[ampere]

Originally Posted by vigneshA

Ampere, if i understand you correctly- you actually had used very little of NH68 and for bypassing Salem.
Well, i was checking on the status of NH68 from Salem till ulundurpet.

You are perfectly correct. I just scratched the surface! The Salem by-pass on to NH68 was dug-up. I had to drive on to the Chevy dealership on the Atoor by-pass (NH68). That is the only stretch I did.

[ThePunter]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

Sure. I am going to try this road this weekend and I will report the status.

Wish we could get an update, if you were able to try out this road.. ?

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by ThePunter

Wish we could get an update, if you were able to try out this road.. ?

No. I couldn't try it out as my plan dropped. I may do it next week. If you are going to try it out this week, please let us know the status .

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by vigneshA

I had done this route 6 months back. at few places one side of the road was complete. The major deterrent was lack of bye-pass and you had to go through the towns of Ulundurpet & kallakurichi, which was way time consuming.

Let me know the current status. I am planning to do back and forth this to Salem this week.

vignesh, Any update on this NH68 stretch?

[vigneshA]

Had a chance to do this Salem-Ulundurpet this weekend on my return journey.
It took me 3 hrs to get this close to 140kms stretch covered. My observations.
1. Bypass for Atur & Kallakurichi is not complete. So you need to go through these towns. Major pain point
2. Kallakurichi to Ulundurpet is 95% complete.
3. Other sections are partially complete. Most of the stretches - at least one side is complete. Other pain point is multiple switchoves from one side to other side - need to be careful since the switch over roads are very bad at places.
Overall it was better than what was earlier. If its day time then its OK to travel the route; otherwise better to avoid this.

If possible you can take Ambur- vaniyambadi - Thirupattur to Salem route as well. Thirupattur town might become bottleneck at times. This will help avoid twin tolls from Krishnagiri to Salem which are huge.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by vigneshA

Had a chance to do this Salem-Ulundurpet this weekend on my return journey.
It took me 3 hrs to get this close to 140kms stretch covered. My observations.
1. Bypass for Atur & Kallakurichi is not complete. So you need to go through these towns. Major pain point
2. Kallakurichi to Ulundurpet is 95% complete.
3. Other sections are partially complete. Most of the stretches - at least one side is complete. Other pain point - need to be careful.
Overall it was better than what was earlier. If its day time then its OK to travel the route; otherwise better to avoid this.

If possible you can take Ambur- vaniyambadi - Thirupattur to Salem route as well. Thirupattur town might become bottleneck at times. This will help avoid twin tolls from Krishnagiri to Salem which are huge.

So work is still happening and that at too at some decent pace. Thanks for that update.
As regards to going via vaniyambadi - Thirupattur, it actually does not save much (max of 20km). One can actually drive all the way till Krishnagiri and then be on the 4L itself.

[GSMINC]

Originally Posted by vigneshA

If possible you can take Ambur- vaniyambadi - Thirupattur to Salem route as well. Thirupattur town might become bottleneck at times. This will help avoid twin tolls from Krishnagiri to Salem which are huge.

Vaniyambadi-Tirupattur-Salem is in a poor condition, though it has almost zero traffic except TNSRTC buses
Just passed by a few weeks back

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by vigneshA

Had a chance to do this Salem-Ulundurpet this weekend on my return journey.
It took me 3 hrs to get this close to 140kms stretch covered. My observations.
1. Bypass for Atur & Kallakurichi is not complete. So you need to go through these towns. Major pain point
2. Kallakurichi to Ulundurpet is 95% complete.
3. Other sections are partially complete. Most of the stretches - at least one side is complete. Other pain point is multiple switchoves from one side to other side - need to be careful since the switch over roads are very bad at places.
Overall it was better than what was earlier. If its day time then its OK to travel the route; otherwise better to avoid this.

If possible you can take Ambur- vaniyambadi - Thirupattur to Salem route as well. Thirupattur town might become bottleneck at times. This will help avoid twin tolls from Krishnagiri to Salem which are huge.

Thanks for the update Vignesh.

Now, I am confused. I am planning to start from Chennai on 21st evening around 5 PM. I may have to look at the krishnagiri route. The biggest pain for me is to get to the NH4 from my starting point. I am planning to directly start from my office in Sholinganallur.

