[pypkmsrikanth]

The service lane is not in great condition in and around Thiruneermalai. Also as of now there is no access from the Service lane to the Byepass. Even when there is a temporary access to Byepass from the service lane you can only join the Byepass towards Maduravayol and not Tambaram side. You could though take the right and join the Thiruneermalai Road, but like I mentioned the road condition is extremely bad.

[narayans80]

Saw some broken pieces of road (looks crater-ish) near Baluchettichatram and Madhanur, both on the left side of the road during the weekend trip.

Had breakfast at Hotel Ganesh (62 kms on the left going from Madras), was OK-ish. Was almost empty when we went around 815 am. Same case with Hotel Brindavanam (173 kms from Madras, 5-10 kms before Madhanur - on the left coming from Bangalore)

[Capitalson]

Hey all, it's true that we have world-class roads now, in India. Believe me, i would rate our roads higher than that in USA!!! But for long-runners like me, those old days and roads were the best. I have done lots of long-runnings. My longest was from Gurgaon to Madurai in T.N. And have done innumerable trips between 1)Madurai to Chennai and 2)Madurai to Bangalore.

Before GQ, the highway was fully lined with big trees on both the sides. Apart from giving shade they had one more use. Lorries/buses could bang against them to come to stop in case of brake-failure!!! Jokes apart, you could park anywhere in order to take a short break, answer nature's call etc. And there were lots of eateries and tea shops. On Dinidivanam stretch there were lots of parotta shops that bore the names of Rajni movies, like Arunachalam, Muthu, Veera, Annaamalai, etc. And regular travelers like me were able to advice others in terms of were to find the nearest puncture-shops, good restaurants, tea shops and other useful stuff.

Today, you need to take a detour into the nearest town to get anything.

Am i right or am i getting hopelessly old???

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by DWind

4. Saw a road pointing Tambaram parallel to Chennai bye pass. I guess this is the service lane. How is this road? Can I take this road to join the Tiruneermalai road so that I can reach GST faster?

Where exactly did you see this road?

[ramanan.skr]

Originally Posted by Capitalson

Hey all, it's true that we have world-class roads now, in India. Believe me, i would rate our roads higher than that in USA!!! But for long-runners like me, those old days and roads were the best. I have done lots of long-runnings. My longest was from Gurgaon to Madurai in T.N. And have done innumerable trips between 1)Madurai to Chennai and 2)Madurai to Bangalore.

Before GQ, the highway was fully lined with big trees on both the sides. Apart from giving shade they had one more use. Lorries/buses could bang against them to come to stop in case of brake-failure!!! Jokes apart, you could park anywhere in order to take a short break, answer nature's call etc. And there were lots of eateries and tea shops. On Dinidivanam stretch there were lots of parotta shops that bore the names of Rajni movies, like Arunachalam, Muthu, Veera, Annaamalai, etc. And regular travelers like me were able to advice others in terms of were to find the nearest puncture-shops, good restaurants, tea shops and other useful stuff.

Today, you need to take a detour into the nearest town to get anything.

Am i right or am i getting hopelessly old???

Thats true. I still remember when I was a kid, once during a trip to Ooty, in that old Mahindra Van, the van will be halted under any road side tree shades on the way to lunch together & chat. Being kids, we used to play a lot even during those short intervals.
But, it used to be a sedate travel taking more than 16 hours to reach Ooty from Chennai, all on the 2-laned NH4/NH46/NH7.
Those nostalgic moments are still fresh in my memories.

[santhosh_kumard]

Originally Posted by mail4loys

You can try Sriperumbudur->Kunrathur (SH113)->Anakaputhur->Pamal->Pallavaram (NH45)-> Take the palavaram flyover to SH109->Killkattali->pallikarani->Thoraipakkam

Thank you mail4loys for the suggestion.

Last week I did
Sriperumbudur->Kunrathur (SH113)->Tambaram->Thoraipakkam

as part of my Bangalore->Chennai->Bangalore. The road is excellent and I could cover the return trip in under 5:30 (1 break @ A2B) without going above 110 at any time.

