[Iksvaku]

I have been to Kannur about a month ago, from Bangalore.

On advice from a friend who drives home once a month, I had taken the Bangalore - Mysore (the Srirangapatna - Hunsur shortcut is blocked midway) - Hunsur - Periyapatna - Siddapura (the Gonigoppal route is really bad, Periyapatna to Siddapura has only a small section which is bad) - Ammathi - Virajpet - Iritty - Kannur is the best option at present.

It is 324 kilometres. We left at 06:30 and reached at 13:00.

[coolclouds]

My friend did Bangalore-Kannur trip via Kushal Nagar this Sunday. The roads are in good condition according to him.

[denver85]

Much waited road condition update for those doing Bangalore-Kannur frequently
Traveled from Thalassery to Bangalore (sorry not driven, done it in a KSRTC Airavat on last Saturday night). Some good news about the Virajpet-Gonikoppal-Hunsur direct route. Detailed section-wise information follows:

Thalassery to Koothuparamba - Roads are good. There are around 5 curves which are widening, these work-in-progress areas are a bit narrow, so two-way traffic will not be able to cross simultaneously. Roads are good and surface is good otherwise.

Koothuparamba to Iritty - Excellent roads with good surface. The work of new bridges for replacing those narrow ones are started and let us hope it gets completed soon.

Iritty to Virajpet - The roads up to Iritty - Again good roads with good tarmac. Those potholes near Perumbadi check post are completely patched up and it’s going to be a smooth drive here.

Virajpet to Gonikoppal - This section has changed completely compared to my last drive. Road is excellent with superb tarmac. There are only 3 sections of maximum 50 meters which does not have a tarmac layer. These are leveled mud surface where the tarmac layer is missing due to the culvert work. The roads in the Gonikoppal town is also excellent.

Gonikoppal to Anechowkur forest check post - The story is not going to tragedy line in this section. The roads are excellent and surface is really good. Different from the previous section there is no WIP sections also.

Anechowkur forest check post to Hunsur – The story changes to tragedy as soon as you cross the forest check post. There is no road for the coming 7.5 kms (http://goo.gl/maps/zyl0h). In this, around 3 kms is really bad with bumpy surface. Rest of the 3 kms has levelled mud road. The chowkur town has proper tarmac for around 1 - 1.5 kms. After the town the mud road is levelled without any undulations. Within 1 km the good surface starts which is properly marked and enough wide. It was feeling like heaven and the 290 BHP motor was enjoying the roads completely. There were no surprises after this, the roads are excellent till you reach the Mysore-Madikeri state highway before Hunsur. There are some well marked (with white strips and boards placed at a proper distance) speed breakers in the newly laid road. Strangely, I have seen lot of private vehicles (Small cars also) doing this stretch that night.

This stretch can be easily done in any car if you are careful in the really bad section which is around 2.5-3 kms. I found this route to be faster now. For a 9.30 start from Thalassery the bus reached Santinagar at 5.00 AM without any rash/fast driving. This was indeed one of the fastest trip for me in the same route.
Also, spotted an excavator doing work at 1 am in the WIP section. Let us hope the work completes soon.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by denver85

Much waited road condition update for those doing Bangalore-Kannur frequently

Thanks for this invaluable update! Was hoping that the WIP sections get completed before monsoons start, but looks unlikely now. But who knows, if they work day and night as you saw, they could still finish paving before the rains pick up.

BTW, has the Virajpet-Gonikkopal stretch been widened? or just resurfaced? Work seemed to have got over pretty fast in that stretch!

[denver85]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

BTW, has the Virajpet-Gonikkopal stretch been widened? or just resurfaced? Work seemed to have got over pretty fast in that stretch!

I did not see much changes in the width of the road. It was almost the same. The surface was really smooth and it was wide enough for two buses to pass without much struggle IIRC.
Let us hope for the best in the WIP sections

[Latheesh]

Thanks for the update, How about Srirangapatna-Yelwala route? Road was closed @KRS turn, is it open now?

[Swift]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Thanks for the update, How about Srirangapatna-Yelwala route? Road was closed @KRS turn, is it open now?

