[Nalin1]

I drove down to Chennai from Bangalore on Monday and returned the same day. Took the Hosur road. But as I start from old airport road, this is a bit too far. The old Madras road via Chittoor is better I think. I again need to go to Chennai next week and this time I plan to take the OMR. Two and half years ago, I had returned to Bangalore on that route and I had got stuck in horrible traffic in some stretches. I sorely missed the super NH via Hosur.

But now I heard that this route via Chittoor is also a beautiful highway.

Can regular Bangalore/Chennai commuters confirm this? How good is that route/road?
Are there good restaurants on the way? Any Reliance bunks on the way?

Thanks in advance!

[tharian]

Originally Posted by Nalin1

I drove down to Chennai from Bangalore on Monday and returned the same day. Took the Hosur road. But as I start from old airport road, this is a bit too far. The old Madras road via Chittoor is better I think. I again need to go to Chennai next week and this time I plan to take the OMR. Two and half years ago, I had returned to Bangalore on that route and I had got stuck in horrible traffic in some stretches. I sorely missed the super NH via Hosur.

But now I heard that this route via Chittoor is also a beautiful highway.

Can regular Bangalore/Chennai commuters confirm this? How good is that route/road?
Are there good restaurants on the way? Any Reliance bunks on the way?

Thanks in advance!

You can refer post 3217 for the update from couple of months back.
There is a short stretch of bad roads after Chittoor, else it is good roads.

[Sk8r]

Originally Posted by Nalin1

I drove down to Chennai from Bangalore on Monday and returned the same day. Took the Hosur road. But as I start from old airport road, this is a bit too far. The old Madras road via Chittoor is better I think. I again need to go to Chennai next week and this time I plan to take the OMR. Two and half years ago, I had returned to Bangalore on that route and I had got stuck in horrible traffic in some stretches. I sorely missed the super NH via Hosur.

But now I heard that this route via Chittoor is also a beautiful highway.

Can regular Bangalore/Chennai commuters confirm this? How good is that route/road?
Are there good restaurants on the way? Any Reliance bunks on the way?

Thanks in advance!

Hey Nalin !

I plan to drive to Basavanapura, Bangalore. I read through the pages and understood that Ranipet -> Chitoor route is better and I see you are planning to travel this week.
Please post your views here on how the journey was if you did go by this route.

Thanks !!

[csateesh]

Originally Posted by narayans80

.. If it is Annanagar (West or East), Sriperumbudur-Manimangalam-Mudichur-Tambaram-Bypass-Maduravoyal will avoid everything until Maduravoyal, this ofcourse adds kms.


If your destination is Mogappair closer to DAV/Spartan school I remember there is a route via Thiruverkadu. I had been this way years back, not in recent years.

For East Annanagar/Shanti Colony there is no escape, you either have to wade through PH Road or Ring Road traffic. This is regardless of which way you enter, Nelson Manickam Road/Ring Road from Vadapalani or Maduravoyal.

Ambattur-Padi junction route is even worser

Hi Narayan - The route "Sriperumbudur-Manimangalam-Mudichur-Tambaram-Bypass-Maduravoyal" you indicated in this post is this one right ?

Don't mind taking this route if I don't need to fight for space.

I need to get to Shanthi Colony and a little after and am tired of getting stuck in traffic. Your confirmation will be really appreciated

Would really be nice if you can help me with the Thiruverkadu route too

Cheers

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by csateesh

The route "Sriperumbudur-Manimangalam-Mudichur-Tambaram-Bypass-Maduravoyal" you indicated in this post is this one right ?

The turnoff from Sriperumbudur is on the bypass itself. Also you can get on the bypass from the Manimangalam-Mudichur road itself IIRC. So all the extra stuff of going through Mannivakkam-Vandalur-GST is not necessary.

There are couple of variants like taking Sriperumbudur-Oragadam-Vandalur-Bypass or Sunguvarchatram-SH 120-Oragadam-Vandalur-Bypass.

The right turnoff at Sriperumbudur can take sometime, took me 5 min last Saturday.

Ideally, if you can drive under lights. I'd suggest starting 830-9 pm from Bangalore. You'll be ahead of the private, KSRTC buses, you'll beat the office buses around Sriperumbudur-Kanchipuram. You'll reach home around 2-230 am. I did this 3 back to back weekends this summer and it was a peaceful drive. All this driving very conservatively at 80s and 90s mostly.

Would really be nice if you can help me with the Thiruverkadu route too

I've never taken this from Thiruverkadu side, but only remember from Mogappair side. You have go straight past Spartan school towards Ambattur. There is one spot where there is a sharp right towards Ambattur, its the left from here that takes some narrow roads and joins NH4 at Thiruverkadu. I've seen this multiple times as a passenger 25-30 years back when my father drove. Never needed to take it myself, so am unaware how this route is currently.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by csateesh

I need to get to Shanthi Colony and a little after and am tired of getting stuck in traffic. Your confirmation will be really appreciated

If the location for destination that you marked on Google is correct, isn't the Manimangalam option a big detour?

Just start early and keep going past Poonamallee? Doesn't that seem a better option?

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ampere

Just start early and keep going past Poonamallee? Doesn't that seem a better option?

I once got stuck in a massive 15 minute jam just ahead of Outer Ring Road junction at 1 am ! Getting from Sriperumbudur/Nemili toll to home depends much on your karma that day

Unless its odd hours, I haven't bothered taking the straight-in/out route in 2 years. Traffic jams happen for no reason throughout this stretch.

[narayans80]

Many potholes have cropped up on SH120 (SH48-Sunguvarchatram), there are about 3 places where one side of the road is being repaired. I did the stretch at 60-70 and was manageable, high speeds may not be advisable.

