Indian Roads Thread

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 01 Aug 2008 15:19

When I read myown comment on the speed limit, I realized it came out stupid, and not what I meant.

The 80kmph is the maximum top speed limit that can be allowed on the best of a public road. The limits go down as the quality/capacity of the road goes down. Even if a roadway is capable of supporting 150kmph, still the legal limit can be only 80kmph.

The move to raise it to 100 is good.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 24 Aug 2008 10:49

Four expressways to be built

Four expressways covering of about 1,000 km would be built in the country, Union Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, KH Muniyappa, said today.

They expressways would be built between Bangalore-Chennai, Kolkata-Dhanbad, Delhi-Meerut, and Vadodara-Mumbai, Muniyappa told reporters.

He said alignment work by consultants with the use of satellite imagery was on and this process would be completed by year-end. Thereafter, feasibility report would be prepared.

The Union Cabinet has approved the expressway projects, which would be taken up on public-private-partnership model, he said.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 02 Sep 2008 08:32

If Blore-Chennai is a newer alignment how do they plan to recover the cost and maintenance of the existing NHAI one ? Does the traffic really warrant a brand new highway/expressway between the cities.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 02 Sep 2008 08:37

not just traffic but being a greenfield alignment will permit new industrial parks and more
efficient logistics from BLR industries. travel time to chennai being much reduced will
encourage more tourism.

the existing NHAI will still go through major industrial areas like Hosur and towns like krishnagiri
and vellore hence will not be lacking in traffic.

let us for once build a little bit extra than always aspiring for the lowest bar possible like BIAL
did. now BIAL claims will start work on 2nd terminal and runway next yr July and it will take 4 yrs.
in meantime a 18 month proj is on for a austere shed nearby to handle the extra load in passengers which was maxed out on day1.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 02 Sep 2008 09:05

Maybe the new alignment is along the old Madras road.

Are there good connections to the coast on the west for B'lore. The B'lore-M'lore highway was quite treacherous with lots of hairpins. They should look at alternatives like tunneling through the ghats to make the connectivity easier, which will open up the tourism sector to the coastal towns for the rich B'loreans to spend their wealth. M'lore was more connected to Mumbai in many ways than to B'lore in the old days. Now more so with the konkan raliways. The ghats are geologically easier to tunnel through compared to the himalayas.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 02 Sep 2008 11:50

Maybe the new alignment is along the old Madras road.

thats is possible. a town after hoskote is earmarked for a large manufacturing
SEZ. Hospet has many industries and traffic from Peenya and yeshwantpur can use it too.
Volvo has a plant after hoskote. its also close to airport.

Are there good connections to the coast on the west for B'lore. The B'lore-M'lore highway was quite treacherous with lots of hairpins.

No. the ghat road after sakleshpur somewhere enroute to Mangalore was damaged badly by
rain and oil trucks and was closed for repairs a few weeks this year. from BLR->Kerala
wayanad distt -> Kozhikode appears to be a single road from Mysore -> nanjangud -> gundlapet -> outskirts of nagarhole -> sultan bathery -> kalpetta -> vythiri -> descend from the ghats. in Kerala the road is not fit for heavy truck traffic and the terrain is highly forested and hilly. heavy rains make big potholes.

via Ooty there may be some other road to enter central Kerala surely?

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 02 Sep 2008 21:38

I took the NH47 via Coimbatore to Ooty from kerala. Decent roads too from Coimbatore all the way to Ooty outskirts. The town itself had very very bad roads. My village roads in kerala are better quality and tarred to boot, including the pocket roads as they call them there.

Currently, from Kerala to B'lore is via Palghat gap and Salem. A little roundabout way due to the high mountains bordering the tri-state region. If they can build a super-duper expressway to M'lore from B'lore then the route via M'lore will be an added option to get from the western coastal towns to the mecca of techies.

