[Totoro11]

Trip Update- Beyond Dausa

Took the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway to the last accessible point on Saturday while on the way to MP via Kota. Most of the posts above have talked about the route till Dausa/Jaipur so i will not repeat.

Around 40 km after the Dausa exit, you start seeing signboards for Lalsot but you need to watch out for the ones saying Lalsot/Kothun.



Signboard at Exit:


From a distance, you can see the route blocked (apologies for the picture quality)


There will be no exit confusion and nothing to watch out for, as this is the only way:


From this point on, you can take the SH23 to Kothun which is around 30km of mostly undivided but decent road passing through small towns. Local traffic is erratic and you need to be careful of bikes and cattle. At Kothun, you can merge onto the Jaipur-Kota route (NH-52).



I was able to save atleast 2 hours by taking this route and avoiding NH-8 and Jaipur traffic.

Four things to keep in mind:
1. Start with a full tank fuel from Delhi/Gurgaon. 2-3 pumps are operational but once you are on the expressway, you would not want to stop.
2. Ditto for food. The functioning stops are at Urban Dhaba 99 and Rajwada but options are very very limited. At morning 7am, they only had tea and patties (not sure how fresh).

Originally Posted by abhishekjoshi84

Sound advise, however wanted to add that when cruising dont use the right most lane.

3. More reasons not to use the right most lane: Saw dogs running across the road multiple times. Also, expressway is the favorite place for locals to take a morning walk. Though they mostly keep to the edges, it is nevertheless dangerous considering the speeds at which people are driving.
4. Restrooms are very average and only going to get worse. No better than what you would find at a petrol pump. The stops on old NH-8 are much cleaner.

Signing off with the trip summary:

[abhishekjoshi84]

Originally Posted by Totoro11

Trip Update- Beyond Dausa

Took the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway to the last accessible point on Saturday while on the way to MP via Kota.

Hey where in MP did you travel to? I am traveling with family from Hyderabad to Ujjain (via Nagpur) and then Ujjain to Delhi in May/June. Was trying to figure out which route I should take.
Ujjain-Kota--Lalsot-Delhi or the route through Gwalior-Agra. I prefer driving on divided 4-lanes even if it's a bit longer hence was leaning towards Gwalior route as DME won't open in MP stretch by summer. Appreciate your inputs.

[Totoro11]

Originally Posted by abhishekjoshi84

Hey where in MP did you travel to? Was trying to figure out which route I should take.
Ujjain-Kota--Lalsot-Delhi or the route through Gwalior-Agra. I prefer driving on divided 4-lanes even if it's a bit longer hence was leaning towards Gwalior route as DME won't open in MP stretch by summer. Appreciate your inputs.

I went to Gandhisagar dam on Chambal river and from there to Bhopal and Ujjain.

If you take Ujjain-Kota, you will have to suffer undivided roads till you reach NH52. Road quality of the state highway in MP is bad, improves slightly once you enter Rajasthan.

I would recommend taking the Biaora-Gwalior-Agra route.

[abhishekjoshi84]

Originally Posted by Totoro11

If you take Ujjain-Kota, you will have to suffer undivided roads till you reach NH52. Road quality of the state highway in MP is bad, improves slightly once you enter Rajasthan.

Thanks, this is what I was leaning towards as well. Gwalior route might take additional 1-1.5 hours but it's all the way 4/6 lanes. Ujjain till Jhalawar is still 2 lanes .lstly (30kms done 4 lane recently), it may take less time but will be more tiring I guess.

[pf007]

Originally Posted by abhishekjoshi84

Thanks, this is what I was leaning towards as well. Gwalior route might take additional 1-1.5 hours but it's all the way 4/6 lanes. Ujjain till Jhalawar is still 2 lanes .lstly (30kms done 4 lane recently), it may take less time but will be more tiring I guess.

Ujjain - Kota - Niwai - Delhi.

Came yesterday through this mode, pls if you need more details.

Don't miss the unparalleled spurge of excitement driving on the NE4 before it gets crowded.

[bimal_67]

Originally Posted by pf007

Ujjain - Kota - Niwai - Delhi.

Came yesterday through this mode, pls if you need more details.

Thanks for the update. This partially answers my question posted earlier (link attached) about road condition.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post5517016 (Delhi - Shirdi - Delhi : Route Queries)

How many hours did you take from Ujjain to Delhi?

Planning to take the Ujjain - Indore Road without going through Dewas. Any input on Ujjain to Indore road condition?

[Totoro11]

Originally Posted by bimal_67

Planning to take the Ujjain - Indore Road without going through Dewas. Any input on Ujjain to Indore road condition?

Ujjain to Indore is now a 4-lane divided road with Toll. It is in good condition and you can reach outskirts of Indore in max 45mins. If you want to avoid local traffic in Indore and head towards Agra-Bombay Road, there is a bypass near Aurobindo Hospital. Timing is important as there will be bike traffic of the villages en route after 8am.

Curious to know, do you want to head to Delhi from Ujjain? If so, you can go via Maksi-Shajapur-Biaora, no need to go to Indore or dewas.

[bimal_67]

Ujjain to Indore is now a 4-lane divided road …….. a bypass near Aurobindo Hospital.

Thank you for the input. Expecting to be entering Indore (to reach Vijaya Nagar) after 1800hrs.

Curious to know ….. no need to go to Indore or dewas.