Walajah-Poonamalee is full of patchwork now and the monsoon is yet to officially begin. That one junction in Poonamalee bypass and Arvind Eye Hospital junction (that connects NH4 to SH55) are yet to be repaired. GMaps said it was faster through Poonamalee than the bypass on Saturday night

[prabhuferrari]

Drove to Bangalore (Bharatiya city in north bangalore) today from Saligramam, Chennai. Started from Chennai at 5.15 and came via the Ranipet-Tiruvalam-VIT-Chitoor route. Took me just 4.5 hours for the entire journey. This is my fastest in this sector. 3 hours and 10 mins to Kolar. Mainly due to the excellent roads from Chitoor onwards. For around 18 kms from TN Border to chitoor collectorate the road is quite bad with lots of diversions, but if one can bear that it is totally worth it. Compared to Pallikonda-Gudiyattam-Palamaner this is faster by about 20 min.

[narayans80]

Couple more reasons to avoid entering town via Porur:

1. Massive jam from Porur flyover until Saravana Stores at 1030 pm (that's right it is PM not AM).
2. From that traffic signal till Butt Road one lane is blocked for metro.

So life's gonna be beautiful in this route in the upcoming days.

With Pallavaram flyover and another Saravana Stores in Pallavaram, got to figure out some other alternate to get out of town

[manjubp]

Planning to visit IIT Chennai campus, after a long long time. Plan to start at 5AM from Bangalore West, near nice road entry.

Please can any one suggest a less congested road to reach IIT campus at Adyar, specially after reaching Sriperumbudur, also planning to return starting from IIT campus at 11AM, any suggestion on return path to Sriperumbudur.

I wouldn't mind driving another 20-30kms, for a less traffic and no need to fight for space route over congested roads.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by manjubp

Planning to visit IIT Chennai campus, after a long long time. Plan to start at 5AM from Bangalore West, near nice road entry.

Please can any one suggest a less congested road to reach IIT campus at Adyar, specially after reaching Sriperumbudur, also planning to return starting from IIT campus at 11AM, any suggestion on return path to Sriperumbudur.

I wouldn't mind driving another 20-30kms, for a less traffic and no need to fight for space route over congested roads.

If its peak hours at chennai, then I prefer taking the route via Oragadam, Vandalur, Tambaram to Guindy/Adyar.

https://goo.gl/maps/GMEtwojFmZcnzSm97

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by manjubp

Planning to visit IIT Chennai campus

I work on its backyard. I'd avoid arriving/departing around 11 am. Around 1pm is relatively free.

From Tambaram, take the Pallavaram 200 ft Road-Thoraipakkam-Tidel-Madhya Kailash. The Pallavaram Saravana stores junction, bridge construction are a mess anytime.

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

Drove to Bangalore (Bharatiya city in north bangalore) today from Saligramam, Chennai. Started from Chennai at 5.15 and came via the Ranipet-Tiruvalam-VIT-Chitoor route. Took me just 4.5 hours for the entire journey. This is my fastest in this sector. 3 hours and 10 mins to Kolar. Mainly due to the excellent roads from Chitoor onwards. For around 18 kms from TN Border to chitoor collectorate the road is quite bad with lots of diversions, but if one can bear that it is totally worth it. Compared to Pallikonda-Gudiyattam-Palamaner this is faster by about 20 min.

Need some feedback on this alternate route between Chennai and Bangalore. I came to Chennai for a holiday, and have been at the Taj Fishermans cove for the last 3 days. While coming I took the Bangalore Hosur Krishnagiri route, which took me about 5.5 hours in total. Tomorrow I plan to leave fishermans cove off ECR road at around 11:30 in the morning, so im guessing I might run in to Electronic City and Outer Ring Road traffic in Bangalore when I reach at around 4:30. And plus, I stay near Phoenix mall, Mahadevapura in Bangalore, so Im trying to see if the route via chitoor is a good option. Are the roads 4 lane or partial state highways passing thru small towns?

Although google maps does not show a big difference in time in both the routes, I was inclined towards the usual Krishnagiri route since one can easily make up time in that route since the route does not pass thru any major town.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by motorworks

And plus, I stay near Phoenix mall, Mahadevapura in Bangalore, so Im trying to see if the route via chitoor is a good option. Are the roads 4 lane or partial state highways passing thru small towns?

Although google maps does not show a big difference in time in both the routes, I was inclined towards the usual Krishnagiri route since one can easily make up time in that route since the route does not pass thru any major town.

Given the current condition with heavy rains, from safety perspective, please stick to Hosur, Krishnagiri route for this trip when you return.
Chittoor to Bangalore is excellent 4L roads, but between Ranipet to Chittoor road constructions are going on and not fully ready. So i won't advise Chittoor route at this time when it is raining.

Yesterday i drove from Madras to Bangalore and took Vellore, Krishnagiri and Hsour route. Though i stay in C.V.Raman Nagar, i still took just because of heavy rains throughout the way. 6L roads are much safer compared to 2L roads. Even then visibility was low due to heavy rains.

From road conditions update wise, Poonamalle-Sriperumbudur-Chennasamudram toll plaza the roads are very bad and too many pot holes forcing people to drive zig zag way and endangering other road users. The worst part is in Sriperumbudur Nemili toll FastTag lane, right in front of toll collection booth, there are multiple pot holes. Who cares!

This topic of 110 kms bad roads between Chennasamudram to Madras is discussed in length. There is no use even complaining to NHAI as is beaten to death. .

All the toll collection money paid is an utter waste. Sorry for the whine. Sigh!

-Ravi