[deehunk]

I spotted the traffic police stopping vehicles yesterday evening and collecting fines on this so called expressway, barricades were put in the middle of the road. This was the scene somewhere between Ramanagar and Bidadi. Now NHAI calls this a restricted highway only,
https://m.timesofindia.com/city/beng.../102405479.cms

[mpksuhas]

Something many of us mentioned over here earlier,

"Our notifications clearly state that it is an access-controlled-highway and not an expressway.
As the infrastructure looks like that of an expressway, people may be calling it by that name.

News Link

Time to change the thread name ?

[kochup]

Originally Posted by deehunk

Now NHAI calls this a restricted highway only,
https://m.timesofindia.com/city/beng.../102405479.cms

I hope with this downgrade from expressway to highway, the toll amount also gets rationalized a bit.

It currently costs Rs 320 for ~120 KMs oneway between BLR and MYS for the 2 tolls combined. In comparison for the same amount we can travel upto Namakal (250 KMs) enroute to Madurai oneway.

[jaaz]

We were fooled by everyone from the drawing board stage to the opening ceremony. Now they realized that it's not an expressway, but a highway.
Actually, it should be slow clap.

It's like they wanted to construct a bridge and ended up building a culvert.

Yes, with the reduced speed, they should reduce the toll fee too. And different speed for different should only be an advisory and not subject to fine, as it's impractical, at least in India.

[HTC]

Originally Posted by kochup

I hope with this downgrade from expressway to highway, the toll amount also gets rationalized a bit.

It currently costs Rs 320 for ~120 KMs oneway between BLR and MYS for the 2 tolls combined. In comparison for the same amount we can travel upto Namakal (250 KMs) enroute to Madurai oneway.

Rightly said.
It's like snatching away something which was 80% perfect and giving back to selected few (4 wheelers) with a hefty toll charges.

As I have said before, bypasses for mandya, maddur, chanpatna and ramanagara would have eased traffic. Along with strict enforcement of speed limits and lane discipline would have worked well for everyone. Now non four-wheelers are forced to take unsafe service road which is narrow and dangerous at many locations. Travelling at night on service road is literally scary and people can easily get mugged and robbed. That leaves kanakapura road which is unsafe aswell after dark.

Before it used to take 3 to 3.5 hrs with nice food break for the same distance. Makes me wonder if this Expressway was really needed in the first place. Paying 640 as toll for weekend mysore visit is too much.

[deehunk]

Today, there were people trying to prevent two wheelers from entering this access controlled highway and couple of morons managed to escape and entered the fake expressway. What happens to them later is not defined by the authorities, apart from this it was common to see trespassing between Maddur and SR Patna.

[shankar.balan]

I used this ExpressHighway again to Coorg in the Thar.
Saturday morning 0600 from home. Reached my destination in Coorg at 1030. Cruising along peacefully at 80-90 in the middle lane.
I used the city route out of Bangalore and near RR Nagar or so sadly there was a motorcycle parked with a number of folks gathered around. Must have been an accident and that caused a hold up for 5-7 minutes.
Most of the folks on the ExpressHighWay were following decent lane discipline and there were no mad racers. And thankfully no pesky motorbikes and autos. However these Ashok Leyland Dost and similar cargo mini trucks abound. And some of those are overloaded.
Took a right on to the ring road at the Manipal Columbia Signal. No delays there at all. Stopped for 20 min at Aroha on the Mysore Ring Road for breakfast. Good food. Clean place. More convenient now than the Swad restaurant if going to Coorg because at Swad they have blocked the merge-access.
On the way back I left Coorg at 130pm after lunch at my friends house and came out of Coorg and Hunsur and all to the old Yelwal Byepass, went past the KPTCL and De Pauls and all and reached Sri ranga patnam and from there merged on to the old highway. Continued till perhaps 3 -4 km prior to that Ganangur Toll where there is an open entry/ exit point onto the ExpressHighWay and then cruised all the way to Bangalore in the middle lane at 80-85kmph.
Peaceful largely except for one or two minor headaches.
A triple-distilled idiot in a Nexon was overtaking at speeds from left and from right swooping back and forth like a swallow and at over-the-limit speeds. A Laura was over speeding probably 120kmph. When one comes along the approach to Ramanagaram one can see from a distance the traffic slowing down because of the barricades and lots of cops hanging about. I was in the middle lane but anyway had to brake and slow down. At that time the cops flagged down both that Laura and the Nexon and made them park on the left to fine them.
There were two more quadruple-distilled vandal-idiots who had cut a longitudinal tear in the fence and were trying to squeeze through it to the service road. This means they were absolutely in the wrong direction and because they were facing me and sitting in the left most lane next to the fence. Then there was one man parked and snoozing on the other side of the road towards Mysore, near Bidadi. On the road towards Bangalore there were several cars parked on the left at different places. Wonder why.
Got off the Tollway and hopped on to the NICE Road which was a breeze except for that 3-4 km section which is under repair. No one was breaking the line when going on that diversion. But the main NICE Road is full of zig zag and like a video game, changing lanes all the time. They should strictly enforce lane discipline on NICE road too. Anyway I was home and dry at 1730. Ive paid all the tolls from my Fastag.
I think overall this ExpressHighWay is a good one.
I am actually happy the cops are whacking those who over-speed unnecessarily. In our country in order to get people to realise and start following rules, sadly it is necessary to be somewhat draconian. We as a race seem to learn to an extent only when faced with punitive measures. Otherwise all road-users/ motorists act so ‘entitled’ in India as if they are simply above any law of the land, or rules of the road.

