[binand]

Originally Posted by Cooltronics

I have driven till Vellore before but the road ahead is unknown, I understood that I need to take the road straight from Vellore, Walajapet, sriperumbudur, poonamallee but then confused for the way forward as I believe there are multiple options and bypass to hit Chennai. Can you please advice ? I would be put up at Royapettah, Anna Salai (Mount Road) Chennai.

How familiar are you with Chennai? I would suggest Poonamallee-Porur-Guindy-Adyar-Santhome-Royapettah because I'm mostly familiar with this route and know that you wouldn't find many bottlenecks. Other options are Guindy-Teynampet-Radhakrishnan Salai-Royapettah or Porur-Kodambakkam-Gemini Flyover-Royapettah (both of which I guess are shorter than the one through Santhome).

Anyway, directions to enter Chennai are simple: At Sriperumbudur toll gate, make a note of your odometer. About 15 km from there, you will see the (still under construction) Chennai ORR passing over your head, immediately followed by a flyover in your side of the carriageway. Go underneath this flyover (the flyover leads you to Poonamallee where you can get stuck in traffic for a while) and take the left turn (the direction in which NH4 naturally turns under the flyover - signboards are for Maduravoyal). Pass through a traffic signal and across a flyover. Now watch out for a flyover ONLY in the opposite carriageway - take the right turn under this flyover. Couple of km along this route, you will reach a large junction where you should take a sharp left turn to be on Mount Poonamallee High Road leading to Porur and beyond.

[Cooltronics]

Originally Posted by binand

How familiar are you with Chennai? I would suggest Poonamallee-Porur-Guindy-Adyar-Santhome-Royapettah because I'm mostly familiar with this route and know that you wouldn't find many bottlenecks. Other options are Guindy-Teynampet-Radhakrishnan Salai-Royapettah or Porur-Kodambakkam-Gemini Flyover-Royapettah (both of which I guess are shorter than the one through Santhome).

Anyway, directions to enter Chennai are simple: At Sriperumbudur toll gate, make a note of your odometer. About 15 km from there, you will see the (still under construction) Chennai ORR passing over your head, immediately followed by a flyover in your side of the carriageway. Go underneath this flyover (the flyover leads you to Poonamallee where you can get stuck in traffic for a while) and take the left turn (the direction in which NH4 naturally turns under the flyover - signboards are for Maduravoyal). Pass through a traffic signal and across a flyover. Now watch out for a flyover ONLY in the opposite carriageway - take the right turn under this flyover. Couple of km along this route, you will reach a large junction where you should take a sharp left turn to be on Mount Poonamallee High Road leading to Porur and beyond.

Thanks for this detailed help. I have only been to Chennai once and that to in train so I am not familiar with the city or roads post Vellore.
I will mark the route which you have mentioned to reach my detination.
Any suggestion on what time should I leave ? We drove down to Vellore for a day outing at 10:00 AM and traffic at Hosur was quite OK. Is starting at 7:00 AM good time to reach Chennai by lunch ?
How about starting back from Chennai considering Bangalore traffic?

[ravib]

Originally Posted by Cooltronics

Thanks for this detailed help. I have only been to Chennai once and that to in train so I am not familiar with the city or roads post Vellore.
I will mark the route which you have mentioned to reach my detination.
Any suggestion on what time should I leave ? We drove down to Vellore for a day outing at 10:00 AM and traffic at Hosur was quite OK. Is starting at 7:00 AM good time to reach Chennai by lunch ?
How about starting back from Chennai considering Bangalore traffic?

Starting from 7 am is quite late considering the the traffic mess in Hosur. I would suggest you an early start, preferably around 5 am. (not sure which part of Bangalore you live, but as a general thumb rule) so that you can reach Chennai by 11 am max.

If you leave chennai around 3 pm or so, it should be fine for you to reach Bangalore around 9 max, so that way you can avoid peak hours in both the cities.

-Ravi

[connect2prashan]

Ravi is right. An early start will make your drive peaceful. In Bangalore, I stay at Marthahalli. Everytime I drive to Chennai, I start at 5-5:30 AM (4:30 AM sharp if its a long weekend) and manage to reach at 10:30-11 AM. (10 AM in case of 4:30 start) This driving time includes a quick 15 mins breakfast break at Vellore around 8:30 AM.

