BM Expressway: No more comfort zone for Coastal travellers

Bengaluru: The good old Shiradi Ghat roads will continue to be the favourite route to reach Mangaluru from Bengaluru or vice versa, despite all the hardships of travelling through pothole-ridden, curvy, and eternally under-repair roads. But when the Maani-Mysuru state highway was upgraded to a national highway 275 as a part of the Bengaluru-Mangaluru Economic Corridor (Via Yelawal EC 34) there was hope for the travellers to have a safer alternative to Shiradi in the new BM Expressway.

The route is 32 kilometres longer to Bengaluru than the beaten Shiradi Ghat route. But the Sampaje ghat roads used to be quite a pleasurable drive for motorists before they hit the Madikeri Mysuru road and took a shortcut to the Mysuru- Bengaluru highway at Yelawal, 12 kilometres from Mysuru city. But after BM Expressway was opened in April 2023 the motorists from Mangaluru to Bengaluru did not mind going that 32 kilometers extra as the new highway looked promising, and they covered the time with more speed.

According to a survey made by the Road transport department before the new BM Expressway was commissioned, there were 40,000 vehicles plying every month on this route it used to peak to upto 45,000 every quarter and more vehicles closer to Dasara holidays, out of this number nearly 20 per cent used to carry the Coastal licence plates like KA-19, KA-20, KA -21 and others.

Hardcore motorist Sudhir Hegde (a well-known hotelier) says travelling to Bengaluru via Mysuru had become such a pleasure as the road between Srirangapatna to Kengeri could be covered in just one hour twenty minutes as the road supports 130 kilometers per hour. I drove with my family twice on this road since it was opened for public use. The road is fine there is spots that are hazardous, but it is the driving habit and fitness of vehicles that I am afraid of. I have seen during my drive motorists drive like morons. No lane discipline, no awareness about keeping safe braking distance between the two vehicles or safe overtaking culture- this spooks me Hegde said.

Sources in Ramanagaram police station say that all the 21 accidents that happened since the opening of the road on the 119-kilometre stretch of the BM Expressway, were due to overspeeding, a lack of care, other motorists, and a nonchalant attitude towards the rules of high-speed zones.

Transport authority officials point out that the drivers themselves must know to respect the rules of the high speed zone and also keep their vehicles in good condition before entering the new generation of super highways such as BM Expressway. They must know that the modern generation vehicles can travel at 130 kilometres per hour effortlessly and if their vehicles cannot take that speed should move down to the lanes demarcated for slower movement. There is no shame in that.

The NHAI officials have confirmed that the BM Expressway is one of the finest highways built till now and in many ways it is better than the golden quadrilateral or the GT highways.