[EV NXT]

Heard there is stone pelting and vehicles damaged in Krishnagiri. Travelling on the Salem - Bangalore stretch om Sunday and on the Coimbatore - Salem stretch tomorrow. Would that be advisable?

Thanks in advance.

https://www.thenewsminute.com/articl...ttu-172787?amp

[hserus]

Originally Posted by EV NXT

Heard there is stone pelting and vehicles damaged in Krishnagiri. Travelling on the Salem - Bangalore stretch om Sunday and on the Coimbatore - Salem stretch tomorrow. Would that be advisable?

Thanks in advance.

https://www.thenewsminute.com/articl...ttu-172787?amp

Seems to have been a temporary issue, and permission was later granted - which is a mistake, giving in to mobs like this means they'll simply form mobs again to press for whatever they want.

[binand]

Originally Posted by hserus

Seems to have been a temporary issue, and permission was later granted - which is a mistake, giving in to mobs like this means they'll simply form mobs again to press for whatever they want.

On the contrary, I see it as the general public demanding and getting their rights (though the stone pelting is regrettable). It is curious how all permissions materialised quickly once the road block started. And the red-tape involved - why should PWD or revenue departments be even part of this decision making?

Ideally the permission issue should be handled at the panchayat / municipality level.

[Capri89]

Originally Posted by hserus

Seems to have been a temporary issue, and permission was later granted - which is a mistake, giving in to mobs like this means they'll simply form mobs again to press for whatever they want.

Originally Posted by binand

On the contrary, I see it as the general public demanding and getting their rights (though the stone pelting is regrettable).

I think there could be more to it than meets the eye. A political angle cannot be ruled out.

Why object to some village practices purely based on someone's biases. The villagers are quietly going about their life. For some it is fun to stir an Hornets' nest.

[ampere]

Mod Note: Please stick to the road related updates and not make this a political thread.

[jkrishnakj]

A little late to update. We did the trip in my A6. We enjoyed the drive till Kanchi and post that the diversions and traffic took the run away. The diversions aren’t that bad but it slows you down a lot. We could reach Teynampet via Poonamallee road itself, for some reason, traffic wasn’t too heavy. Left home at 4.30 am and was at the hotel by 10.30 am.

The return journey was a mixed bag again. We wanted to visit Mangadu temple. Wife also wanted to just ‘see’ the home we used to live at till 2003. We had to go via Kodambakkam High road. Having left Teynampet at 10 am, we took a very long time to reach Mangadu, thanks to traffic on Kodambakkam road and the metro work all along.

I must say that those parts of Madras were totally unrecognisable for me. Too much seems to have happened recently.

Summary - I used to love the Bangalore-Chennai road trips, but this time, it did appear a lot draining. I’m hoping the roads come back to good shape soon.

[ravib]

Did a weekend trip to Bangalore-Madras-Bangalore via Chittoor route.

Onwards Journey

Started at 5 pm at K.R. Puram on Friday 3rd Feb 2023 and drove non stop (constantly between 90 to 100 kmph) till Kanchipuram Upashana hotel for dinner and reached at 9 pm.
After 30 minutes dinner break, left 9.30 pm at Kanchipuram and reached Pallavaram at 10.45 pm.

The good news as others shared in Chittoor thread is, there are literally no bad roads all the way from K.R. Puram to Chennasamudram toll. (ofcourse, barring the bad joints in AP concrete roads, particularly in the bridges) All the bad sections are now tarred particularly before & after chittoor.

After chennasamudram toll, between Chennasamudram to Kanchipuram, larger sections of new road is completed and bridges/intersections are having diversions without any lane markings, but to be honest there are no craters or bad roads. The roads are tarred and motorable without any problems (some places are bumpy due to patches and up & downs due to old & new roads, which is normal in an under construction section) but nothing much to complain, minus the diversions. So really, no good reason to NOT to take the road or to think about alternate routes, for those who travel towards Madras.

From Kanchipuram to Sriperumbudur, again roads are not bad, except in one diversion after Sunguvarchatram post SIPCOT/Dell factory) where the diversion is really bad and will be a problem for low GC cars. And the worst part is , traffic piles up as vehicles go slowly.

