[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Wouldn't Vandavasi-Sothupakkam road avoid the Tindivanam traffic to an extent ? (atleast Vandavasi-Tindivanam sector). The road was decent, freshly laid when i last did (about 4-5 months back). The road joins NH45 under the Sothupakkam bridge, you still have to endure Tindivanam traffic to catch NH66.

I thought about that option but was not sure of the road conditions between Mel Maruvathur & Vandavasi. In this case you don't need to worry about the Tindivanam traffic because you can take the Tindivanam byepass and take a left detour towards Pondicherry. It would mean another 20 kms or so more compared to Tindivanam - Vandavasi route.

Originally Posted by narayans80

Wouldn't Vandavasi-Sothupakkam road avoid the Tindivanam traffic to an extent ? (atleast Vandavasi-Tindivanam sector). The road was decent, freshly laid.

Thanks, narayans80. I will try this route tomorrow. Added advantage of this route is no railway level crossing!

I did another Bangalore-Pondicherry-Bangalore quickie in less than 18 hours on 21/22 June 2011. I took Bangalore>Krishnagiri>Arcot>Cheyyar>Vandavasi>Tind ivanam>Pondy route on NH7/46/MDR/SH5/NH66. See here for details.

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

The better option is to take the Tindivanam byepass towards Chennai.

Construction of bridge over railway line is in progress and this road [called College Road] has been closed for vehicular traffic. Sign board announcing 'Road Closed' is erected on NH 45 side, but not on SH 5. I saw the sign board on NH 45 in January this year. But, I thought the construction must have been over by now. But, it is not so.

[gopikb]

I am planning a trip to Melmaruvathur this weekend and was looking at road options to avoid Krishnagiri-Tiruvannamalai when I bumped into this thread. Thanks Ravi, ampere and all for the wonderful updates and I have decided to take the following route

Bangalore>Krishnagiri>Arcot>Cheyyar>Vandavasi>Soth upakkam>Melmaruvathur

The only unknown section is Vandavasi -> Sothupakkam which is about 30kms. I will update the conditions once I get back. I had to give Tiruvannamalai a miss this time due to bad roads.

Ravi, when you drove the above route, did the traffic inside the small towns slow you down considerably or was it ok and we can keep moving?

[ampere]

I think the traffic quite less except at Tindivanam.
Even Amitoj took the same route while coming back from Pondicherry.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2397348

Originally Posted by gopikb

Bangalore>Krishnagiri>Arcot>Cheyyar>Vandavasi>Soth upakkam>Melmaruvathur

Ravi, when you drove the above route, did the traffic inside the small towns slow you down considerably or was it ok and we can keep moving?

As Arcot and Cheyyar are bypassed, there is no need to go into these towns. But, you have to go through busy and congested Vandavasi market, which is a pain during busy market hours. But, nothing to worry. Drive slowly and carefully. Generally, the traffic is less compared to the other routes.

Originally Posted by ampere

I think the traffic quite less except at Tindivanam.

One need not go to Tindivanam in this route.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by gopikb

Bangalore>Krishnagiri>Arcot>Cheyyar>Vandavasi>Soth upakkam>Melmaruvathur

The only unknown section is Vandavasi -> Sothupakkam which is about 30kms.

Gopi, Road conditions might've changed since I went 6 months back (updates are somewhere in this thread ). Traffic conditions would'nt have changed much. Minimal in terms of vehicular traffic. Though you can expect slow TVS 50 being run in middle of the road. Little bit of village traffic movement here and there. But nothing serious. While returning, you wont see signboards for Vandavasi coming from Madras side. Take the service lane once you see the bridge and Sothupakkam signboard. Right on the 4-lane intersection under the bridge goes to Vandavasi.

[gopikb]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Traffic conditions would'nt have changed much. Minimal in terms of vehicular traffic. Though you can expect slow TVS 50 being run in middle of the road. Little bit of village traffic movement here and there. But nothing serious. While returning, you wont see signboards for Vandavasi coming from Madras side. Take the service lane once you see the bridge and Sothupakkam signboard. Right on the 4-lane intersection under the bridge goes to Vandavasi.

Ampere, Ravi, narayans80, Thanks for all your feedback.

narayans80, I am aware of the road which branches off to Sothupakkam and Vandavasi from Melmaruvathur. Have been a frequent visitor to this place since the last 12 years. I had always driven through Krishnagiri - Tiruvannamalai route. Now with the road conditions, I am forced to explore alternate routes. This forum has a wealth of information and very helpful. Thanks for all the info.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

One need not go to Tindivanam in this route.

