Bangalore - Mysore Highway

There are very few highways in Western and Southern India, where I have not travelled more than once. Fewer have grown great with time and one of the most impressive growths is of Bangalore-Mysore highway, to the best of my knowledge, one of the most admired roads in Karnataka.

Importance

This road links two of the most important destinations in Karnataka, Bangalore and Mysore. It also passes through important towns of Mandiya, Srirangapatna and few more. Apart from government machineries and tourists, this road is very important for few large IT companies who have setups in both Bangalore and Mysore.

Some of the well knows tourist spots you can reach on and from this road are Brindavan garden, Ranganthitu bird Sanctuary, Srirangapatna, Ooty, bandipur forest, Wonderla and many more.

The Road

It is a well layered four lane road having good sign boards and road dividers all through the way. The time taken to reach Mysore from Bangalore is cut down to less than 3 hours (earlier it used to take anything between 5 to 6 hours).
As you travel through the road, what you see is lush green nature and rocky hills. Overtaking is also not an issue. Road dividers ensure safety from vehicles approaching from the opposite direction.

Driving here is pleasure though you cannot afford to relax much. What I fear most on speedy roads is presence of cyclist, bullock cart / tractors and people running across the road. All of them are very prevalent here. Also, you see many curves; I love them, as they don’t make me sit dull on steering wheel. Trust me you will really enjoy when you pass through them at sizzling speed, wait a minute, did I tell you driving too fast is dangerous here. Yes, you never know what comes in from where.

Though this is an excellent road but not up to the standards of Express Highways and probably GQ (Golden Quadrilateral). This road passes through most of villages and town on the way (there are no by-passes). You can cruse at 100 Kmph but ensure you slow down in 70s whenever you see anything or individual on road side.

Night driving is safe.You don’t really have to worry about high beams of vehicles approaching from opposite direction. But ensure precautions mentioned above (on speed).

There good number of restaurants and petrol pumps (fuel stations) on this road. You can often see police patrolling and emergency help line numbers on boards.

On the whole, it’s a great experience driving here and I enjoy my time on this drive. As as you know, it’s a passion I live for.