With the new naval base at Karwar good connectivity to the western Karnataka coast will always be helpful.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 02 Sep 2008 22:20

4 laning of blr (neelamangala) -- hassan stretch is ongoing. but that stretch was decent even
before. the ghat sections are after hassan and sakleshpur.

anyway masha-allah, once the 4 laning is done driving to chikmagalur, halebid, shravanabelagola
will be a attractive idea.

amitmas · Post by **amitmas** » 03 Sep 2008 13:16

Hi, does anyone (Specially folks at LCA Land) know the status of the railway bridge and road improvement being made to connect Marathalli area to Brokefield. Last I saw it was half made and traffic at that stretch was miserable.
Also how has the shifting of the Airport affected Airport Road has it improved or still bad?

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 03 Sep 2008 17:08

via Ooty there may be some other road to enter central Kerala surely?

There is one road via Nilambur and another via Sultan Battery. The wikimapia and mapmyindia looks incorrect. The NH212 is the road via S. Battery. The one via Nilambur goes through the bandipur sancutary. Wiki and MMI shows the latter as NH 212

I used to travel to Nanjangud long time ago. Used to take either the Trichur-Nilambur-Guldlupet route or Coimbatore-Sathy-Chamarajanagara route.

Sriram · Post by **Sriram** » 26 Sep 2008 22:36

Fast Lane to the Future - National Geography
A new superhighway linking its four major cities is bringing old and new India into jarring proximity.
Photo Gallery

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 16 Oct 2008 17:50

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct ... 595441.asp

Is it about being expensive or having to build bad quality roads, and money made by the contractors... this corruption gotten only hi-tech now.

People would pay toll only to good roads and facilities, that includes good lane principles, and helps reach destination in time. Roads logic in India needs only madraasa education.. especially in KA., and south india. Recently, my trip to SI, was filled with potholes and construction including the golden routes. pathetic is the only word.. and it remains so, year after year due to high corruptions.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 05 Nov 2008 06:48

60 Highway Projects to move faster

Now the Road Ministry is keen to award these projects without any further delay. “We expect to complete the financial bidding process for 60 projects (which include some projects being implemented by the Ministry of Roads) by December 2008. If all goes well, we should be able to award the projects to successful bidders soon,” Mr Brahm Dutt, Secretary, Department of Road Transport, told Business Line.

This includes four-laning of 4,450 km of highways, six-laning of 1,410 km of highways and 598 km of four- and six-laning projects.

Meanwhile, the liquidity crunch appears to have started taking its toll on the highway projects, with NHAI not receiving any response from bidders for projects that were otherwise considered attractive, said sources in the know. The last date for receiving financial bids for NHAI’s projects are slotted from mid-November to December 31. {The global financial crisis taking its toll}

rachel · Post by **rachel** » 10 Nov 2008 10:12

India has missed the boat on building expressways. The BJP govt had achieved rapid progress, then this cr))ppy Islamist regime came into power and it all slowed to a crawl. It slowed to a crawl even tho the BJP-induced economic boom continued.. now the world is plunging into recession and it is too late.

Congress and all non-BJP rulers ... I don't care what criticism I receive for saying this, but IMHO even firing squad or hanging is far far too generous for these traitors.

India will never progress unless there is 50 years of solid uninterrupted Hindu nationalist rule. NO stupid coalition either.. pure hardline Hindu nationalists. For 50 years straight.

vsudhir · Post by **vsudhir** » 10 Nov 2008 16:58

Rachel

India will never progress unless there is 50 years of solid uninterrupted Hindu nationalist rule. NO stupid coalition either.. pure hardline Hindu nationalists. For 50 years straight.

I would omit the 'Hindu' part zimbly coz it causes more confusion, diverts attn from the core point you are making, adds little of value to a 'improve governance and no-nonsense development implementation' stand and is otherwise totally avoidable.

I would prefer to see a nationalist GoI, doesn't matter whether they swear by saffron or not. Ideally I would like the entire debate to shift rightwards - for the INC to be where BJP is today (the guj state unit iof the INC has done that to survuve in Guj) and the BJP to head towards where the gujrat BJP is today. It is the leftwards tilt in other 'secular' parties that bothers me.

IMVVHOs onlee.

kunal anand · Post by **kunal anand** » 11 Nov 2008 20:34

Rachel,
It was not BJP induced but MMS, PVNR induced economic boom in 1991. Don't forget this crappy 'islamist govt.' was in power when India fought 3 major wars with pakistan and won. It is because of this 'islamist' govt. that India is considered perhaps one of very few credible secular countries in developing world.
I am not siding with one govt. or the other. Each i think to certain degree will have some sincere politicians working for the betterment of country and many others who have got their own agendas to pursue.

