New Bangalore-Mysore highway: Its impact on old businesses & hotels

What is happening at Bidadi is going to happen at Channapatna, Maddur, Mandya and all such towns along the Bangalore – Mysore road.

BHPian GS300 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The 2006 Disney movie “Cars” has this town – ‘Radiator Springs’, which was supposed to be a popular stop for passengers along Route 66, until a new highway bypassed the town, causing it to be forgotten.

I was reminded of this recently.

We live near Kengeri on the outskirts of Bangalore. Every once in a while, usually on Sunday mornings, we drive to Bidadi and have the famous ‘Bidadi Tatte Idly’ breakfast.

We usually go to the restaurant “Shree Shivasagar”. My family and I love the Tatte idly and vada there, but the place will be extremely crowded. Many times, we had to sit on the steps and have breakfast since we could not get a table.

Yesterday, we thought, why not drive on the new highway and go to Bidadi. So we started. I was not able to really figure out where we have reached, the highway was smooth and it goes on without any exit or entry.

When I crossed a bridge, I noticed the WonderLa ride visible at a distance, so I realized we are going past Bidadi. After that my wife and I were desperately looking for a way to exit the highway.

We could not find any exit that is marked. But after driving for some time, we saw a break on the side fence and a road, something like an exit. We took it, we looked for the road that is the ‘previous Mysore road’ and drove back to Bidadi through the road that was completely damaged at many places.

At Bidadi, we had a hard time spotting the place, because the restaurant looked very different without the large crowd that is usually gathered around it. Somehow my wife recognized the steps down from the road where we usually sit, and stopped and went to the restaurant.

It was very different. Not many people. The usual queue that spills outside is absent. Most tables are free and workers are almost idle.

And the road in front of the restaurant “The Mysore Road” was completely empty. Hardly any vehicles are on the road. On the drive back home, we saw many of the usual breakfast places were closed – which is not normal for a Sunday morning.

What is happening at Bidadi is going to happen at Channapatna, Maddur, Mandya and all such towns along the Bangalore – Mysore road. Many businesses are going to face a tough time. But I guess these are cycles of business. They need to find ways to lure people out of the highway or relocate to near exits etc. Or maybe when the proper exits are constructed, hopefully, there will be ones that go to Bidadi and other such towns.

Here’s what GTO had to say on the matter:

It’s a matter of luck and no business can plan for this. I have also seen many businesses (especially petrol pumps & restaurants) lose 90% of their business overnight once a new highway or flyover is built. Sad, but not much one can do, other than adapt. There used to be a very famous restaurant for batata vada (potato vada) in Khopoli called Ramakant Vada. Was on the old Mumbai-Pune highway and a MUST-STOP for anyone driving to Lonavla or Pune. In fact, my parents used to drive to Khopoli just to eat + drive, and then return home. When the Mumbai-Pune Expressway opened, his decades-old business just vanished. What he did do? Adapted. He opened up a food stall at the expressway food court, right at the start, and was doing good business the last I checked.

If you can’t change the world around you, change yourself

Here’s what BHPian am1m had to say on the matter:

While I do feel sorry for the restaurant workers, feel relieved about not having such crowded restaurants en route on highways. The Tatte idly places in particular used to cause bottlenecks because of the crowds and lack of parking. Often idiots would park right on the highway. Not to mention their idiotic practice of getting their security staff to wave people in, even with a red light stick/wand at night. Very distracting to see someone in uniform waving a red light on the highway at night, and that’s not even an official/cop! The Kamat Rrestaurant is another menace with idiots reversing out into the highway when they are done with their meal.

There should be designated food stops, off the highways, with well-designed entry/exits. But yes, again, do feel sorry for the workers of these restaurants. It’s highly unlikely that the same small restaurants will get a chance to set up an outlet at these food courts, it’ll be mostly franchised fast-food chains.

Here’s what BHPian shankar.balan had to say on the matter:

This is such an incredible coincidence. My wife and I used this new Bangalore -Mysore Expressway en route to Ooty on Saturday 16 Oct and returned on the same route on Sunday 17 Oct. We talked about EXACTLY the same topic and made the EXACT Same reference to Radiator Springs from Disney Pixar’s Cars, on the way out and in.

While it is so true that the local businesses and employees will be affected, it is also necessary to build these expressways and super highways with the future in mind. There are plenty of clear working references available across the world in the various places that our great bureaucrats and politicians visit on study tours to understand infrastructure. They can easily plan and implement things in this manner. Rest and Service areas with predictable hygienic experiences relating to Food, Washrooms, Convenience Stores etc, should definitely be an integral part of any highway.

The challenge here though will be the land acquisition piece and the time it will all take.

Here’s what BHPian Chetan_Rao had to say on the matter:

When the Bhopal-Indore highway got bypass sections for towns en route, the biggest loss was the restaurant (Pawan?) near the Sonkatch bus stand.

Fantastic snacks: poha-jalebi, samosas and oh the mawa bati! Even the meals were lip-smacking.

Namesake stuff available at food courts along the new highway is barely even a poor imitation.

It’s a faster commute now on fantastic roads, but the old route had a soul.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

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