Bengal roads are fine. Be careful and keep a keen eye out for the great "rusted - crash - barrier - in - the - middle - of - the - highway" slalom test which WB specialises in! This time I also saw some cops/havildars "push" these barriers in the way of oncoming trucks to make them slow down to a crawl if not stop altogether!

[ABHI_1512]

^^

Thanks for the update @arjab and congratulations on your new acquisition. It’s raining Jimny’s with Kolkata registration number

Chennai- Kolkata turns will perhaps see some off the charts travel and some uncharted route updates, wishing you some memorable miles with this lovely vehicle.

Regards.

[arjab]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

^^

Thanks for the update @arjab and congratulations on your new acquisition. It’s raining Jimny’s with Kolkata registration number

Chennai- Kolkata turns will perhaps see some off the charts travel and some uncharted route updates, wishing you some memorable miles with this lovely vehicle.

Regards.

Thanks Abhi for the kind words.
For all the flak the Jimny (nee Gypsy) is under, I personally like it.
This is the last of the breed, (like me ). Old-school, chivalrous (it will let all other cars pass-by), very mechanical, very analogue, dyed-in-the-wool 4x4. You have to "work" to drive this car and I like that. No sunroof, no twirly knobs, no slick digital panels, no "internet-inside" bits and bobs. It is easy to see why the present Gen - Z or whatever they call themselves are not buying this car. In a way good. Let this fella' remain a rarity.

Thanks once again and safe travels with Bahon! Hope he's keeping well!

[acuser30]

Hi BHPians,

Greetings!

Needed some guidance - traveling from Bangalore to Kolkata on 16th or 17th April with wife, son and father (~75 years age). I am planning to follow the NH16, which is what seems to be the preferred route for most travelers. I am driving a Baleno. Since this is the 1st time, some pointers / precautions would be very helpful, regarding -
1. Food stops
2. Road conditions (especially the stretch from post Cuttack to Kharagpur)
3. Any hotels on NH16 in Vizag (planning night halt in Vizag)
4. Is the road post Odisha, safe for night travel?

Thanks for your help.

Hope to have a good drive.

With regards
AC

[arjab]

Another Calcutta - Chennai - Calcutta trip dusted off last weekend.
Nothing much to report. Road conditions are more or less good throughout.

I was dissappointed with Orissa roads this time. If you are coming from Bhubaneswar towards Kolkata, the Bhadrak to Balasore and beyond stretch is nothing to write home about. A fair bit of roadwork plus broken tarmac, in places, on the Jaleswar - Kharagpur NH-60. Things smoothen out as you cross Dantan and enter West Bengal. Some of the the culvert joineries continue to be the axle breakers and rim-benders as before. I fail to understand that even after 25-27 years of this roads' completion & commission; why on earth can't the NH authorities solve this issue? Isn't two and a half decades enough to come up with a fix?

Many portions of NH-16 in Andhra have been resurfaced and very nice.
The approach to Godavari 4th Bridge and Kovvur toll plaza remains the same as it was in February this year. Undulating: as the tarmac has become rutted in places and developed furrows because of overloaded truck traffic.

The Vishakhapatnam bypass concrete surface has developed deep fissures in places. I did see the roadworks team hard at work, repairing the same, with some very modern looking gadgetry.

Work on the Vijaywada bypass is progressing well and looks like it will be ready in less than a year. Once that is done one need not enter Vijaywada city at all.

TN roads are ok'-ish. Small stretches of tarmac, in multiple places, of 300-500 metres, before and after the numerous flyovers running past Gummidipoondi Industrial Estate, are in disrepair and have a fair bit of broken tarmac.

The Jimny acquitted itself well. I was solo with a large amount of luggage and books, (totalling approx 70-80 kgs). Jimmy Boy plodded on at his usual 90-95 kmph cruise, returning a steady 15.4 kmpl, (tankfull to tankfull on regular grade petrol and running on Yokohama 215/75-15's on OEM alloys) with continuous AC.
While returning to Kolkata, I faced torrential rains for almost 40-45 kms, before reaching Bhubaneswar. I was pleasantly surprised by Jimmy Boy's small wipers, cutting a nice, clean swathe, through the waterfall cascading over the windscreen! The tailgate wiper was also quite effective. The demisting capabilities, (both front and rear), performed very well too.

Leaving you all with a couple of pictures.

Drive safe,

Best wishes,
Arjab