SandeepA · Post by **SandeepA** » 11 Nov 2008 21:26

One of the time -tested solutions to beating recession is to invest in huge infrastructure projects to pump money back into the economy. Eisenhower did it for Unkil, China is planning to do it..if India does that now we can kill 2 birds with one shot. Ofcourse as Rachel said the present GoI may not have the stomach or will to do it but the bus isnt missed yet IMHO.

Dmurphy · Post by **Dmurphy** » 11 Nov 2008 21:45

Try and beat this.
Worli worriessea-link users

MUMBAI: The Bandra-Worli Sea-Link looks all set to be commissioned on schedule, by 31 January next year, but don't look forward to cutting down

travel time between the island city and the western suburbs by too much.
For, you may zip down from Bandra to Worli at a speed more than the local train's but will hit the mother of all speedbreakers once the sea-link disgorges you at Worli.

The plans to give you a smooth drive after you have got off the sea-link on the Worli end have gone for a six. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation has been planning to commission two steel decks - assembled flyovers - for cars near Pratiksha (where the sea-link hits Khan Abdul Ghaffar Road) and at the Thadani Junction (where the road from Worli Naka meets KAGK Road) but officials say they do not look like happening any time soon. The decks, which would have helped south-bound cars get off the sea-link and northbound cars get on to the link, have to wait for clearance from the Union ministry of environment and forests.

So, in the absence of these two assembled flyovers, southbound cars headed for the island city will first have to travel north for a couple of kilometres and then turn south via Love Grove Junction and Atria Mall. Besides the obvious detour, cars from the sealink will have to compete with others for space on the roads that will be narrower than the sea-link.

Officials now feel the detour will end up making a mockery of the whole purpose behind the Bandra-Worli Sea-Link.

It is not that MSRDC officials do not know what they are up against. They have worked out an alternative plan - involving creating a rotary at the turn that leads to Love Grove Junction, narrowing the garden under the flyover to widen the road and decimating the footpath near Atria for the same purpose - but experts say you should not expect the alternative plan to make as much of a difference as the original plan. Officials say you will then have to wait for the completion of the Western Free Way - between Worli and Nariman Point via Haji ali - for a smooth drive between the island city and the western suburbs.

The MSRDC has thought of another "solution' ' - create a branch of the existing flyover at Love Grove Junction - but this may add to the problems; this "solution' ' will force civic and traffic authorities to install an extra signal on the flyover and ensure that traffic cops are present round-the-clock .

"It's a fundamental error and a mess is inevitable. Our planners are responsible and they show no accountability in planning,'' traffic expert Ashok Datar said, terming the "solution' ' of creating an offshoot from the existing flyover at Love Grove "short-term''.

Residents of the area, too, are apprehensive of what's in store. Courier agency proprietor Bijendu Ghosh recalled how a bus, waiting for less than two minutes in front of Atria, was enough to cause a huge jam on the narrow road recently. Another resident of the area, Vinay Shinde, said such scenes were already common during peak hours without any "help' ' from the sea-link.

And its supposed to be the symbol of new age India! Quite frustratingly so, the Govt just needs the picture of a completed sea link to harp on for the polls. Who cares what the link culminates into in the end? These 'developments' happening in M'rashta are all eyewashes.

rachel · Post by **rachel** » 13 Nov 2008 05:32

Please, stick to the thread topic.

Rishirishi · Post by **Rishirishi** » 13 Nov 2008 06:38

Dmurphy wrote:Try and beat this.
Worli worriessea-link users

MUMBAI: The Bandra-Worli Sea-Link looks all set to be commissioned on schedule, by 31 January next year, but don't look forward to cutting down

travel time between the island city and the western suburbs by too much.
For, you may zip down from Bandra to Worli at a speed more than the local train's but will hit the mother of all speedbreakers once the sea-link disgorges you at Worli.

