More on the Golden Quadrilateral...

You may think that the above is a picture of some highway in the US or maybe an Autobahn in Germany. Well you are mistaken. it is a picture of the Express Highway between Bangalore and Chennai(Picture Courtsey: Another blog, since i could not take my own pictures) . Last time I had stopped with a promise of providing more details on the Golden Quadrilateral. Now this is the biggest highway project in India. Aimed to connect the 4 Metro's. The good news is that this is almost complete. Recently I drove down to Chennai from Bangalore in my faithful Maruti 800 along with a couple of friends. I had heard that it is a great 4 lane highway, that was why I decided to drive down. Well to be frank the road was beyond my wildest expectations. it was an absolutely awesome road all the way to Chennai. Great quality and not even a tiny pothole. The best thing is that there are flyovers and byepasses across most of the major towns on the route, so you do not need to slow down as you cross towns. The road has good signage and even has proper exits which will take you into the towns on the way.

Well, how do you go? Take the Hosur Road from Bangalore and keep going till you reach Krishnagiri, from there take a left and keep going on and on and you reach Chennai. Very Simple :).

So is there any disadvantage? Sure, its not a perfect world :). The major problem is that it is not a barricaded highway. And as we all know is a highly populated country. So there is no dearth of people anywhere. So as you are speeding down this highway you may suddenly seen someone casually crossing the road, or even trying to be daring by jumping across just as you reach close. Most people dont seem to understand the velocity the modern vehicles are capable of. So be ready to stamp on the brakes at a moments notice. And remember, you are always to blame whose ever fault it is. Second major problem: people have the impression that they live in America, lots of trucks bikes tractors, prefer to come down the wrong lane to avoid going and taking a U turn further down. So dont be surprised if you are suddenly confronted with a truck or tractor looming large in front of you. Be prepared. And ofcourse this is India, so you always need to be wary of the cows, dogs and other asssorted animals who have no idea on what an express highway is.

All said and done, it is still by far the best roads in India and if you enjoy driving and have a decent car (I enjoyed it with a Maruti 800, the worst car on the road according to experts-But i beg to differ) but if you have a Ford or a Honda, then it is pure bliss. And if you are really adventurous you can try it on a Pulsar or a karizma...