[am1m]

Now that bikes are not allowed, is it possible to go all the way to Mysore using the old highway and avoiding all sections of the new road? I know that the new road bypasses the towns on the way, but for the most part, on maps, it seems to be aligned with the old road. Haven't been in that direction for a while now, not since the new highway opened.

[dust-n-bones]

Starting tomorrow, one way toll to go up to Rs 320 for cars. Approx Rs 3 per km for the expressway.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by am1m

Now that bikes are not allowed, is it possible to go all the way to Mysore using the old highway and avoiding all sections of the new road? I know that the new road bypasses the towns on the way, but for the most part, on maps, it seems to be aligned with the old road. Haven't been in that direction for a while now, not since the new highway opened.

Yes, for the most part it is overlapped on the old road. It is at all the towns, that it got a separate path. So there is nothing like going by the old road through out. And you cannot just use the service through out adjacent to the expressway, because the service road cuts at bridges and railway crosses. I am not sure how practical it is to ban 2W on this road.

Originally Posted by dust-n-bones

Starting tomorrow, one way toll to go up to is 320 for cars. Approx Rs 3 per km for the expressway.

Ridiculous toll. Driving on Kanakapura road for another hour seems to be a worthy & safe deal then.

[anandhsub]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Ridiculous toll. Driving on Kanakapura road for another hour seems to be a worthy & safe deal then.

Or just enter at Bidadi and exit at Srirangapatna.

Horrible planning to not have built better entries and exits and tolled them.

[Oppanna]

Originally Posted by anandhsub

Or just enter at Bidadi and exit at Srirangapatna.

The Ganaganuru toll is much before Srirangapatna exit!

[theabstractmind]

Originally Posted by dust-n-bones

Starting tomorrow, one way toll to go up to Rs 320 for cars. Approx Rs 3 per km for the expressway.

Attachment 2469979

The Government recognizes that Time IS MONEY!

[binand]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Ridiculous toll. Driving on Kanakapura road for another hour seems to be a worthy & safe deal then.

I'm seeing about 2-2.5 km/l increase in my mileage when I take the expressway. The diesel savings alone offsets the toll for me and then some.

The time savings is invaluable. Now I think I can hit the KA-KL border before its closing time even if I start from Bangalore at 5 PM. Previously it was dicey even with a 3 PM start.

[theabstractmind]

Today I took the Kanakapura road enroute Sangama (I've done this route and to Mysore as well multiple times previously). This road seems to be eternally under construction. And our public doesn't make it safer for anyone. This road is as chaotic if not more than the expressway. In fact I would say there's more chances of a mishap on this road. And terribly crowded. Art of Living, Brigade Meadows, and a couple of other chokepoints make it a hell.

I was pushed off by an Isuzu whose failed overtake made him squeeze into an non existent gap ahead of me and I had to brake and pull left so that I don't bump into him. And an XUV700 followed suit emboldened. All for them to pull over within a few hundred meters. Wonder what they achieved.

These folks don't understand the word patience or safe driving. And show no remorse. Money can't buy class. Less said about the younger generation, the better. All the internet and YouTube can't make our lives better. Irrespective of age, education, and place of origin, almost every other driver is a liability. Students especially. A modified swift driven by some seemingly sub 30 folks again bullied into a barely existing gap left open by me deliberately. And another VW Polo GT racing it. Wow! What a beautiful country of entitled folks we are!

Our people don't just seem to know what is to be mindful. There were school buses bullying all other vehicles around. And cars cutting too close. Even witnessed one incident of rear ending at sub 40kmph speeds.

Back to topic. Expressway gives three lanes to find some safety. And indeed is faster than Kanakapura road. Avoid the latter like a plague.

[shankar.balan]

I drove the Expressway en route Ooty on Friday.
I left home at 0500 sharp. It took me 30 mins to reach the Expressway Toll Road sign - I went through the city.
And I was enjoying the drive after that because it had already dawned and there was enough morning light to see perfectly. There was very less traffic and what traffic there was, was decent and disciplined.
Near that Organic Mandya/ Shivalli there were two men (rural residents) who looked like they had some level of education and who were standing on the median and waiting to cross the Expressway. I saw them from a distance and anyway I was in the middle lane so I kept watching. Clearly their intent was to take their chance at what they adjudged to be an ‘appropriate time’ but luckily I was able to pass them by before they stepped off the median.
I reached the Mysore ORR Expressway exit at 645. And actually reached the Shell Petrol Pump for Coffee at 0700.
The roads were more or less empty that day.

[duckhunter]

We did a round trip Bangalore - Mysore - Bangalore on July 1 (Sat) and return on July 2 (Sun) in a Honda CR-V. Here's a detailed experience. This is also my first post on Team-BHP. Happy to be contributing after being a reader for several years now.

July 1 (Saturday)

- We left from Koramangala (Bangalore) at 5:56am and reached Mysore Palace at 7:46am. There was surprisingly little traffic on Mysore Road within Bangalore city and also on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. I'm guessing this was because a good chunk of Mysore weekenders had already left on Thursday due to the long weekend.
- We maintained speeds between 90 and 105 on the middle lane throughout. Did not encounter too many rash drivers and seldom felt the need to overtake from the left.
- We crossed the new toll at Ganaganuru on July 1 morning but we didn't have to pay any toll. Seemed like the toll collection had not yet started. The toll guy waved at us to keep moving.
- Absolutely no traffic jam at the Manipal Hospital junction on entering Mysore, which was a pleasant surprise. That junction usually has at least 15-20 minutes of wait time to cross.
- The dashboard recorded the onward journey from Koramangala to Mysore Palace as 142km with a mileage of 21.3 kmpl.