The plans to give you a smooth drive after you have got off the sea-link on the Worli end have gone for a six. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation has been planning to commission two steel decks - assembled flyovers - for cars near Pratiksha (where the sea-link hits Khan Abdul Ghaffar Road) and at the Thadani Junction (where the road from Worli Naka meets KAGK Road) but officials say they do not look like happening any time soon. The decks, which would have helped south-bound cars get off the sea-link and northbound cars get on to the link, have to wait for clearance from the Union ministry of environment and forests.

So, in the absence of these two assembled flyovers, southbound cars headed for the island city will first have to travel north for a couple of kilometres and then turn south via Love Grove Junction and Atria Mall. Besides the obvious detour, cars from the sealink will have to compete with others for space on the roads that will be narrower than the sea-link.

Officials now feel the detour will end up making a mockery of the whole purpose behind the Bandra-Worli Sea-Link.

It is not that MSRDC officials do not know what they are up against. They have worked out an alternative plan - involving creating a rotary at the turn that leads to Love Grove Junction, narrowing the garden under the flyover to widen the road and decimating the footpath near Atria for the same purpose - but experts say you should not expect the alternative plan to make as much of a difference as the original plan. Officials say you will then have to wait for the completion of the Western Free Way - between Worli and Nariman Point via Haji ali - for a smooth drive between the island city and the western suburbs.

The MSRDC has thought of another "solution' ' - create a branch of the existing flyover at Love Grove Junction - but this may add to the problems; this "solution' ' will force civic and traffic authorities to install an extra signal on the flyover and ensure that traffic cops are present round-the-clock .

"It's a fundamental error and a mess is inevitable. Our planners are responsible and they show no accountability in planning,'' traffic expert Ashok Datar said, terming the "solution' ' of creating an offshoot from the existing flyover at Love Grove "short-term''.

Residents of the area, too, are apprehensive of what's in store. Courier agency proprietor Bijendu Ghosh recalled how a bus, waiting for less than two minutes in front of Atria, was enough to cause a huge jam on the narrow road recently. Another resident of the area, Vinay Shinde, said such scenes were already common during peak hours without any "help' ' from the sea-link.

And its supposed to be the symbol of new age India! Quite frustratingly so, the Govt just needs the picture of a completed sea link to harp on for the polls. Who cares what the link culminates into in the end? These 'developments' happening in M'rashta are all eyewashes.

Building more roads in Mumbai just wont work. There is too little space and any improvement is going to lead to a traffic jam somewhere else. The only way forwad is investing in a good metro system and exclusive bus lanes.

AmitNangia · Post by **AmitNangia** » 16 Nov 2008 13:03

The 1st phase of the Outer Ring Road from Gachibowli to Hyderabad's new airport in Shamshabad was innaugurated on the 14th of November. I happened to take a ride on it today. It is a 25 odd KM stretch, and we were able to negotiate it in just about half an hour. It is still not completely done, and there are several stretches where you haveto take diversions. Signage is just about average, and was actually a bit misleading at one place. Only one carriageway has been opened at this point, and there is still a lot of work to be done before it is complete. It would still be very unsafe to negotiate this road at night due to the complete absence of streetlights, reflectors, and the abrupt diversions off the main road.

However, the road is shaping up very well, and cuts through beautiful countryside while preserving the natural terrain. The rocks and lakes along the way indeed paint a very pretty picture. I thoroughly enjoyed the drive, and I could picture the tremendous growth and development likely to take place along this corridor over the next decade and beyond.

P.S. Wish I had taken some pics! Will do so next time.

vsudhir · Post by **vsudhir** » 24 Nov 2008 20:14

Highway to nowhere

The NH program is floundering bigtime onlee. Sad state of affairs.

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 14 Dec 2008 08:47

Have to hand it to Unkil...when it comes to safety, they are very meticulous...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28179849/

Fewer people dying in traffic accidents
Motor-vehicle fatality count this year projected to be lowest on record

there is a lot we can learn from this and replicate in our own roads/expressways...

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 14 Dec 2008 21:23

pandyan wrote:gas price played a big role. during one particular month, americans drove 2 Billion Miles less compared to previous year. driving less mean fewer accidents.

