[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by deepak_misra

Google is smarter than me. It did not occur to me. I am leaving on Monday morning and from your post assume Mysore road would be the way to go?

Yes, even if it is on a Monday. The wise thing is to avoid Mysore road on a Saturday morning (towards Mysore) and Sunday evening (towards Bangalore).

I have considered the road work happening on Mysore Road. It is not that bad as it may sound like.

Check our Mysore Expressway status thread

[HTC]

General observations on Mysore - Bengaluru road journey.

I have been a regular commuter between Mys-Blr since 2004. Sometimes I do impromptu day trips between Mys-Blr for unavoidable work which requires my presence. Best phase of using the highway was initial few years after road was completed (circa 2005-06). Now a days, it takes 3.5 hrs to 4 hrs. Its tiring as well as there are numerous diversions, humps, and unruly drivers. From beginning of journey till I reach home, I have to be super alert. It's as if you are playing roadrash for full 4 hours. And it's no longer enjoyable like before.

These days, if it is day time, I take Kanakapura-malavalli route. Its fully tarred except for few small humps between Blore and Kanakapura. If you maintain sane speeds around 80 kmph, you can reach home without much drama.

If it is night time, for safety reasons, I use the highway.
Between, I prefer riding than driving

Drive safe and have fun,
HTC

[ChiragM]

Guys, I have a query. I will be somewhere between Ramanagara and Kanakapura on Friday (consider somewhere exactly between the two towns) for an event. I will be leaving at around 5 pm - 6 pm and heading home near Girinagar, BSK. I plan to take Nice road to skip a lot of traffic. The Hoskerahalli exit is about 2 km from my place.

Now I need suggestions on how to get to Nice road on a Friday evening. Mysore road or Kanakpura Road? Which is better to get to Nice junction on a Friday evening considering traffic + road condition + metro work + road widening? (Both highways are equidistant from my departure place).

Note: I cant afford to be late due to traffic as I have a flight later at night.

[speedmiester]

Now I need suggestions on how to get to Nice road on a Friday evening. Mysore road or Kanakpura Road? Which is better to get to Nice junction on a Friday evening considering traffic + road condition + metro work + road widening? (Both highways are equidistant from my departure place).

I would recommend taking the Kanakapura Road and take the NICE road. This might be a bit slow, but it's predictable. The roads are in good condition.

With all the constructions going on on the Main Bangalore-Mysore Highway, there can be serious traffic jams which can derail your plans.

[deepak_misra]

Originally Posted by deepak_misra

I am traveling to Masinagudi on Monday morning

Update:
I left Bangalore at 6:45 on Monday and decided to risk Mysore road. It was a good decision though Google suddenly told me to go via the Neelamangala route. NICE road was smooth so also Mysore road. There were continuous diversions but very manageable and reached Masinagudi in about 6 hours. The problem is that many of the numerous eating places have shut down and one needs to look out for the open ones and also get onto service road to reach them.
Based on this luck decided to take Mysore road back which was a wrong decision. Left Mysore around 1:30 and reached home at 7:00.
There was a more than half hour jam about 45 minutes before Bidadi. NICE road was a disaster with trucks sticking to the right lane so that only way to move at a decent speed was weave between trucks. Google is behaving strangely and suggested to turn left from NICE road at the Hosur road junction (and not take elevated toll road) which seemed counter intuitive. HOwever just when I turned left it asked me to go straight and go towards electronics city.
I noticed this behaviour in Ooty too.
SO finally I went through HOsa road, Harulur and Sarjapur road, Bellandur to reach Whitefield.
TO sum up which road to take: I think it is just a matter of luck. Kanakapura road seems to be more deterministic and Mysore road is a matter of luck. Google is not 100% reliable but might just help to take a decision

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Was pleasantly surprised to see Kanakapura road till Kanakpura finally relaid.I assumed it had just been patched, but this is a full tarring with markings as per NHAI standards. Of course, ideally we should have got a proper four laned road by now, but compared to the very poor state a few months back, it is a smooth ride now.

Kanakapura Rd from Bangalore NICE Rd to Kanakapura town has been 4-laned? Wow, I didn't know that. From what I saw 1 year ago, it had been abandoned, God knows why!

Can you please confirm?

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Kanakapura Rd from Bangalore NICE Rd to Kanakapura town has been 4-laned? Wow, I didn't know that. From what I saw 1 year ago, it had been abandoned, God knows why!

Can you please confirm?

Oh no, it has not been 4 laned. Just the existing road has been relaid properly. It was in terrible condition due to the abandoned 4 laning. Nothing still happening on the 4 laning, but the existing road which was full of potholes is relaid now. So atleast during non peak hours, one can comfortably drive.