Originally Posted by binand

Now watch out for a flyover ONLY in the opposite carriageway - take the right turn under this flyover. Couple of km along this route, you will reach a large junction where you should take a sharp left turn to be on Mount Poonamallee High Road leading to Porur and beyond.

He is right, do not take the flyover that says "Poonamallee". Rest follow as quoted above; Once you have made the sharp left stay on this road. In about 11 kms you will reach Guindy flyover (aka kathipara flyover). Keep going straight on this flyover (its a pretty confusing flyover. Something like a domlur flyover for newbies in Bangalore). Once to drive down this flyover, the road name changes to Anna Salai. And another 8 kms on Anna Salai will lead you to "Gemini" It's a major/popular junction. Go under this flyover and take a right, in a km after taking right you will see a board that says "Royapettah" LEFT.

Enjoy your ride!! Cheers!!

[binand]

Originally Posted by Cooltronics

Any suggestion on what time should I leave ? We drove down to Vellore for a day outing at 10:00 AM and traffic at Hosur was quite OK. Is starting at 7:00 AM good time to reach Chennai by lunch ?

After much trial and error, I now prefer leaving Bangalore very early in the morning (clearing Hosur not later than 4:30 AM - hat tip to Ampere) or late in the afternoon (starting from Bangalore around 3 PM). In the former case I reach Chennai just as the morning rush hour is subsiding and in the latter case, when the evening rush hour is waning. I find these times peaceful and suitable for my BP :-) Now with the 6-laning of this GQ arm, I find that I can do door-to-door in no longer than 5.5 hours.

Originally Posted by connect2prashan

And another 8 kms on Anna Salai will lead you to "Gemini" It's a major/popular junction. Go under this flyover and take a right, in a km after taking right you will see a board that says "Royapettah" LEFT.

You cannot approach Gemini flyover from Guindy side and just "go under it" to turn into Radhakrishnan Salai. You need to turn left into one of the lanes a bit beyond Courtyard by Marriott and turn right into GN Chetty Road at the next junction. Then you need to go under the GN Chetty arm of the Gemini Flyover to emerge at the roundabout under the flyover and turn into RK Salai. If you are not used to this then you will definitely get confused; so I don't usually suggest this junction to newbies to Chennai.

If you just "go under it", then you will still emerge on GN Chetty Road but going the other way with no U-turn in sight.

[connect2prashan]

Oops. Yes, I missed that. Cant go under the Gemini flyover while approaching it from Teynampet/Guindy side.

The alternative option here is to take the Gemini flyover and keep going straight. Once we descend the flyover, keep right and make the first U-turn (it should come at Whites road-Anna salai junction. A right at Peter's road might be blocked. Hence U-Turn) After the U-Turn keep left and take the left to enter Peter's road which will lead to Royapettah General Hospital.

[suhasark]

I will be driving to Chennai tomorrow and will be visiting a place near Bharathiraja Hospital in T Nagar. This is my first drive by car to Chennai , though I did my schooling in Chennai around 20 years back and have been to Chennai multiple times by train & bus. Which is the best route to take to reach T Nagar ? Based on my limited geographical knowledge from 20 years back , I was thinking Bangalore >> Koyambedu >> Vadapalani >> West Mambalam >> T Nagar (or) Bangalore >> Koyambedu >> Vadapalani >> Kodambakkam >> TNagar. Are these sensible options ? Are there better options ?

Thanks
Suhas

Originally Posted by suhasark

Are there better options ?

I always avoid Koyambedu because of eternal traffic jams created by arrival and departure of buses. The route via Arcot Road, Vadapalani - the shortest one - involves a lot of diversions/oneways due to repairs to Kodambakkam bridge. The Arcot Road route is congested and has so many crossings. I drive via Arcot Road as I arrive/depart early morning/late night, when the road would be empty. So, I would suggest Poonamallee>Porur>Kathipara Junction>Guindy>Saidapet>CIT Nagar>Panagal Park>Bharathi Raja Hospital, T Nagar, if arriving during day time. If arriving by late night/early morning, Arcot Road route is the best.

