[procrj]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

I found the roads to be bad between Poonamallee and Ranipet. The rest is such a beautiful road.

Timing is almost the same on both routes but the difference is 1) proximity to final destination 2) lesser volume of traffic 3) much lesser toll charges

Did Anna nagar - Katpadi - Chittoor - North BLR in little less than 5 hours of drive time on 25th Dec with a 4.15am start. With similar start times, I have taken around 5.5 hours of drive time via Krishangiri. NICE road to get home adds time whereas it's lesser distance from KR Puram to North BLR.

[anandhsub]

Horrible traffic while entering Chennai today. Took 45 mins for a 10 km stretch between Pleasant days resort and Poonamallee. In total took 1 hr 30 mins from Sriperumbudur toll plaza to Valasaravakkam ( 12 45 pm to 2 15 pm) The truck traffic was so high I skipped the Chennai bypass and took Poonamallee flyover. Not sure what was the reason. Next time am thinking to take the Sriperumbudur- Kundrathur route to hit Porur.

[pgupta]

Planning for a darshan in Kanchipuram Kamakshi temple in first week of Jan from Bangalore . If we start by 5am can we reach by 9:30am ? And can we get darshan by noon or should we plan for evening darshan instead ? I also understand that car parking is not easy so that can take time too. Need to return the same day so can't stay overnight. Looking for input on how to plan the trip properly. Thanks.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by pgupta

Planning for a darshan in Kanchipuram Kamakshi temple in first week of Jan from Bangalore . If we start by 5am can we reach by 9:30am ? And can we get darshan by noon or should we plan for evening darshan instead ? I also understand that car parking is not easy so that can take time too. Need to return the same day so can't stay overnight. Looking for input on how to plan the trip properly. Thanks.

If i were you I would start by 4:30 max to avoid long queues at various tolls. If you are anywhere near Indira Nagar, Whitefield etc take the Chittoor Kolar route.

You can buy special entry tickets, though if you tip one of the archakars hanging around outside the sannadhi 500 bucks + the special entry ticket cost, you'll get in even faster and come back with a garland or two + an extra special darshan besides.

The temple is open till 12:15 so unless you're headed there during a festival you have plenty of time.

[saisree]

Did Chittoor-Ranipet-Pinji -Manimangalam-Tambaram-Rajakilpakkam yesterday. Constant speeds of 80-90 kmph. Sparse traffic. Made it in 2:30 hrs flat. Fastag at Chennasamudram toll was fantastic. Yet to deduct the toll fee

[Jagann13]

Can someone shed some light on the road conditions of the Poonamallee - Sriperumbudur - Vellore - Vaniyambadi stretch?

We are planning to drive to Yelagiri this weekend. We are yet to plan the timings. This could help!

[saisree]

Originally Posted by Jagann13

Can someone shed some light on the road conditions of the Poonamallee - Sriperumbudur - Vellore - Vaniyambadi stretch?

We are planning to drive to Yelagiri this weekend. We are yet to plan the timings. This could help!

Nice Roads. Start early to miss containers, office and college buses. You can happily drive at decent speeds. Fastag works in all the tolls flawlessly.

[ramanan.skr]

Originally Posted by Jagann13

Can someone shed some light on the road conditions of the Poonamallee - Sriperumbudur - Vellore - Vaniyambadi stretch?

Poonamallee - Sriperumpudur: This section is generally crowded. Even at 7AM, on any weekday you can see an overflowing of vehicles. Expect surprise potholes. If you are someone who is staying close to the Southern side of Madras(like OMR or Adyar), try to avoid this stretch by going through Tambaram - Manimangalam.

Sriperumpudur - Walajapet - 4 Lane stretch, the surface is more or less even and potholes are patched up.

Walajapet - Vaniyambadi - Faster 6 Lane.

Vaniyambadi - Yelagiri Foot hills- Towards the end of the Vaniyambadi bypass, get onto the Tirupattur road. 2 Lane Road. Not so good section for 12 kms.

Yelagiri Ghat: Nothing much to complain. Normal ghat road with a couple of narrow sections.

Generally, it takes 3.45 to 4 hours from Poonamallee with breaks. Better to start early to avoid traffic.

[Jagann13]

Originally Posted by saisree

Nice Roads. Start early to miss containers, office and college buses. You can happily drive at decent speeds. Fastag works in all the tolls flawlessly.