My thoughts were on the same lines too, but still we cannot discount the safety measures in place completely. The processes and implementations of their safety policy have matured well, lots for us to learn from...

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 14 Dec 2008 21:28

vsudhir wrote:Highway to nowhere

The NH program is floundering bigtime onlee. Sad state of affairs.

Looking forward to the CAG whoooping their sorry A$$. I think that shud bring the Babus to their senses...

Anabhaya · Post by **Anabhaya** » 28 Dec 2008 20:54

Yogi_G wrote:
vsudhir wrote:Highway to nowhere

The NH program is floundering bigtime onlee. Sad state of affairs.
Looking forward to the CAG whoooping their sorry A$$. I think that shud bring the Babus to their senses...

The DMK goons can survive all measures and still manage to rip off the country.

Div · Post by **Div** » 29 Dec 2008 02:40

Pic of NH-8 between Delhi and Gurgaon

CalvinH · Post by **CalvinH** » 29 Dec 2008 05:52

Kundli Manesar Palwal expressway

This one actually got a go ahead and work has already begun in. Its a 6 Lane, 136 KM expressway which will bypass Delhi. Scheduled to complete by the end of 2009. A lot of development is planned around this highway.

Edit: Link should work now

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 29 Dec 2008 10:46

CalvinH wrote:Kundli Manesar Palwal expressway

This one actually got a go ahead and work has already begun in. Its a 6 Lane, 136 KM expressway which will bypass Delhi. Scheduled to complete by the end of 2009. A lot of development is planned around this highway.

Calvin, the link appears broken...

saip · Post by **saip** » 29 Dec 2008 17:42

Div wrote:Pic of NH-8 between Delhi and Gurgaon

The highway looks great but look at the drivers, driving in two lanes without a concern or care. Is there ANY enforcement on indian roads?

CalvinH · Post by **CalvinH** » 29 Dec 2008 20:37

No enforcement for driving in lane. In our roads you can pretty much drive anywhere without bothering about the lane markings

. This usually has better throughput given the heterogenous nature of traffic on Indian roads. JMT.

jkarthik · Post by **jkarthik** » 04 Feb 2009 10:34

That this thread has fallen off the first page itself indicates how wonderful the current government's delivery has been on infra! In these gloomy times, thought I would bring some cheer by restarting the infra and roads updates that I used to deliver in the hoary past, based on on-the-ground observations

1) The flyover at the Mumbai domestic airport / Sahara Star junction is now complete (in both directions). As in other recent mumbai flyovers, prefabricated concrete elements have been used for improving its aesthetics. The individual elements look good, though mismatches in laying them mar the effect somewhat.

2) Dindoshi flyover doubling is also over( this is somewhat dated news) and also, the road connecting Goregaon East to West now is extended to directly meet the highway (used to be a terrible bottleneck in the past as we had to drive through a mini Bdesh to get to the highway)

3) The old Mumbai Pune highway now operates as a 200 ft road from Nigadi to Dapodi in Pune, with a 4 lane expressway section in the center, and 5 lanes totally in the 2 service roads put together. This has been superbly executed, with the road design being really effective in its ability to maintain smooth, signal free flow. Aesthetics have also been done very well

4) Flyover system on Aundh road also completed and works very well. Understand the stretch from airport to Hinjewadi runs very smooth now, but did not experience it in my recent visit to Pune, so, will reserve comment

5) The surfacing quality on Sion Panvel road has also improved substantially, did not encounter any pothole in my drive on this, which is a far cry from 1 year ago

6) The interchange at Kathipara junction in chennai is finally fully open, as is the flyover opposite the airport. Still half complete in terms of finishing and aesthetics, but fully functional, looks like the "dhalapathi" is pushing hard to show some progress on infra for the crisis-hit TN govt.

7) The newly laid green dividers in most chennai roads are starting to become effective, with the plants growing. Unfortunately, the old, beautiful divider on Mount road has dried up in the stretch from Nandanam to Guindy, and appears very patchy - lay the blame on every political party that has brutally dug it up to plant their flagpoles whenever their fatcat bosses land up

Work has taken off rapidly at Cenotaph road intersection for the new flyover, with cable and pipeline shifting moving quickly

As an aside, surprised to note that the no of posts made by me has dropped back to 42, from the 100+, feels odd to be a trainee after 7-8 years in BRF!

