My recent 'Adventure Drive' on Samruddhi MahaMarg :
Recently I happened to visit Nagpur to attend a meeting and I preferred to take my
Škoda Octavia 1.8 TSI DSG AT as usual alongwith 3 of my friends. It was obviously a 'no brainer' decision to opt for Octavia over my 4x4 Yeti for this 1850 kms road trip via
Samruddhi Maha Marg.
Needless to say, a long drive on this newly built
Samruddhi Maha Marg was on my bucket list since long. So it was just like a dream come true moment for me.
We left Sangli early in the morning via
Solapur - Jalana route and opted to enter onto the SMM at
Nidhona Inter Change and it was our blunder mistake as the expansion joint we followed was full of potholes and craters, in fact making it difficult for any SUVs and we had a low sitting Sedan at our service.
Here's a compilation of some of my raw observations, narrated in tit-bits.
1. Towards Nagpur (Daytime journey)-
• Enjoyed the obviously uncontrolled, spirited driving experience in general
• Traffic wasn't much through out the journey on SMM
• No doubt, it's an Engineering masterpiece of course, in comparison with our own standards. Some maintenance work is still going on at places and you may come across the support vehicles of the Construction company.
• One of the best parts I liked about the SMM is that all the Toll plazas are primarily located on the Expansion joints i.e. on the entry/ exit points of the SMM. Thus, once you enter onto the EW, apperantly you won't encounter any obstacle that eats out your driving time and pleasure.
• However there had been minor undulations observed frequently
(Much needed IMO, rather to put slight check on over-speeding)
• Once entered onto the EW, revving up the engine becomes new normal and so adequate precaution needs to be taken as you may come across stray dogs anytime either sitting, standing or chasing each other on the otherwise wide, clear and straight roads.
• Scarcity of petrol bunks en-route is a downer at least for now (at one stage we were almost out of fuel, somehow managed to reach a bunk with last few drops)
• Google Maps misguided us once to take an exit for a Petrol bunk which was actually located on the service road itself. Just imagine, even after a yr of commissioning, the details of the outlet aren't updated properly with Google/ Maps.
• Strangely, we didn't encounter any interceptor SpeedCam however at the Final Exit point the toll booth attendant promptly cautioned us strictly to follow speed restrictions and not to overspeed sighting our entry/ exit timings.
• In fact, the very instance when the registration number of our car was captured in their system, a red alert light flashed along with a loud honk to vindicate our over speeding offence.
• Here, I can't disclose the drive data especially figures related to speed/ acceleration on any public forum.
• One intersting info I came to know is that if an over speeding vehicle is caught by an interceptor car at the toll plaza, the RTO officer immediately stops it and instead of imposing any monitory fines, doesn't allow to proceed further, holding it there at least for half to one hr depending upon the gravity of violation.
This could really be a practical yet highly effective kinda solution to monitor and tackle the over speeding cases, I guess.
2. Returning from Nagpur (Night time journey)-
• While driving back home, we deliberately preferred taking on overnight journey just to experience the difference and a part of our 'adventure' also.
• And yes, I do agree it's entirely a different story if compared to the unbelievably spirited driving in daytime.
• Literally too much use of vibrant Radium strips everywhere- on signages, lane margins, protective metal fencing etc has overkilled the purpose of safety precautions.
• And to spoil the things even more, the color theme of the Radium selected is illogical and horrible. The eyes get extra-strained while continuously negotiating the bright reflections that resemble LEDs only and focusing to identify the vehicles moving ahead becomes even more difficult.
• That's why I sense, this could be one of the major reasons behind the accidents observed on SMM during night time.
• Quite surprisingly, Truckers & Heavy vehicles use to observe lane discipline judiciously and also maintain normal speeds but they lack on any visible tale lights/ radium strips.
• Even at the stipulated speed of 100-120 kmpl, you need to focus strictly on the almost 'invisible' surprises moving ahead in moderate speed.
• Keeping reasonably safe distance from the heavy vehicles moving ahead needs to be strictly followed so as to avoid being hit suddenly by UFOs like rubber shreds especially from the remoulded tyres etc
• Usually you won't expect any intruders during late night drives on otherwise well protected/ fenced highways but still we came across 2 dogs crossing the entire width of SMM.
• To negotiate any such threats and surprises, a fully alert navigator in the passenger seat is always MUST for night driving on SMM.
• The menace of petrol bunk scarcity en-route continues on the other side also. While searching for a bunk, better to stay on SMM itself is advisable rather than just following the instructions in Google Maps.
• After some horrifying hrs of night driving on SMM, our journey on the
Jalana - Solapur - Miraj stretch out of the
Aurangabad - Ratnagiri highway was much easier task and finally the 1850 kms 'l o o ong' drive ended on a SAFE note at 4.30 am.
Statutory Warning : A perfect combination of 'Man & Machine' is required to take on challenges on Indian Roads.
And failing to upkeep any factor to the best possible condition may invite an untoward mishap anytime.
Finally, enjoy some pics we captured randomly en-route.
![Samruddhi Mahamarg: 701 km super expressway will connect Nagpur to Mumbai-img20230825wa012901.jpeg](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/street-experiences/2495612d1693054386t-samruddhi-mahamarg-701-km-super-expressway-will-connect-nagpur-mumbai-img20230825wa012901.jpeg)