The planned trip is Delhi-Indore-Shirdi as mentioned in my previous post. Wanted to try out the new NE4 and since I am staying nearer to Gurgaon, decided to take the Kota-Ujjain route to Indore.

Any input on Indore -Delhi travel time through this route is welcome.

[pf007]

Originally Posted by bimal_67

Planning to take the Ujjain - Indore Road without going through Dewas. Any input on Ujjain to Indore road condition?

Its not a highway, its like driving on a city ring road with continuous traffic.

[iamitp]

Planning on driving to Jaipur next weekend from Delhi with my girlfriend. Had been following this thread for a while to see how the wayside amenities have come along. Sadly, will have to stick to the old NH8 after reading the state of washrooms on this NE.

The paradox of wayside amenities like restaurants and washrooms is that they are much better on non access controlled NHs as private players have a better incentive to draw in customers. NHAI is content building barebones facilities. Due to which many commuters with families and women will stay away. And this is why not many private players will setup large dhabas due to low demand.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by iamitp

Planning on driving to Jaipur next weekend from Delhi with my girlfriend. Had been following this thread for a while to see how the wayside amenities have come along. Sadly, will have to stick to the old NH8 after reading the state of washrooms on this NE.

Honestly, you don’t really need anything much on this expressway. You reach Jaipur in 3-3.5 hours. Surely, you can manage that much.

That being said, there are plenty of dhabas and restaurants on the Dausa-Jaipur stretch.

I will not recommend the old NH8 to anyone. A food stop is no reason to suffer through an extra 3 hours of travel time on a broken, battered and yet heavily tolled road.

[iamitp]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Honestly, you don’t really need anything much on this expressway. You reach Jaipur in 3-3.5 hours. Surely, you can manage that much.
That being said, there are plenty of dhabas and restaurants on the Dausa-Jaipur stretch.

I would be Okay TBH, but my partner would need a clean well-maintained washroom. Asking her to hold for 3.5 hours is the only reason I am skeptical about the new NE.

I see that there is a Highway King in Dausa at the NE exit. What is the last proper large dhaba before entering the NE?

[iamitp]

Originally Posted by iamitp

I would be Okay TBH, but my partner would need a clean well-maintained washroom. Asking her to hold for 3.5 hours is the only reason I am skeptical about the new NE.

I see that there is a Highway King in Dausa at the NE exit. What is the last proper large dhaba before entering the NE?

Did a recce drive to the NE entry point at Sohna this weekend. Sadly no reasonable eating options at wee hours after exiting NH8. Airia Mall, a few minutes before NE entry point, would be a decent option post 11 AM.

[iamitp]

So I did end up taking the NE4 from Delhi to Jaipur and back. Here are some observations:

1. The link from NH8 is very smooth with the newly built Sohna Road flyover. We used the restroom at Ambience Mall just as we entered Gurgaon. Another option would be 32nd Milestones. This was at 8 AM.

2. The toll plazas are huge so traffic moves fast. Toll paid - Rs. 615 one way.

3. The expressway surface is great to drive on, and barring 1 patch of work and half a dozen undulations, one can cruise at 120 KMPH all the way across. We did 111 KMPH and my Creta DCT clocked a mileage of about 17 KMPL.

4. Almost all the washrooms and rest facilities on the Haryana side an unoperational. Once you cross over to Rajasthan, there is an operational R&R every half an hour or so. Very basic food facilities (we didn't eat) and dirty washrooms (insects, some had no power, overflowing water, pads on the floor etc) - maintained by the IOCL dealers. Hope IOCL or MoP&NG/MoRTH takes notice and pulls up the dealer or TM in charge.

5. The link road (Agra-Dausa road) from NE4 exit to Jaipur Ring Road is where traffic slows down, as the road passes through plenty of population. Saw at least 3 mobile speed checks by Raj trafiic police, so do lookout for the scant spee signs and stick to the conservative side. Didn't see any speed-checks on the return journey though.

[abhishekjoshi84]

Alright folks, latest update on DME progress are out. You can find official status report below:

http://nhai.gov.in/nhai/sites/defaul...-Mar-23_v1.pdf

Here arey observations comparing from previous report (dated 30th Dec).

1. Work from Lalsot till Sawai Madhopur is completed. Package numbers 10, 14, 15 in Rajasthan are now showing target completion as 31st March 2024. So these seem to have been delayed.

2. Out of 245 KMS acorss 9 packages in MP, 7 are complete, 2 packages showing completion date as 30th April.

3. 6 packages from MP border till Vadodra in Gujrat have their target dates pushed by 3 months to 30 June 2024.

4. Most packages in Vadodra to MH border section have been pushed to 30 June 2024. Two packages which were targeted for 31st Dec 2024 have been advanced to finish in June 2024 as well.

5. All packages in Maharashtra have bee set to 30th June 2024 target as well.

It seems the target to finish end to end is June 2024 now. It may get pushed out further if any delays, however I hope they can finish it in 2024.

Also waiting for them to take a call on opening traffic from Lalsot to Sawai Madhopur and full 245 KM section in MP which is completed. It would be disappointing if they keep that section closed for another 1 year because of ongoing work in Rajasthan and Gujrat packages. 245 km is a good distance and they can recover good amount of money in toll in 1 year. Also, I am not sure if roads will stay in top shape if not used at all for 1-1.5 years.