From Tambaram, I took the SH-110 to exit out from GST road and as the road crosses the bypass ( bridge) I took the service lane towards the right and continued till I hit SH-113. The route might be bit longer, but it gave a peaceful road with sparse traffic on sunday evening.

[bandlimitedlife]

4. Saw a road pointing Tambaram parallel to Chennai bye pass. I guess this is the service lane. How is this road? Can I take this road to join the Tiruneermalai road so that I can reach GST faster?

This is not service lane, it will take you right through tambaram. Once while I drove back from Pondi to Bangalore Via Mahabalipuram (The opposite direction of what you are talking), I saw the road to tambaram near dakshinachitra. Got by going all the way round about through industrial estates and finally taking bypass to hit the chennai blr road near hyundai factory. Road was excellent but very very long. Added about an hour and half to my journey.

[DWind]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Where exactly did you see this road?

I saw this board after crossing the bridge across River Adyar, marked by the Red arrow in the attached map. If it was the Service lane then I thought I could take it to go to Tiruneermalai road which has sparse traffic than Pammal road to reach GST Road (marked by Green lines)

[narayans80]

Is the work on Bangalore ORR complete ? or is it still a mess ? I'd be return from near Marathahalli Staples to Madras. Better to take the left at Sarjapur Road and continue towards Attibele ? Wondering if there are any safety issues related to the mugging incidents driving a TN registered car ?

A related question (unable to find the ORR thread and not worth starting a new thread for), how do i get from Yeshwantpur to Marathahalli ? Is the traffic better on Sunday morning hours on ORR ?

[bandlimitedlife]

@narayans80

Work is going on in the ORR but it is not a mess . Somebody has planned the turns well and avoided lot of confusion I must say.

Sunday mornings should not be a problem anyways !!!

To get from Yeswantpur to Marathalli there are different routes:

1) Take the Ring road from Tumkur road to hebbal to kr puram to m'halli may be quite long distance.

2) Come from Ypur --> Malleswaram --> Guttalli --> Cunnigham Rd --> Infatry Rd(commissioners office) --> Old Airport Road --> Marathalli

[prabhuferrari]

I would like to know how the infamous election commission checks are in the Bangalore-Chennai route? Are there many points from Hosur to Chennai where they check if you carry lots of cash?

Am planning to travel to Chennai by Wednesday early morning(Around 4.30). I would drive via chitoor route if the checks are too many between hosur and chennai (Not that am carrying lots of cash :P)

If anyone has traveled recently in this route, please share your experience on the checks.

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

I would like to know how the infamous election commission checks are in the Bangalore-Chennai route? Are there many points from Hosur to Chennai where they check if you carry lots of cash?
If anyone has traveled recently in this route, please share your experience on the checks.

My friend driven down from Chennai to Bangalore yesterday. He was not stopped anywhere and able to reach Bangalore within 5hrs.

Thanks
Rajesh

[slakhs]

Updates on eateries

A MCDonald's is coming up (or already opened) adjacent to Krishna Inn / CCD before Shoolagiri.

Dhaba Express has opened about 76 Kms to Bangalore (towards Bangalore side), 7 KM before Chinnar A2B, attached to an IOC bunk.

Slakhs

[DWind]

I had done a trip to Vellore over the weekend. The Roads between Damal and SriPerambadur is extremely bumpy. Especially the Sunguvarchatiram bye-pass (from Bangalore side). No matter what speed you go, you will feel you are on a roller-coaster.

[narayans80]

Thanks Akshay. I dont mind the extra distance as long as i can drive in peace ORR was a big mess back in Nov 2009 (esp the stretch from Sarjapura turnoff all the way to HSR going into the bumpy roads inside HSR layout. If this stretch from Marathahalli to Silk Board is good i could take that and go via BETL than do speed bump hunting on Sarjapura route.
~~~~
DWind, Agreed! the return route to Madras has become undulated from Damal all the way until Pennalur toll.
~~~~
slakhs, McD is already open I think. Saw it while refueling at HP a month back. Is the Dhaba Express good ?
~~~~~
Thinking of doing the Chittoor route, on a nostalgic note. How painful is the 4-laning work ?