I did this route on 24th Saturday in my 9 year old WagonR. The ruote conditions are exactly as denver85 described. The KRS road is still blocked. My mapmyindia led me through some not so good village road which ran along the railway line which finally ended up in the madikeri road in half an hour.

[sivadas]

Instead of taking the Hunsur-Anechowkur-Gonikoppal route, it is recommended to take the Hunsur-Periyapatna-Anechowkur road as per my friend who has traveled recently. From Periyapatna town, you need to take the first left (not the one that goes to Siddapura). I am going to try this tomorrow.

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

Thanks for this invaluable update! Was hoping that the WIP sections get completed before monsoons start, but looks unlikely now. But who knows, if they work day and night as you saw, they could still finish paving before the rains pick up.

BTW, has the Virajpet-Gonikkopal stretch been widened? or just resurfaced? Work seemed to have got over pretty fast in that stretch!

Sandeep, even if the road work is not completed before monsoon, you can easily drive on this route. Any hatch/sedan can cover this route with bit more caution.

The Virajpet-Gonikkoppal road is actually re-laid, not resurfaced. Its some what level and straight now.

Originally Posted by sivadas

Instead of taking the Hunsur-Anechowkur-Gonikoppal route, it is recommended to take the Hunsur-Periyapatna-Anechowkur road as per my friend who has traveled recently. From Periyapatna town, you need to take the first left (not the one that goes to Siddapura). I am going to try this tomorrow.

Sivadas, I prefer you not to try this. This is longer and has much more bad stretches. The direct road is the faster option currently, and has the minimum bad roads.

[sivadas]

Originally Posted by RajeshK

Sandeep, even if the road work is not completed before monsoon, you can easily drive on this route. Any hatch/sedan can cover this route with bit more caution.

The Virajpet-Gonikkoppal road is actually re-laid, not resurfaced. Its some what level and straight now.



Sivadas, I prefer you not to try this. This is longer and has much more bad stretches. The direct road is the faster option currently, and has the minimum bad roads.

Thanks Rajesh. I was planning to try this based on feedback from one of my friend who had traveled this way very recently. He is vouching for this one compared to the straight route.

[Anoopscv]

Looks like Hunsur-Periyapatna-Anechowkur road is better than direct route as per google maps. But it still shows the siddapura-ammathi road as faster, hope that is not the case

[Latheesh]

Is it the road which connect Periyapatna to Check post? I had taken that road once and it was a bad decision. Periyapatna-Siddapura route is better (except ~ 7 KM).

We are planning to start from Bangalore today evening and will take Mysore ring road and Hunsur-Gonikoppal direct route.

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

We are planning to start from Bangalore today evening and will take Mysore ring road and Hunsur-Gonikoppal direct route.

Latheesh, One of my friend is also traveling today starting at 2pm. He will also take the direct route to Gonikkoppal...!!

[Latheesh]

Started from Ecity around 5PM yesterday and reached Kannur @ 1 AM (took 1 hour break in between).

Took Hunsur-Gonikoppal-Bittingal-Perumbadi route.

-First ~10 KM after Hunsur turn-off is excellent with well marked speed breaker
-Next few Kilometers are leveled - good
-Remaining few Kilometers are bad but can be managed if you maintain low speed. Road work is going on in this stretch. So be carefull of some deviation and pits till you reach Anechowkur check post. I do not suggest this route if it is raining as it will become difficult to drive. Luckily it was not raining yesterday.

- Anechowkur checkpost till Kannur - road is very good; even Bitingala-Perumbadi stretch is in very good condition


Cafe Coorg (Cafe County) - Perumbadi checkpost took me 1.5 hours, so there is a time advantage over Siddapura route.

[Anoopscv]

Originally Posted by sivadas

Instead of taking the Hunsur-Anechowkur-Gonikoppal route, it is recommended to take the Hunsur-Periyapatna-Anechowkur road as per my friend who has traveled recently. From Periyapatna town, you need to take the first left (not the one that goes to Siddapura). I am going to try this tomorrow.

Hope you travelled via Hunsur-Periyapatna-Anechowkur, just waiting for the update on road condition.