[jkrishnakj]

Kanakpura road is relaid, from Somanahalli to Kanakpura, some stretches have great roads too. But getting to Somanahalli from NICE is a mega pain and if it’s a Saturday morning, your drive is already messed up due to the speed breakers and traffic till and near Kaggalipura and the volume of cars and bikes heading out.

If you happen to take Kanakpura road to Bangalore on your return, then, i can tell you it’s ever worse than any other entry point. Just from Somanahalli to NICE stretch can test all your patience and discipline. And if you’re returning between 5-8 pm, it’s even worse.

Aside, the 4 laning work has been stopped for almost 3 years now. To an RTI query I had raised, the response was about some issues with the contractor and how the are now closing process with a new contractor. The response didn’t mention any timelines and I followed up with another RTI query. Let’s see what I hear.

[condor]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Aside, the 4 laning work has been stopped for almost 3 years now. ...r and how the are now closing process with a new contractor.

That re-work between NICE Rd & Kanakapura is already showing breakage. Can see 2-3 spots even in the first 14 km from NICE Road.

They have cut down trees near Udipalya-Kaggalipura. Typical indication of a (new) contractor stepping in - for, the first thing that any contractor does is to cut trees that are marked for removal. But isnt sounding right, because the new road goes left just before that police station and re-joins near the proposed toll booth. And the trees which are cut are on the current path.

[deehunk]

It was a short drive to Gungralchatra yesterday. As usual, I stuck to the Magadi-H Durga route. I started from Magadi Road at 8:45am. It took 70 minutes to reach H Durga from my house. Thereafter, I chose the road towards Mandya via Koudle, Basaralu, and Hulivana. This stretch has less bus and truck traffic compared to other options. This stretch has good roads with bad patches of less than 2 km (road work). We reach Mandya town right next to the KSRTC bus stand. I reached my destination around 11:30am.

[ninjatalli]

Guys,
For a late night drive to Mysore (planning to leave Bangalore by 9 pm) tomorrow night, what would you suggest? Is the main highway road-work more active during the night? Usually I prefer to take the main highway for night drives (for safety, etc.) but requesting feedback from folks here wrt the ongoing work.

@Chirag, @Speedmiester - noticed you were talking about a similar time period travel hence quoting.

Originally Posted by ChiragM

Now I need suggestions on how to get to Nice road on a Friday evening.

Originally Posted by speedmiester

I would recommend taking the Kanakapura Road and take the NICE road. This might be a bit slow, but it's predictable. The roads are in good condition.

With all the constructions going on on the Main Bangalore-Mysore Highway, there can be serious traffic jams which can derail your plans.

[speedmiester]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Guys,
For a late night drive to Mysore (planning to leave Bangalore by 9 pm) tomorrow night, what would you suggest? Is the main highway road-work more active during the night? Usually I prefer to take the main highway for night drives (for safety, etc.) but requesting feedback from folks here wrt the ongoing work.

@Chirag, @Speedmiester - noticed you were talking about a similar time period travel hence quoting.

For night drives, recommend you to stick to main highway as it's busy through the night. The other options are deserted and you may not find much support if needed.

Keep an eye out for markers for deviations, they can be missed easily at night.

[jkrishnakj]

Agree!

I had a drive on this road, 2 weeks ago, around 12.30 am in the night towards Bangalore and it was quite peaceful. Expect traffic till you cross Bidadi and after that, it’s smooth sailing.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Guys,
For a late night drive to Mysore (planning to leave Bangalore by 9 pm) tomorrow night, what would you suggest?

So we did the to & fro last weekend with one change - I was on the backseat in my friend's car so all I was doing was snoring or reading my kindle at the back

Bangalore - Mysore: Left Indiranagar around 8 pm and reached the highway/NICE exit by 9:30pm only. Surprisingly post that we didn't see a lot of traffic (at least whenever I was awake) and reached Mysore around 12:30am, with a dinner halt midway included.

Mysore - Bangalore: In spite of my suggestion (and GMaps' recommendation), my friend opted to head back from Mysore to Bangalore via the main highway and not the alternate route suggested here. We left Mysore around 5:30pm and reached Indiranagar around 10:30pm only. The traffic while passing through the towns was brutal and for once I was glad I wasn't driving. This is in-spite of no dinner halt.

[jkrishnakj]

Where did you manage the dinner break? Most outlets on that road shut by 10.45/11. Only Empire/Vegetaria is open till about 1 am or so.