[binand]

Originally Posted by connect2prashan

The alternative option here is to take the Gemini flyover and keep going straight. Once we descend the flyover, keep right and make the first U-turn (it should come at Whites road-Anna salai junction. A right at Peter's road might be blocked. Hence U-Turn) After the U-Turn keep left and take the left to enter Peter's road which will lead to Royapettah General Hospital.

With the metro work in full swing on Anna Salai, parts of it are one-way this way and parts are one-way that way - it is oh so confusing. Several months back I came out of Express Avenue Mall in Royapettah and went around in circles for a while trying to find my way back to Thiruvanmiyur. Somehow I ended up on a one-way section of Anna Salai going towards Central and the next thing I know, I am on one of the smaller roads that connect Peters Road and Lloyds Road. I still don't know how that happened.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by suhasark

Based on my limited geographical knowledge from 20 years back , I was thinking Bangalore >> Koyambedu >> Vadapalani >> West Mambalam >> T Nagar (or) Bangalore >> Koyambedu >> Vadapalani >> Kodambakkam >> TNagar. Are these sensible options ? Are there better options

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

I always avoid Koyambedu because of eternal traffic jams created by arrival and departure of buses. I would suggest Poonamallee>Porur>Kathipara Junction>Guindy>Saidapet>CIT Nagar>Panagal Park>Bharathi Raja Hospital, T Nagar.

+1 to Ravi. But in peak hours thanks to Metro construction roads beyond Kathipara are also have a very slow moving traffic. (But yes it does move)

[binand]

Originally Posted by ampere

+1 to Ravi. But in peak hours thanks to Metro construction roads beyond Kathipara are also have a very slow moving traffic. (But yes it does move)

There is no impact on traffic due to metro at least between Kathipara and Alexander square. It is all done; all six lanes are open to traffic below the metro.

Beyond that - maybe if you are scared you could try IIT-Kotturpuram-Teynampet-T Nagar.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by binand

There is no impact on traffic due to metro at least between Kathipara and Alexander square. It is all done; all six lanes are open to traffic below the metro.

This is good to note. I used to always get stuck on this section, to go all the way till Alexander square and come back. (Take a U at ITC)

And no its not for me. It was for Suhas who had asked the question.

[Waxeloquent]

It has been years since I had taken Chitoor route. The coming week I am returning from
Chennai to Bangalore, specifically to CV Raman Nagar area to drop someone. Also have
2 senior citizens but in good health. So I thought it may be a good idea to take Chitoor
to avoid driving through ORR to get to CV Raman nagar during day time. Plan to leave
Chennai Anna Nagar by 6am on Tuesday.

Having seen a few posts mentioning safety as one of the reasons for choosing GQ route
over Chitoor route, I like to understand that better.

All ideas, suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

Cheers

[Waxeloquent]

It has been years since I had taken Chitoor route. The coming week I am returning from
Chennai to Bangalore, specifically to CV Raman Nagar area to drop someone. Also have
2 senior citizens but in good health. So I thought it may be a good idea to take Chitoor
to avoid driving through ORR to get to CV Raman nagar during day time. Plan to leave
Chennai Anna Nagar by 6am on Tuesday.

Having seen a few posts mentioning safety as one of the reasons for choosing GQ route
over Chitoor route, I like to understand that better.

All ideas, suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

Cheers

[hamster]

Please avoid the Chitoor route especially now with the current political situation.
One of my colleagues has been to his native in Andhra on vacation and is yet to return back to Bangalore(was expected on Monday).

If you are leaving Chennai @ 6 AM, with all your breaks and at decent speeds(max 100kph), you will reach Bangalore only by 11 - 11:30 AM, even via GQ.
Expect a lot of buses ferrying the employees to their factories early in the morning till Sriperumbudur. 11-11:30 AM, the peak hour traffic should subsidise.

If still paranoid about it, try the Hosur-Bagalur-Chikkatirupati->Hope Form-> ITPL-> KR Puram-> Tin Factory route. This route has one draw back. You can expect truck traffic after 11 AM all the way before Hope Form till KR Puram.