[CountDracoola]

I think there is another route that you may want to try next time. It is the coastal route which takes you through - Kochi - Kodungallur - Chettuva - Chavakkad - Ponnani.
Once you reach Ponnani, take the Ferry to cross over to the other side. The Ferry is a large barge which can carry around 20 cars at a time and there is one every hour. Once you are on the other side, you will reach Mangalam Town, Then from there to Parassery and then rejoin the highway at Kozhichenna and then to Calicut and Wayanad.
This road saves you around 45 kms and the Ferry ride is a very enjoyable one, take around 30 minutes to cross the 1km.
Some pictures attached.
Ferry coming our way

People/cars disembarking

The Captain!

Arabian Sea in all its glory as far as the eye can see

[kala]

Originally Posted by CountDracoola

I think there is another route that you may want to try next time. It is the coastal route which takes you through - Kochi - Kodungallur - Chettuva - Chavakkad - Ponnani.
Once you reach Ponnani, take the Ferry to cross over to the other side. The Ferry is a large barge which can carry around 20 cars at a time and there is one every hour. Once you are on the other side, you will reach Mangalam Town, Then from there to Parassery and then rejoin the highway at Kozhichenna and then to Calicut and Wayanad.
This road saves you around 45 kms and the Ferry ride is a very enjoyable one, take around 30 minutes to cross the 1km.

Thanks for this info. Will try it out on my next Calicut-Cochin drive. Even if the drive is longer by say an hour, the ferry ride would certainly be an interesting experience.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by kala

Thanks for this info. Will try it out on my next Calicut-Cochin drive. Even if the drive is longer by say an hour, the ferry ride would certainly be an interesting experience.

It is one of the longest ferries. Go early morning or evening. The experience is awesome. But, I suspect the roads during monsoon.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I find the Edapalli-Kodungallur sector very narrow and difficult to drive except at nights.
The signages at Kodungallur town are easy to miss, and despite knowing the NH17 well, during a night drive, I went off course and ended up going via Irinjakuda & Trissur to Kunnamkulam?

Interesting! The signages at Kodungallur are certainly awkward, but they are hard to miss unless you speed through! But yes, the roads around Kodungallur are a mess now - so bad that even Government buses stop to respect potholes! I've heard KSRTC buses scrape their bottoms (of the steps) at potholes in Kodungallur!

Edappalli-Parur is okay - the road is wide enough. But Parur-Kodungallur is horror - I drive this route daily (from AIMS, Edappally to Pullut - about 2.5 kms after Kodungallur on the Thrissur route) and I still find this route terrifying. The new Kodungallur bypass (works on which are progressing at a brisk pace) will help avoiding the mess that Kodungallur is, but the narrow section from Parur-Kottappuram will remain so.

To add more miseries, PWD has installed traffic lights at many place - narrow roads, plus mis-timed signals = recipe for roadblocks!

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I just noticed from the Google Maps that NH17 doe snot touch Kunnamkulam any more - when did this alignment change? Or is it a mistake? The NH17 I know goes from Chavakkad to Kunnamkulam town, turns left at the bazaar (whereas the road straight continues to Perumpilavu/Edappal) and goes via Ponnani to rejoin the road coming from Kunnamkulam-Edappal-Kuttipuram at Edapal. If you see GM, I was aghast to see not only a direct road from Chavakkad to Ponnani avoiding Kunnamkulam, but also 2 (TWO) branches of NH17 joining the road going north from Kunnamkulam at BOTH Edapal and before Kuttipuram!!!

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

GM as you best know has messed it up here,the NH17 still very much goes through Kunnamkulam town.

NH17 has not been touching Kunnamkulam since 2003! Back in 2003, NH17 was realigned via Edappal-Ponnani-Puthuponnani-Chavakkad. (In the 2001-2005 period, we used to drive atleast twice every year from Panvel to Alappuzha and back. During our first drives, NH17 was via Kunnamkulam. Since 2003, NH17 markings are via Ponnani).

Recently, this alignment was changed again. Now its Kuttipuram-Thavanoor-Ponnani bypass-Chavakkad. Ponnani bypass is under construction (its been so for a long time now) - but a good 75% is complete and opened. The Kuttipuram-Thavanoor-Ponnani section is horribly narrow, and its scary at places. It is somewhere on this route that the "Chamravattom Regulator-cum-Bridge" takes over - this new bridge would reportedly reduce distance to Kozhikode by over 30 kms!

The Kunnamkulam-Kuttipuram section of the old NH-17 was developed as a State Highway - this road has much better surface than NH17. During my last Kodungallur-Kannur run, I took Kodungallur-Guruvayur-Kunnamkulam-Kuttipuram route. On the return, I took Kuttipuram-Edappal-Ponnani-Chavakkad-Kodungallur route - I was dead tired driving this route. Kunnamkulam-Kuttipuram road, on the other hand, is paradise!

[hvkumar]

CountDracola, the ferry ride is great info! Must try it out next time.
Any idea about timings? Earliest time and latest time? And frequency is same during monsoons?

binaiks, thanks for the NH17 rerouting info, I thought NH17 still goes via Kunnamkulam town. In comparison, is it better to go Chavakkad-Kunnamkulam-Edapal or Chavakkad-Ponnani-Edapal? From time point of view and congestion?

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

In comparison, is it better to go Chavakkad-Kunnamkulam-Edapal or Chavakkad-Ponnani-Edapal? From time point of view and congestion?