[impala]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Cruising along peacefully at 80-90 in the middle lane.

Planning a trip this weekend. I saw a post from the DGP on Twitter that they are enforcing 80 on the middle lane, and 100 on the right lane. Where you just lucky not to get ticketed or they are not really enforcing 80? I was a bit unhappy that I have to keep below 80; I had felt pretty comfortable maintaining 90-95 for most of the road except some of the over bridges and turns.

Also, one naive question to everyone here. If there is a 20kmph difference between overtaking lane and the cruising lane, how would one merge back safely but technically be still abiding to the limits?

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by impala

Planning a trip this weekend. I saw a post from the DGP on Twitter that they are enforcing 80 on the middle lane, and 100 on the right lane. Where you just lucky not to get ticketed or they are not really enforcing 80? I was a bit unhappy that I have to keep below 80; I had felt pretty comfortable maintaining 90-95 for most of the road except some of the over bridges and turns.

Also, one naive question to everyone here. If there is a 20kmph difference between overtaking lane and the cruising lane, how would one merge back safely but technically be still abiding to the limits?

When one merges back one just needs to be sure that there is no one too close. And maintain the speed at which one is merging and gradually ease off. I was putting on bursts of speed upto 100 and moving to the extreme right hand lane ONLY while overtaking. And I was otherwise always in the middle lane doing 80-90.

I had my cruise control set to 80-82 and it was on all the time. I really didn’t encounter any situation which necessitated heavy braking which in turn would have caused cruise control to go off. When I accelerated now and then in my own lane and when I changed lanes to overtake and then came back into the middle lane, all I had to do was ease off on the accelerator and it would simply go back to 80-82kmph.

I don’t know what the tolerance limit is. But I know for a fact that the Nexon and Laura that I mentioned were way over 100kmph and they were criss crossing across lanes. That was clearly visible and Im sure the police would have flagged them down because of that. Anyway, absolutely everyone has to slow down for the Ramanagaram Metal Barricades/ Chicanes. No way out. So best to stay within the overall band of speed limits and diligently use cruise control.

[vivek95]

Hello guys, this is my feedback on the all new upgraded Bangalore--Mysore 6 lane highway.

As part of my Mumbai--Belgaum--Bangalore--Mysore drive, I got a chance to try this awesome piece of a road. I come from a state ( Maharashtra) which has two proper "Expressways" on date - 1. Mumbai--Pune Expressway that was built and thrown open to traffic since year 2002 and 2. The most recent Mumbai--Nagpur Expressway operational since Dec 2022 ( Bharvir--Shirdi--Nagpur 600 kms to be precise as the last 100 kms Mumbai will be ready by mid-2024 ). I am highly frequent on Mumbai--Pune Expressway and driven twice on Mumbai--Nagpur Expressway , so can fairly comment on Bangalore--Mysore highway whether it's an Expressway or not.

1. To begin with, the all new Bangalore--Mysore highway is absolutely brilliant, period ! Kudos to the builder Dilip Buildcon based out of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

2. The road surface is buttersmooth and consistently so. No shoddy work anywhere. Expansion joints on bridges are well done.

3. Immaculate road markings, nice median and 2 huge beautiful toll plazas. The median did not have the typical railing and also the width didn't match the standards of proper expressways like Mumbai--Pune/Nagpur but hey that's insignificant. The present median serves it purpose, no complaints.

4. Thoughtfully constructed dedicated service roads on either sides all along the entire stretch. Continuous fencing in place demarcating the service lanes.

5. I drove onward on 1st August 2023 and marshals were standing at the exits/entry lanes preventing local 2-wheeler and 3-wheeler/ all kinds of slow moving vehicles from entering the highway. They were directed to take service roads but some people somehow managed to escape and I spotted considerable number of slow moving 2-wheelers/3-wheelers and also two instances of wrong side driving!! But during return drive on 8th August 2023, all this was gone. There was not a single 2 wheeler spotted anywhere. Looks like the regulations are enforced strictly and hopefully all the issues have been sorted out. So, this and the above point qualifies for being called "Access controlled".

6. Didn't feel that the road was unscientifically designed at any point. Start to end the road felt safe while driving at speeds over 100 kmph. Some people had reported that there were water logging incidents at some parts even after very light rain but I am not sure regarding this aspect as it didn't feel like monsoon in Karnataka at all with absolutely no rains whatsoever, totally dry ( been raining crazily in Mumbai here ). I didn't find anything significant to point out that the road design has any flaws. It is excellent end to end.