In Sriperumbudur, the service lane is now removed (those small median stones kept in left most side for Trucks to take), so those who normally take that for U turn at Sriperumbudur junction/(old0 Indira gandhi statue junction), may slightly get confused.

So in short, those who head towards Madras is not really going through bad roads, except in only one place.

Return Journey

Started yesterday Sunday 5th Feb 2023 from Pallavaram at 4 pm and luckily not much traffic reached Murugan Idli shop at 5.15 pm, even after driving at constant 90 to 100 kmph speed. 1.15 minutes was really a good time and i felt that may be i can reach home quicker, but my happiness didn't last long.

The worst thing is, those who are heading out of Madras and going towards Bangalore, the road conditions are not that good compared to Madras bound direction. There are no craters as such, but too many diversions and i felt we are driving in service road for 80% of the time and only for small stretches for few kilometers, we drive in broad road.

And even the road surface is not that good even in service roads, won't say horribly bad but in total we get a bad experience because we end up driving in service road, majority of the time.

Left Murugan Idli shop at 5.30 pm with a quick 15 minutes tea break, and just before Sunbeam school, the bridge under construction is a narrow bottle neck with almost only one vehicle can go, so traffic piled up heavily and ended up waiting for 20+ minutes , thus lost all the time i gained till Murugan Idli shop drive.

Overall its a bad experience driving out of Madras, till we cross Chennasamudram Toll.

And then, before Chittoor it was a great feel to finally drive in a motorable tarred road just in front of CMC Chittoor campus. Don't recollect when there was a road there to my memory, in past few years. But finally, it was done and reached Bangalore K.R.Puram at 9.30 pm, with 30 minutes slow moving traffic around Hoskote till Battrahalli due to two accidents.

-Ravi

[saisree]

Originally Posted by ravib

Did a weekend trip to Bangalore-Madras-Bangalore via Chittoor route.

I did a mid-week trip on the same route, and I concur on your observations. Thought the road around Chittoor is tarred, it's a stop gap solution. We need them to be complete as like the rest of the stretch.
Those couple of unmarked speed breakers near the Collector office will be hard to notice during the night travel.

On the whole, the section between Chittoor and Chennai is now a motorable stretch and hope we get the entire section in shape by end of this year.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ravib

In Sriperumbudur, the service lane is now removed (those small median stones kept in left most side for Trucks to take), so those who normally take that for U turn at Sriperumbudur junction/(old0 Indira gandhi statue junction), may slightly get confused.

So in short, those who head towards Madras is not really going through bad roads, except in only one place.

Are you then implying that one need not take the road via Oragadam or the Sunguvarchatram exit? How is Poonamallee and the Metro work till Kathipara?

Did you take the SriPerumbudur-Oragadam road? Similarly how about return? Start from Pallavaram means use of SH120 should be quite easy? No?

[ravib]

Originally Posted by ampere

Are you then implying that one need not take the road via Oragadam or the Sunguvarchatram exit? How is Poonamallee and the Metro work till Kathipara?

Did you take the SriPerumbudur-Oragadam road? Similarly how about return? Start from Pallavaram means use of SH120 should be quite easy? No?

For those who are heading towards Tambaram or further south/south east towards OMR, are still better off to take Sunguvarchatram exit and drive towards Vallakottai/Padappai/Vandalur. Not due to road conditions, but due to lesser traffic.

I didn't go via Poonamallee, but AFAIK, it is still a mess to drive in that section till Kathipara. No positive update !

For both ways to & from Pallavaram, i took straight route SH113 via Sriperumbudur-Kundrathur-Pammal-Pallavaram, because its short, easy, constantly moving traffic (sometimes slow between Kundrathur to Pallavaram) and no signals plus 4L divided highway till Chembarambakkam lake/Chennai bypass before Kundrathur.

-Ravi

[venkyhere]

Just want to reiterate :
For those wanting to travel to south/south-east chennai, kanchipuram-walajabad-oragadam-vandalur-tambaram is still the best option.
One or two bad surface stretches (but for small distance) notwithstanding, this is still the fastest and least traffic plagued route to/from chennai from/to chennasamudram.