Depends on the time you drive. If it is daytime, Chavakkad-Guruvayur(bye-pass)-Kunnamkulam route will have heavy traffic and also some one-way coupled with narrow stretches of road in Kunnamkulam town can slow you down. Chavakkad-Ponnani-Edapal generally have no such issues. Sometimes, we take Chavakkad-Ponnani-Kuttippuram without touching Edapal (where the 4-road junction is prone to congestion, more so when road repair/widening work is happening) but the roads are a bit narrow and has hilly terrain in the Ponnani-Kuttippuram section. Still, was worth taking this when Edapal-Kuttippuram section was pathetic. And it used to be a beautiful country-side drive offering some views of Bharathapuzha river.

[kala]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

Depends on the time you drive. If it is daytime, Chavakkad-Guruvayur(bye-pass)-Kunnamkulam route will have heavy traffic and also some one-way coupled with narrow stretches of road in Kunnamkulam town can slow you down. Chavakkad-Ponnani-Edapal generally have no such issues. Sometimes, we take Chavakkad-Ponnani-Kuttippuram without touching Edapal (where the 4-road junction is prone to congestion, more so when road repair/widening work is happening) but the roads are a bit narrow and has hilly terrain in the Ponnani-Kuttippuram section. Still, was worth taking this when Edapal-Kuttippuram section was pathetic. And it used to be a beautiful country-side drive offering some views of Bharathapuzha river.

I believe the Ponnani-Kuttippuram direct route is slightly shorter, but the last time I drove that way (which was almost 6 months ago) the advice I received from regulars who drive that route was that there was some roadwork going on there and so it would be faster to take the Ponnani-Edappal-Kuttippuram route. Yes - Edappal junction would still be a bottleneck because of the heavy traffic on that road.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by kala

I believe the Ponnani-Kuttippuram direct route is slightly shorter, but the last time I drove that way (which was almost 6 months ago) the advice I received from regulars who drive that route was that there was some roadwork going on there and so it would be faster to take the Ponnani-Edappal-Kuttippuram route. Yes - Edappal junction would still be a bottleneck because of the heavy traffic on that road.

I would say Ponnani-Kuttippuram direct route is ever improving. Now, when the new stretch (straight road after Kuttippuram bridge coming from Calicut/North side) of NH-17 is ready, it will be a breeze to drive to Ponnani on this stretch. Also, I think it is about 5 kms shorter than the existing Kuttippuram-Ponnani route.

[CountDracoola]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

CountDracola, the ferry ride is great info! Must try it out next time.
Any idea about timings? Earliest time and latest time? And frequency is same during monsoons?

Frequency is the same irrespective of the time of the year. You are looking at 1 leaving once every 2 hours. There is a ticket you need to take to get your car on the ferry - costs you Rs 20 /- or so. If I remember correctly, the first one is at 8:00am and the last one is at 5pm

[dhanushs]

Some pics of the ferry ride, taken some months ago.

[Soccerfan]

Which would be the best route now to Kalpetta from Kochi ? Is the kozhikkode-tamarassery section patched up or still potholes?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Soccerfan

Which would be the best route now to Kalpetta from Kochi ? Is the kozhikkode-tamarassery section patched up or still potholes?

Not sure of the Calicut route. But for sure Nilambur/Manjeri should be good.

Kochi-Angamaly-Trichur-Kecheri-Kuttipuram-Kottakkal-Malapuram-Manjeri-Edavanna-Nilambur-Maeppadi-Kalpetta.

Kalpetta to Kochi

[Soccerfan]

Thanks Ampere. Will take this route on way

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by Soccerfan

Which would be the best route now to Kalpetta from Kochi ? Is the kozhikkode-tamarassery section patched up or still potholes?

Originally Posted by ampere

Not sure of the Calicut route. But for sure Nilambur/Manjeri should be good.

Kochi-Angamaly-Trichur-Kecheri-Kuttipuram-Kottakkal-Malapuram-Manjeri-Edavanna-Nilambur-Maeppadi-Kalpetta.

Kalpetta to Kochi

Soccermom - The Calicut route is okay to do. It is neither too smooth nor too potholed. Just about doable in an average car.

[vu2pmc]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

The tips on the routes via Kecheri & Areekode are very useful.
Are there good signages at the point where you have to turn off to Kecheri?
I find the Edapalli-Kodungallur sector very narrow and difficult to drive except at nights.
The signages at Kodungallur town are easy to miss, and despite knowing the NH17 well, during a night drive, I went off course and ended up going via Irinjakuda & Trissur to Kunnamkulam?
I just noticed from the Google Maps that NH17 doe snot touch Kunnamkulam any more - when did this alignment change? Or is it a mistake? The NH17 I know goes from Chavakkad to Kunnamkulam town, turns left at the bazaar (whereas the road straight continues to Perumpilavu/Edappal) and goes via Ponnani to rejoin the road coming from Kunnamkulam-Edappal-Kuttipuram at Edapal. If you see GM, I was aghast to see not only a direct road from Chavakkad to Ponnani avoiding Kunnamkulam, but also 2 (TWO) branches of NH17 joining the road going north from Kunnamkulam at BOTH Edapal and before Kuttipuram!!!

HVK,
To the best of my knowledge, NH 17 is from Edappally, paravur, kodungaloor, chavakkad, Ponnani, Kuttipuram and then onto Calicut- Mangalore Panvel. ( both Kunnamkulam and Edappal are not a part of NH 17).