That is true I was aware of it. Just that I meant the same for the whole section of Bangalore-Pondicherry.


By the way folks I also noticed on Google maps that Tiruvannamalai-Villupruam is NH234. Did not remember seeing that. It used to be a SH. Is it a newly acquired status?

If so, let there be some improvements on the roads.

[sachinj12]

Not to hijack the thread, but what is the best route from Kodaikanal-Pondicherry?

G maps takes us through NH45B instead of NH45! .

Please suggest urgently, I will be driving from kodaikanal to pondicherry on day after tomorrow.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sachinj12

Not to hijack the thread, but what is the best route from Kodaikanal-Pondicherry?

G maps takes us through NH45B instead of NH45! .

Please suggest urgently, I will be driving from kodaikanal to pondicherry on day after tomorrow.

The standard route is via Dindukkal-Trichy.

Kodai-Batlagundu
Batlagundu-Dindukkal-Trichy-Villupuram (NH45)
Villupuram-Pondicherry (NH45-A)


Kodai to Pondicherry

[gopikb]

Dear All, Completed the Bangalore - Melmaruvathur trip. Thanks to Ravi, Ampere, narayans80 and others. I had taken the below route. We planned to cover Padavedu temples on the way and hence there was a detour
Onward:
Bangalore - Pallikonda - Kannamangalam - padavedu
Padavedu - Arani - Valapandal - Vandavasi - Melmaruvathur

Return:
Melmaruvathur - Vandavasi - Cheyyar - Arcot - Krishnagiri - Bangalore

The onward journey was through lot of village roads since we had to cover Padavedu temples. The roads were a mixed bag, but not as bad as Krishnagiri Tiruvannamalai stretch.

Let me update on the return trip which is a direct route to Bangalore.

Melmaruvathur - Vandavasi - 30 kms. Roads are mostly ok with about 15~20 kms of potholed roads. But these are not big craters which we see in Krishnagiri - Tiruvannamalai route. I saw some tarring being done on this stretch during the drive. Hopefully it will get better soon. Mostly manageable in 60~70kms / hour.

From there on it was a clean drive to Cheyyar and Arcot. No issues at all. For people traveling to Melmaruvathur, I would definitely recommend this route until the other route is repaired. The good part is that we get to drive 4 laned roads upto arcot and the 2 lane stretch from Arcot to Melmaruvathur is only 90kms. Hence this route is actually faster. With regard to distance, we clocked 340kms from Melmaruvathur to our home in Bangalore. With the regular Tiruvannamalai route, we clock 310kms to Melmaruvathur. So the difference is only about 30kms.

The total driving time from Melmaruvathur to our home (RRNagar) in Bangalore was exactly 5 hours 10 minutes. Including the 50 minute break we had for lunch, the total time was just about 6 hours. This is manageable because most of the driving is on 4-lane.

[itwasntme]

Guys,

Planning Bangalore-Pondy-Bangalore in August. Want a smooth drive with good roads; don't mind extra distance as long the drive is uninterrupted :-)

So which one?
1. NH66 route, 311km {Bangalore-Krishnagiri-T'malaiu-Tindivanam-Pondy}, or
2. NH68 route, 440km {Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Salem-Attur-Pondy}, or
3. NH46 route, 375km {Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Pondy}

Could the experts advise given the ongoing heavy rains?

@itwasntme: There is a fourth alternative too!

4. NH 7/46/45/66 route 423 km Bangalore>Kancheepuram>Chengalpattu>Pondy. Advantage of this route is 4-lane NH 7/46/45/66 for most of the distance and facilities en route.

You can select either the third or fourth option. Time-wise, both these options consume the same.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

@itwasntme: There is a fourth alternative too!

4. NH 7/46/45/66 route 423 km Bangalore>Kancheepuram>Chengalpattu>Pondy. Advantage of this route is 4-lane NH 7/46/45/66 for most of the distance and facilities en route.

You can select either the third or fourth option. Time-wise, both these options consume the same.

Thanks! Looks like the 3rd option offers the best compromise between distance and road conditions.

2 more questions:

1. How is Arcot>Cheyyar>Vandavasi road given the rains as compared to Kancheepuram>Chengalpattu>Pondy? What kind of average speeds can I hope to maintain during daytime and are the stress levels much lower in the latter?

2. I detested peaktime Tindivanam traffic when I drove through last year. Can I avoid T'vanam town completely by taking Vandavasi-Melmaruvathur (SH115), turn right on NH45 and then take the Tindivanam bypass to land straight on NH66 i.e. beyond T'vanam? Google Maps shows the distance as around 60km as compared to 40km using the direct V'vasi -T'vanam route.