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 04 Feb 2009 15:54

jkarthik wrote: 6) The interchange at Kathipara junction in chennai is finally fully open, as is the flyover opposite the airport. Still half complete in terms of finishing and aesthetics, but fully functional, looks like the "dhalapathi" is pushing hard to show some progress on infra for the crisis-hit TN govt.

Karthik, both Kathipara interchange & Airport flyover are functional but a lot of work remains to be done, as you said. The roads below the flyover have not been laid properly. The space below both the structures is left undone and looks an eyesore. The Kathipara interchange, at least on the Guindy exit ramp, has both sides of the road dugup at regular intervals as though somebody wanted to setup poles, a bane of Madras thanks to the Dravidian parties that indiscriminately dig up roads to put up party flag poles. More worrying is that it seems that no worker seems to be working at these two sites nowadays. It is normally a Chennai trait that the work is never completely done; somehow, they feel satisfied when it is three-quarters complete and the remaining work never gets completed. The NHAI is also bitten by this local bug, it seems.

Work has taken off rapidly at Cenotaph road intersection for the new flyover, with cable and pipeline shifting moving quickly

The deadline given to Gammon India that is executing this project is 9 months. However, there are still niggling legal issues to be tied up, I understand. This is a particularly heavy traffic stretch whose closure will mean a long detour for people working in the IT corridor and coming from West Chennai.

As an aside, surprised to note that the no of posts made by me has dropped back to 42, from the 100+, feels odd to be a trainee after 7-8 years in BRF!

Pruning takes place frequently as threads and old posts are deleted, the post count will go down.

jkarthik · Post by **jkarthik** » 05 Feb 2009 09:25

Thanks, SSridhar, makes sense.

Another update - Per DNA and ToI this morning, RelInfra-Hyundai shortlisted for the Worli-Haji-Ali section of Sea Link (Phase 2) - they came in at half the price of what HCC consortium offered - 1260 cr vs 2400 cr. In addition, I believe the bidder for this phase has to buy Phase 1 as well, for some 4k crore, for a 40 year concession.

GoI is seriously overexposing itself to Anilbhai - 3 UMPPs, 100 story tower at Hyd, Metro and now this, + Anilbhai's own investment in GSM. Hopefully, there's enough cash flowing around between Anilbhai and cronies to stay afloat.

BTW, just checked out the point where Phase 1 of sealink joins Worli and it is a disaster waiting to happen. the 8 lane expressway whittles down to 4 lanes abruptly, turns nearly 90 degrees, and joins again at 90 degree angle to another 4 lane road, with a signal. Expect chaos at this junction when it starts functioning.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 Feb 2009 09:34

travelling on the outskirts of chennai via adyar to mahabalipuram I found the roads and localities significantly dirtier than similar places in blr.
is it lack of strong municipality or just unruly people?

also if the adyar road that goes near the TIDEL park and joins the ECR is the main road towards puduchery it has too many turns, chokepoints and signals....can bear a direct link from somewhere near TIDEL to ECR.

vina · Post by **vina** » 05 Feb 2009 10:37

Oh, that Madras vs Bangalore thing is a historical fact. The area on the other side of the "canal" at Adayar, across from the Madhya Kailash junction (where the road goes off from Sardar Patel Rd, toward Tidel park) , off the main road is "a project" basically a massive slum. If you drove through that part, you get to see it upclose.

But that apart, the basic quality of housing stock in Chennai is abysmally poor , especially when compared to Bangalore. You will not be able to get a halfway decent apartment in most localities in Chennai (other than maybe the OMR developments) which have any decent facility worth it's name like the one you live in Koramangala. You will end up paying lot more for a crappy apt with far fewer facilities, much poorer fit and finish.

Historically in Chennai sidewalks become road site shacks/stores long ago, after the DMK came to power way back in the 60s. That is the reason you can spot a "native" chennaite anywhere. They simply NEVER walk on the sidewalks! . That habit carries on even when they go outside Chennai. Odds are, if you see a guy walking on the road, even if there is perfectly usable sidewalk, that guy is from Chennai!

