Mind Blogging. Mind Boggling.

Yesterday was my 2nd time on the spanking new Mysore - Bangalore expressway. In addition , last October, I had driven on the partially completed version, so it's satisfying to be part of the journey (of the journey). 

It's an enjoyable ride. 3 lanes on each side with the road surface shiny and smooth. The skeptic might sandpaper that gloss by attributing it to the newness of the road, but it has been through one monsoon and the surface has survived that. The entry and exit toll plazas look grand, the tool booths domed by cream-colored conical structures like those atop Cricket stadium stands. Thankfully there are clear lane markings, for navigating such a wide road at high speeds is impossible without those. There are very few entries and exits to the expressway, which reduces interruptions from vehicles entering or exiting. The other aspect that enables high speed travel is that 2 wheelers and 3 wheelers are not allowed. Now the owners of Cruisers and Speed bikes (like K) might bristle at that statement, but they have to accept that the median 2-wheeler on the streets of the country is unlikely to hold 100+ speeds. The downside of this is that a vast majority of the citizens cannot access this road. The expressway enables one to bypass the towns of Ramanagaram (mountains and Sholay shooting site), Channapatna (hub of traditional toys and home to S), Maddur (home of the Maddur vadas), Mandya (sugar city- lot of Sugarcane) and Srirangapatna (site of the Kaveri trail run, our destination yesterday)

The goodness of the road is justified by us hitting 150 kmph yesterday with T at the wheel, while not realizing for quite some time that we were at that landmark speed. The car alarm starts continuously beeping at 120, but then over the course of the ride you get to ignore it to some extent. 120 is a speed limit, and seems like a logical limit to have (unlike the 80 which I've seen on some highways). Thankfully this blog is not popular enough that some Karnataka Transport official reads this post and enraged, finds out my Vehicle number and promptly dispatches a challan, adding a link to challan in the Blog comments. The expressway got inaugurated in March, and the new car came in June- so nice co-incidence there. The Red-Venue, aka Revenue, drew compliments from T who found it holding up well beyond 120 kmph, and N for its boot space. Oh important point to note: Yesterday, T was the revenue-driver.  

One challenge on the road is that vehicles don't respect the fast-lane slow-lane logic. In fact, I don't even think there is an effort from the powers that be to inculcate this habit, because I did not see any communication about it on the roadside information displays. Ideally, slow traffic (eg: lorries) should ride on the leftmost lanes, and fast (close to 120) should ride on the rightmost lane. This will reduce stress on drivers, and accidents. Currently, due to non adherence or non existence of fast-lane slow-lane logic, there are lot of perilous lane switches at high speed. As the number of the such quality highways grow in India, speeds of vehicles will increase, and therefore implementing this logic becomes critical to road safety.     

The road, at a height of 10 odd meters for most of the trip, overlooks green fields, mainly paddy and  sugarcane, on both sides. Both water intensive crops are fed by the Kaveri river, which runs through Srirangapatna, and many canals emanate from it. No wonder the Mandya district is at the heart of the Cauvery agitations, which led to two bandhs just a month ago. We make close contact with the Kaveri during our hotel stay beside the river, and further during our trail that ran along a canal. 

The most beautiful spot on the expressway for me is near Ramanagara, when huge monolith rocks loom on both sides of the road. The road rises, and we see the sky in front, framed by the monoliths on either side. To the left and right is the greenery of forest and farms. The green vegetation, brown-black rocks and blue sky dotted with white clouds, with the grey road cutting through, makes for an alluring sight. This is further beautified if the sun is setting, when the sky develops hues of pink and orange. Nothing like a big panaromic view imbued with many natural colors, to make the heart soar!       

One section that saddens not gladdens, is when you clearly see the walls of cut rock on both sides. The natural landscape has been demolished to make way for this road. Another downside has been that many restaurants dotting the older National Highway have seen business plummet, with commuters preferring to zip through the expressway. Scant compensation to the thousands employed along the highway, but there is one restaurant that has benefited immensely. Kadamba Veg is located in the half-km stretch after the NICE road exit to Kengeri and before the start of the expressway. Bengalureans heading towards Mysore, esepcially from Eastern and Northern parts of the city, will wipe their brow after getting out of the city through Nice road and would like a small break before entering the expressway. Kadamba veg is located at that exact spot, and no wonder we had difficulty in finding a parking spot. We eventually did, and enjoyed a hot cuppa tea /coffee. 

The Bengaluru-Chennai expressway is coming up next. Apparently Bengaluru Hyderabad highway, which I already heard praises of, is also getting an upgrade to 6-lane. The transition periods of road construction will be painful, as I heard from T and S, who recently drove to Chennai. Hoping to experience those completed roads sometime soon.  

# posted by Ashwin Ravikumar @ 10:13 AM