July 2 (Sunday)

- After all the sightseeing in Mysore, we left from Mysore at 11:58pm and reached Koramangala at 2:15pm.
- The return journey wasn't as pleasant. We crossed dozens of BMTC buses hogging the right lane and even one Alto which had halted on the right lane!
- On the return journey, out of curiosity, we decided to skip both the tolls. This was a first for us and we were wondering how much of a difference in time and mileage does skipping the toll booth actually make. And it turns out that the answer is not much. With the vast number of cars slipping into the service lane before the Ganaganuru Toll (which was now active and collecting toll), it was not difficult for us to find the right service lane entrance. Same for the service lane entrance after Bidadi for the toll at Kaniminike.
- Skipping the Ganaganuru Toll made very little difference in time. We perhaps lost 3-4 minutes at most (given that there is usually a few minutes of waiting at the toll itself). No loss in mileage.
- On the other hand, skipping the Kaniminike Toll means that you will be traveling under the flyover as you enter Bangalore city. Driving through that city traffic for an additional 5km will cost you another 4-5 minutes of lost time and maybe a tiny dent in mileage. It's a trade-off between that and paying 165 in toll. I doubt many will choose the latter.
- On the return journey, we also crossed the site of a major accident on the Mysore-bound lane. There was an overturned truck which blocked the entire three lanes. Massive jam of 200-300 of cars. On driving further, we saw that hundreds of cars had done a U-turn and drove wrong way back towards Bangalore, hoping to take a service lane exit somewhere. (picture below)

- Also observed that bikes are still using the highway, contrary to what someone posted earlier in this thread.
- Overall, the trip was 384km at a mileage of 18.9 kmpl, incl all the city driving within Mysore.

I have mixed feelings about skipping the toll. On one side, there's the argument of contributing to nation-building, paying your dues, etc. On the other side, the road is so poorly planned that a very large fraction of highway-users are already skipping the tolls. This will only increase over time. By paying the toll, you end up subsidizing their usage of the highway as well. And unless the highway authorities fix this and make it a controlled-access expressway, this is not going to change. What are your thoughts on this?

[shankar.balan]

I drove the Expressway back from Mysore to Bangalore today. It took me an hour and fifteen minutes. Absolutely no traffic. Just a few sparse cars and buses and stuff. I did not encounter any problems with indiscipline and bad driving. There were a few commuter bikes. They were in the left most lane. And most of them were not wearing helmets.

Just that on the big curve before the Toll Gate on the Mysore side there was a crash which must have just happened just a short while earlier. There were cops and there was an ambulance racing along in the opposite direction on the left most lane to get to the crash site. It was a black car whose front was crumpled. And possibly there may have been a bike there. I did not stop to check. Noted all this while passing but was driving at 100kmph hence just kept going.

The Expressway is a big help in getting up and down fast. But we will most definitely continue to see many accidents and fatalities until we as a race are able to learn lane discipline and driving etiquette.

For now we should just hope the expressway remains fenced off completely. And that bikes and autos and small commercial vehicles of all kinds are not allowed on it.

[HTC]

Night travel on expressway needs proper planning. There have been mugging incidents recently. News article here.

Several precautions needs to be taken if need to travel. We that cross my mind are

1. Avoid night travel if possible.
2. Make sure your car is in top condition.
3. Travel in big group if possible.
4. Have enough sleep before the drive.

[ak10]

Originally Posted by dust-n-bones

Starting tomorrow, one way toll to go up to Rs 320 for cars. Approx Rs 3 per km for the expressway.

Yes, this has been implemented, i returned from Mysuru to Bengaluru yesterday via the new expressway and Rs.155 was collected at the first toll booth and Rs.165 was collected from the second one. I saw a lot of cars bypassing the tolls by taking an early exit and late entry, not sure how this is going to be addressed. Looking at the slow moving traffic on the service road, I didn't find it worth the detour so didn't bother to bypass the toll.

[dailydriver]

Although i have been a close follower of this thread from its inception, I am yet to drive on this expressway.

But I have seen, here and elsewhere, how this half-baked brick has brought many homes down. Counting nearly one hundred fatalities in 2023 itself isn't really a commendable statistics. However, two recent experiences reminded and reinforced for me the adage that the weakest link in a car is the NUT that is holding its steering wheel!

The first instance was of an ex-colleague who had captured a mobile video driving a Mercedes (not sure which one) at a tad more than 180kmph.

The second, narrated yesterday by a hired driver, involved him pushing a Hyundai i20 to 150+kmph (his words, hence not verified/verifiable).

To the high flying NUT in the Mercedes and the temporary NUT in the i20, I can only suggest that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and that to me the aforementioned NUTS appear equally, if not more weaker than the expressway itself!

[puntra800]

The expressway is in the news for all wrong reasons, yesterdays article on The Hindu

https://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...le67042473.ece

Having a cop checking speeds over 100 where the limit is 120 on an expressway is a little farfetched but then just taking the toll of deaths which is hovering around 100+ already this measure was necessary I feel.

I feel commuters instead of abusing the cops here should self reflect on themselves and mind the way they are driving instead.