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 05 Feb 2009 11:31

Here's the Kathipara interchange . Photo from the SSC India [Chennai] subforum. Chennai does in general look a lot different from 10 years back when I was there.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 05 Feb 2009 17:21

Talking of roads, Kerala road network seem to be the best. It has improved a lot in the past few years. The road trip from Mysore to Kerala via Gudalur-Nilambur route revealed some of the best roads I have travelled on in India. The rubberised Nilambur road with a steep gradient down the ghats was even better than the NHAI Krishnagiri-Hosur section I had been on in the summer of 2005. In Karnataka though, the roads are really bad. Once you leave Mysore towards Gudalur, the road gets really bad and one can hardly drive for large sections of it as one gets closer to the Bandipur National Park. Within the park it was good and smooth. Even spotted a herd of wild elephants on the way and other wildlife.

Even NH-47 in the Cochin-TVM sector was good barring a few bridge/overpass construction sites. The stretch from Kollam to TVM is smooth as butter. We made it Cochin from TVM in 3.5 hours during daytime driving. From Kodungallur to TVM on the way in was just 5 hours for 250 km passing through three towns driving in the evening hours. So overall I see a massive improvement in Kerala roads compared to a few years ago.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 05 Feb 2009 20:04

Bade wrote:Talking of roads, Kerala road network seem to be the best.

I guess TN Roads are not that bad either. We (me+SHQ, or me+friends) generally take either of the routes which you have mentioned. Due to various reasons, I now prefer the NH 7 via Tamil Nadu. The state roads especially in Mettur, Andiyur, Athani, Sathyamangalam are really good. With less traffic, you can go at a steady pace here. We have travelled on this route early in the morning as well as late in the evening. Early morning trips can avoid trucks which ply on NH7, and these state roads of Tamil Nadu would be pretty much empty. Night trips in NH7 becomes a bit slow atleast on the NH7 part because of slow moving trucks, and tourist buses coming at dangerous speeds. And I see NH7 is getting improved day by day, with road widening etc. happening at a quicker pace. If going via NH7 I start early morning, and managed to reach my home town in time for lunch.

The rubberised Nilambur road with a steep gradient down the ghats was even better than the NHAI Krishnagiri-Hosur section I had been on in the summer of 2005

Yes, that road is pretty much good. I feel even the ghat section roads(after Naadukani) are good, and once we enter Kerala territory it even becomes better. Generally we reach this point at around 12 midnight, and we manage to speed up on this sector. The road is all good till Nilambur.

In Karnataka though, the roads are really bad. Once you leave Mysore towards Gudalur, the road gets really bad

This is the primary reason I avoid the route now

. From Bangalore, we leave generally in the evenings and to Mysore the drive is pretty much okay. Four lane highway till Mysore, but we have to watch out for bullock carts, tractors which come out of no where on the wrong side of the road

. Also humps/speed breakers have been erected at all possible points in this four-lane highway so speed is very very restricted.

From Mysore (it would be pretty much dark at this time) the drive to Nanjangud and Gundlupet is just horrible. Bad roads, humps/speed breakers at all sorts of places with no warnings at all. In each and every trip we have jumped across such speed breakers. Add to it, vehicles moving (especially mopeds, scooters and tractors) with no indication. No break lights or some times head-lights

. I used to joke that Mysore district in Karnataka have got a different Motor Vehicle Act, which does not insist on break lights, head lights etc. From Gundlupet there is a stretch of road which takes you to Bandipur reserve forest. This road has been in a pathetic condition atleast for the past 2-3 years. Yet no signs of improving it

. Vehicle maintenance costs after these trips have been more (atleast for me), so now I pretty much insist on avoiding that route.

Within the park it was good and smooth. Even spotted a herd of wild elephants on the way and other wildlife.

True. Elephants (some of them babies), deers and wild buffaloes have been the common sightings for us.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 06 Feb 2009 02:50

Suraj wrote:Here's the Kathipara interchange . Photo from the SSC India [Chennai] subforum. Chennai does in general look a lot different from 10 years back when I was there.

Looks similar to the rig they have had for a long time at AIIMs/Safdurjung Hospital crossing in Dilli.