Thank you for the updates!

Originally Posted by ramanan.skr

[b]

Generally, it takes 3.45 to 4 hours from Poonamallee with breaks. Better to start early to avoid traffic.

Thanks for the breakup. We are starting from Ambattur and I am also aware of the tinkering works near the Parivakkam signal before Nazarathpet. One of the worst highways close to the city limits, I would say!

So, the roads are good after Sriperumbudur which is a good thing! Also, being Pongal I hope to see less traffic as many people would have fled away to their natives!

[gurminder_81]

Did BLR->CHENNAI->BLR Stretch yesterday, 19th Jan.
Started from home(Kasavanahalli Area) at 6:05 AM and reached Medavakkam, Chennai (Via Tambaram) at 11:35 AM with a ~25 mins break at A2B, Arcot.

Return journey was from the same route, and started exactly at 2:00 PM from Medavakkam and reached home at 7:10 PM without any break.

Drove consistently at speeds of about 95-105, which returned a mileage of ~23.7 kmpl in my 2014 Honda Amaze diesel over a distance of ~657 kms.

FASTag worked flawlessly at all the toll booths. There were hardly any vehicles during the onward journey, however, there was much larger crowd in Attibelle toll during the return journey. Having FASTag definitely helped move quicker, but was feeling pity for those in CASH lanes.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Jagann13

So, the roads are good after Sriperumbudur which is a good thing! Also, being Pongal I hope to see less traffic as many people would have fled away to their natives!

But you still can expect traffic. Only after Ranipet toll, the road opens up.

[Kannan]

I stay in Kalyan Nagar, Bengaluru and planning to go to Tambarm, Chennai. Am Planning to start around 5:00am on Tuesday in the morning.

My route is generally via Hosur, Krishnagiri, Vellore route. But for me it takes lot of time to just cross the Electronic City from Kalyan Nagar.

Google Maps shows the route of Kolar, Chittoor, Ranipet route. But my friends say the Chittoor route to Ranipet is not as good as the Hosur, Krishnagiri, Vellore route. The road is pretty bad and my Suzuki Ritz hatchback will not be able to handle the pot holes.

But one of my friend also suggested to take Kolar, Palamaner, Gudiyattam, Arcot route. Has anyone tried this route? Is it as good as Hosur, Krishnagiri, Vellore route?

[procrj]

Originally Posted by Kannan

But my friends say the Chittoor route to Ranipet is not as good as the Hosur, Krishnagiri, Vellore route

Chittoor bypass - Ranipet is the WIP section. Most of this route has good tarmac on one side of the 4L. Any car can do this section of the route. You also have the option of driving through Katpadi - Vellore instead of Ranipet. Hoskote - Chittoor is great and I would definitely recommend this route over Krishangiri or any other route for North & East BLR folks.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Kannan

I stay in Kalyan Nagar, Bengaluru and planning to go to Tambarm, Chennai. Am Planning to start around 5:00am on Tuesday in the morning.

If you do early morning 4/5AM, I would still recommend Krishnagiri. Because of that awesome 6-lane from Krishnagiri to Ranipet. And also the good places which open up early.

If it gets late, then Chitoor is better. But I am *NOT* very impressed with the 4-lane work. Its very bumpy. I hope they add a layer of tar on top.

And of course the Sriperumbdur-Manimangalam-Tabaram needs to be used.

[anandhsub]

Originally Posted by Kannan

I stay in Kalyan Nagar, Bengaluru and planning to go to Tambarm, Chennai. Am Planning to start around 5:00am on Tuesday in the morning.

But one of my friend also suggested to take Kolar, Palamaner, Gudiyattam, Arcot route. Has anyone tried this route? Is it as good as Hosur, Krishnagiri, Vellore route?

As Ampere said the problem with a 5 am start is no eateries on the highway until Walajah which is nearly 250 kms from the start. Hence would recommend to stick to Hosur. What little time you lose before Attibele you will make it up easily. Also it being a weekday am not sure how the traffic in the Chittoor-Ranipet single lane will be since you will be hitting this section in peak hours. Have only ever done this on a weekend.

In case you still want to take the Kolar route stick to Chittoor unless you want to do this at leisure and want to check out the Palamner ghat. This is quite circuitous (but scenic) and would add 30mins easily. This made sense when the entire stretch from Mulbagal to Chittoor was under construction but not now.