7. There's an official speed limit of 100 kmph on right most lane and 80 kmph on middle lane. Honestly my speeds were consistently 100-120 kmph, mostly 110 kmph at all times. I covered the 117 kms stretch from starting point at Bangalore till the end point at Mysore in exactly 1 hour 14 mins during onward and 1 hour 15 mins on the wayback.

8. At certain places where the two carriageways come in close proximation, the median has thoughtfully placed green coloured barriers/boards that blocks the oncoming glare. Another good safety aspect

9. The only small drawback was exits/entry lanes not being built as proper interchanges. They appear suddenly and feel like ordinary / substandard exits from an otherwise marvellous excellent highway.

10. By now you might have realised that I totally loved this new highway. I had previously driven on old Bangalore--Mysore highway four times in last 5 years and it was a pain. The new one is brilliant transformation and was long due for Bangalore--Mysore sector. It's completely a stress free experience today.

11. This road would have indeed been a proper "Expressway", had the exit/entry lanes being properly built as interchanges. Apart from that every single aspect of this road seems like an Expressway without any doubt.

To sum it up, the all new Bengaluru--Mysuru highway is an excellent "High speed access controlled 6 lane highway". I am extremely happy overall and would love to drive here again and again !!!!

Sharing few pics and a video

https://youtu.be/tEX8wOzQ4sw

[skrao]

The non existent drainage on on the Expressway, sorry highway is a major hazard. Yesterday (Aug 13th) night, I had first hand experience of the same driving from Mys- Blr at about 10 pm.
Immediately after the Ramanagara exit, there was a slight drizzle that continued till Kengeri. Traffic slowed down to an average of 50/60 kmph. Only the centre lane was being used as there were pools of water on both the outer lanes.
Sometimes, when an adventurous soul used these to go faster or overtake, it ended up creating major hazard by splashing the windshields of cars next to them.

This happened to me just after the Kanminike toll, when a BR9100 decided to crash through a particularly deep puddle and I had to literally stamp on brakes to avoid crashing into an Eon that lost sight of the road and slowed immensely. Luckily both of us were doing less than 50 at that time.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by impala

Planning a trip this weekend. I saw a post from the DGP on Twitter that they are enforcing 80 on the middle lane, and 100 on the right lane. Where you just lucky not to get ticketed or they are not really enforcing 80? I was a bit unhappy that I have to keep below 80; I had felt pretty comfortable maintaining 90-95 for most of the road except some of the over bridges and turns.

Also, one naive question to everyone here. If there is a 20kmph difference between overtaking lane and the cruising lane, how would one merge back safely but technically be still abiding to the limits?

I drove a couple times to Mysore this month (weekdays), and I am not convinced that anyone here notices the lane markers. Literally nobody uses indicators to change lanes. When the road curves, people just get into other lanes at 100+kmph. Even with slight traffic, lane changes are being made with just inches of clearance. I don't think anyone is thinking about merging, it's more of pushing around others with some pecking order - based on size/power of vehicles. People looked at me weird as I used indicators to change lanes.

The insanity of Bengaluru traffic has driven people nuts, that when they see an open stretch they go berserk.

[JithinR]

Used this so-called expressway yesterday for the drive back home. Unlike the last time I didn't encounter any morons driving opposite to the traffic.

But I do believe that with the downgrade to it being a highway they need to lower the toll charges. I understand that people think this is a world class piece of infrastructure. That can only be if you have spent your life in India with third rate roads that peel off at the first sign of monsoon rains.

They would need to revisit this expressway (sorry highway) even during a slight drizzle to understand that building a safe, well-engineered highway is much different from trying to increase your YOY rate of highway construction.

Yes, I am ungrateful. If we are paying more taxes than 99%+ of the population on this country, I can damn well choose to be.

Also, the indication that they plan to implement lane wise speed limits is the height of stupidity. The kind of plan that only a top-level official who hasn't had to drive himself around in decades (thanks to our tax rupees lavishing him/her with a sweet ride and chauffeur) could come up with.

As much as I try and stick to 80kmph on the middle lane (which I manage to do 90%+ of the time - thanks to all members who post their tips on how to travel safely on highways), I will openly admit that I drift to just above 90kmph especially on down slopes of the flyovers. There is no way to stick to this sub-speed limit without cruise control and amazing lane discipline.

[Turbohead]

With the new speed limit of 100kmph being strictly enforced, this is going to be a battle against snoozing off for me. I personally believe many sections of this highway, apart from certain bridges and entry/exit points, can be dealt at 110-120 kmph.

Seriously thinking of using the Kanakapura road since we like to be engaged and we don't mind the additional time it takes. However, the big question is - are the roads good/ maintained properly?

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

With the new speed limit of 100kmph being strictly enforced, this is going to be a battle against snoozing off for me. I personally believe many sections of this highway, apart from certain bridges and entry/exit points, can be dealt at 110-120 kmph.

Seriously thinking of using the Kanakapura road since we like to be engaged and we don't mind the additional time it takes. However, the big question is - are the roads good/ maintained properly?

Bad shape. Dont even go that side. Instead take the Kunigal road and then turn into srirangapatna.

You will still return to the mysore expressway after trying this out.