Edit: I may have to do Sholinganallur-Kelambakkam-Vandalur-Kanchipuram-Vellore-Krishnagiri-Salem. This works out at 377 Kms.

[ampere]

If you are planning to drive in the evening, take NH4/46. Not worth driving in the night on NH68.

[raju2512]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

Thanks for the update Vignesh.

Now, I am confused. I am planning to start from Chennai on 21st evening around 5 PM. I may have to look at the krishnagiri route. The biggest pain for me is to get to the NH4 from my starting point. I am planning to directly start from my office in Sholinganallur.

Edit: I may have to do Sholinganallur-Kelambakkam-Vandalur-Kanchipuram-Vellore-Krishnagiri-Salem. This works out at 377 Kms.

The railway crossing at Vandalur is closed and you may have to take Tambaram - Mudichur road to reach Padapai. This road is being widened and it will be difficult to drive after dark . If you are leaving by 5 pm you will have to cut through peak traffic across Kanchipuram town .

A better option will be Shoilinganallur - Tambaram (or Vandalur) - Bye pass road - NH4. From Tambaram to exit for NH4 can be done in around 25 mins

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by raju2512

The railway crossing at Vandalur is closed and you may have to take Tambaram - Mudichur road to reach Padapai. This road is being widened and it will be difficult to drive after dark . If you are leaving by 5 pm you will have to cut through peak traffic across Kanchipuram town .

A better option will be Shoilinganallur - Tambaram (or Vandalur) - Bye pass road - NH4. From Tambaram to exit for NH4 can be done in around 25 mins

raju, are you asking me to take the outer ring road from Tambaram which connects with NH4 at Maduravoyal? If so, this route works out at 387 Kms and I have to bear the pain of traffic on NH4 till Sriperumbudur.

Originally Posted by ampere

If you are planning to drive in the evening, take NH4/46. Not worth driving in the night on NH68.

Yes Amp. I understand. My concern now is getting on to the NH4 from Sholinganallur. It would take considerable time.


Edit:- I am going to give a try for the Tambaram-Sriperumbudur Stretch (thru Manimangalam, 20 Kms). I am preparing to take this pain to reach NH4 and drive all the way to Salem on 4Laned road.

[ampere]

How about Kelambakam-Chengalpet-Kanchi. (That route I have heard from many folks going to Mahabalipuram from Bangalore.

Sholinganallur, Tamil Nadu to Unknown road - Google Maps

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by ampere

How about Kelambakam-Chengalpet-Kanchi. (That route I have heard from many folks going to Mahabalipuram from Bangalore.

Sholinganallur, Tamil Nadu to Unknown road - Google Maps

Yeh. Even I also did this once. But, from Sholinganallur-Kelambakkam-Chengalput-Kanchi-Krishnagiri-Salem. The distance is too high at 390 Kms. If I opt for the Tambaram-Manimangalam-Sriperumbudur stretch, the distance works out at 359. But, here the condition of this road is unknown. I may have to take the pain if its not good.

[narayans80]

I am planning to start from Chennai on 21st evening around 5 PM

Ramesh, I suggest you leave early evening around 330ish. I did that in one of my trips and it took me 60-75 mins from T. Nagar to Sriperumbudur CCD. On the contrary, in an earlier trip I left at 530 from T.Nagar, by the time i reached Sriperumbudur it was 845. Both were on Friday's. Otherwise take proper rest and leave early morning like 230-3. I started at 445 in the morning last weekend, crossed CCD at 520, by 7 I was past Pallikonda . I wouldnt suggest you leaving in peak traffic time, it'll simply drain all your energy especially if you are on a long drive.

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Ramesh, I suggest you leave early evening around 330ish. I did that in one of my trips and it took me 60-75 mins from T. Nagar to Sriperumbudur CCD. On the contrary, in an earlier trip I left at 530 from T.Nagar, by the time i reached Sriperumbudur it was 845. Both were on Friday's. Otherwise take proper rest and leave early morning like 230-3. I started at 445 in the morning last weekend, crossed CCD at 520, by 7 I was past Pallikonda . I wouldnt suggest you leaving in peak traffic time, it'll simply drain all your energy especially if you are on a long drive.

Thanks narayan. I agree with you. I will try to make it earlier .