Bangalore Chennai via Chittoor

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by hrag

Update on NH4 between Chennai and Bangalore:

Except for a very small stretch between Chittoor and Palamner, the route is back to its old glory. There is some roadwork happening just as you enter AP (from TN) and there are 2 diversions on temporary roads.

Hi hrag,
I am planning to take this route from chennai this weekend. Are the diversions you mentioned very minor and clear? Dont want to get lost


regards
m8002?

[hrag]

Nothing to worry, very minor diversions (you can see the entire diversion from the main road). BUT there are some crude speedbreakers (2 before and 2 after each of the diversions) so watch out for those and watch your speed.

[Blue Thunder]

Bangy guys,

Need your help... provide directions to the following address :

M.s.Ramaiya North City Layout,
Thanisandra Main, A.C.Post, Nagavara Village,

I will be travelling to Bangalore this sunday (on work). I am planning to drive down along the Chittoor route. Would be great if someone can provide the above info by tomorrow (saturday).

I tried searching on Wikimapia, but not able to locate Thanisandra or Nagavara village.

[hrag]

Try Google Maps (maps.google.com)
Search for "M S Ramaiah North City Layout"

After reaching Bangalore and crossing the Krishnarajapuram bridge, continue on the bypass that goes to Tumkur / Hyderabad (a sweeping right hander of a bridge). After the underbridge (that says BDA), the road turns to the left.
The 1st signal will take you to Horamavu (right) and Banaswadi (left)
The 2nd signal will take you to Hennur
The 3rd signal will take you to Nagavara (left) and Thanisandra (right). Take the right here and M S Ramaiah North City Layout will be on your left under a km or so.

Note: you have to strain to read the directional signs in Bangalore (unlike the huge signs in Chennai). If in doubt, ask for Thanisandra Main Road.

[Blue Thunder]

Thanx very much for the prompt and clear directions, hrag .

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by hrag

...and there are 2 diversions on temporary roads....

update as of 01 Jun 2008 --> there are 3 diversions for minor-bridge works. (there were only 2 when I drove Chennai-BLR on 18 May 2008)

Originally Posted by hrag

...but I was sad to see the trees after Mulbagal all gone....

I am attaching some pics of the road-widening/tree-felling below. I havent seen this stretch before, with the trees, but I did notice that the shade was missing compared to the other stretch with the trees.

Originally Posted by m8002?

...Are the diversions you mentioned very minor and clear? ...

Some pics of the diversion below : as hrag has mentioned, they are clear, except that one has to watch out for the speed-breakers. When we were returning, I saw a Sumo with a broken front axle standing right on one of those crude speed-breakers.

Also, the "Take diversion" warning board will be right next to the speed breaker ....so you wouldn't have time to react/brake if coming at high speed !!!

Originally Posted by hrag

... Take the right here and M S Ramaiah North City Layout will be on your left under a km or so......

Thanks a lot for the clear directions, hrag : I was able to reach the place without any problems .

[hrag]

OK, for those of you travelling this route from Chennai to Bangalore, here are the co-ordinates of the diversions

All distances from the TN-AP border (where pillars on the side of the road welcome you into AP)
5 km: First diversion
7 km: Second diversion
47 km: Third diversion (new one as reported by Blue Thunder)
52 km: Temporary speed breaker (saw an horribly mangled LCV by the side of the road on Saturday as well as yesterday)

[csentil]

I should have updated earlier. Here goes:

The road from Hoskote to Mulbagal is being four laned. All the beautiful trees are gone. :-( Its going to be as hot as the GQ during daytime !! Four laning will take another year to complete. There are lot of places were there is no shoulder.

Mulbagal to Palmaner is still a dream to drive. However road conditions after Palmaner are not so good. This is till you hit the TN border. Roads have been relaid from there so its awesome driving.

The 3 diversions mentioned above are highly irritating. One is right after a curve and you don't know about it until you are almost on top of the speed breaker. The speed breakers are meant for trucks and not for cars. Thankfully they are made out of sand and stone mixture so even if you scrape it, its not so bad.

I usually used to cover Indiranagar - Ranipet in 3 hours. This time it took 3 and half hours for the same distance.

Use the GQ to get to Chennai till the roads are done.

Sigh ! I shall miss the old road a lot....

[akroy]

Originally Posted by csentil

Sigh ! I shall miss the old road a lot....

Seriously senthil, I will miss the beautiful 2 laned NH4 passing through beautiful trees. Hoskote - Palamner drive will not be the same again.

Abhi

[hrag]

Originally Posted by csentil

However road conditions after Palmaner are not so good. This is till you hit the TN border. Roads have been relaid from there so its awesome driving.

From Bangalore, the ghat section between Palamner and Chittor is still great. There are some bad patches otherwise but nothing too bad compared to say, last September.

The stretch from the AP-TN border used to be hopeless till a few months ago. The new bridge at Tiruvalam took its own sweet time coming up and there were potholes in the first few weeks. Luckily, someone has taken this up and as csentil mentioned, fantastic stretch from the border until the Tiruvalam bridge.

The sweet spot for the AP ghat stretch (in either direction) is around 7:30 pm, the cats eyes light up and it is a visual treat. Too bad the road is choked with truck traffic at night.