In the map snapshot below :
1<->2
the amount of time spent on service roads is much lesser than between 2 and 8, since far more complete main highway sections are present.

8<--> chennai city
this is the whole reason this thread became active. It's a nightmare, even in the middle of the night.

2<->3
lunar craters, can be gingerly negotiated and be done with, since it lasts for hardly 1-1.5km

3<->4
suprisingly good state highway, with the occasional speed breakers and pipeline digging trenches, as well passing a tiny bit through town traffic

4<->5
used to be bad, well laid out freshly tarred section, but without paint marking in last week of Jan

5<->6
4 lane divided, but watch out for sudden potholes, don't go beyond 70-80kph even if tempted, because that speed can be maintained consistently. Exceptions - one terrible district boundary no-mans-land-nobody-will-tar-this megalomaniacal trench near padappai and one bad bangalore like flyover in oragadam.

6<->7
GST road traffic mess (but a child compared to ponamallee area)

7<-> chennai city
depends on luck, especially since this road, despite is wideness has innumerous U-turns and breaks in the median where the turning vehicles stack side by side and wait at signals, leaving an autorickshaw gap for straight moving traffic. Plus of course this road is the only road in the world, where bus stands/depots are in the middle of the road.


Nevertheless, considering the horror story (surface, flashmob like 1/2 hour jams) that is the state of 3<->8<->chennai city , this is still the most dependable option.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by ampere

Are you then implying that one need not take the road via Oragadam or the Sunguvarchatram exit? How is Poonamallee and the Metro work till Kathipara?

Ampere,

I live in Avadi and I can vouch for this. Poonamallee is a mess. AVOID the poonamallee - Kathipara stretch till the metro construction. If I need to go to Airport I take ORR - Thirumudivakkam exit - Thiruneermalai - Ponds Signal - Meenambakkam - Airport.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by ravib

.....
For both ways to & from Pallavaram, i took straight route SH113 via Sriperumbudur-Kundrathur-Pammal-Pallavaram, because its short, easy, constantly moving traffic (sometimes slow between Kundrathur to Pallavaram) and no signals plus 4L divided highway till Chembarambakkam lake/Chennai bypass before Kundrathur.
-Ravi

Ravi, I have a query about SH113 specifically.
I last took SH113 from ORR Kundrathur exit to Sriperumbudur in Nov-2022. Road quality was good then with minimal traffic. Afterwards somebody posted here in TBHP that road surface has deteriorated. How is it now?
Also, while going from Bangalore to Chennai, how does one get on to SH113? Is U-turn permitted near Rajiv Gandhi memorial? or is it further down near the temple arch?
(My destination/starting point is usually Pattabiram. Hence, I find SH113-Madha Engineering College-ORR-Pattaibram convenient until the Sriperumbudur-Poonamallee stretch is fully widened).

[ampere]

Originally Posted by srvm

Also, while going from Bangalore to Chennai, how does one get on to SH113? Is U-turn permitted near Rajiv Gandhi memorial? or is it further down near the temple arch?
(My destination/starting point is usually Pattabiram. Hence, I find SH113-Madha Engineering College-ORR-Pattaibram convenient until the Sriperumbudur-Poonamallee stretch is fully widened).

The U-Turn is not allowed on the 4-lane. I usually go into Sriperumbudur town, take a U and come back and take right.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

6<->7
7<-> chennai city

I do this as a commute on a daily basis. In fact I start about 12 km leading into 7. I don't spend more than 55 to 80 minutes one way for 38-40 kms run and it is dependent on timing you arrive at point 6.

If you want to enter town peacefully you have be at point 6, by 7-730 am, 1030 am-330 pm (ideally by 2 pm if you want to reach before school buses) or after 830 pm.

If your destination is Perugudi and beyond towards Adyar. Best to take 200 feet road.

Use Velachery-Tambaram (perennially slow) or OMR between Perungudi to Navalur (metro work) lesser.

If your destination is closer to Medavakkam, best to take Vandalur-Mambakkam-Ponmar-Medavakkam than Velachery-Tambaram road.

I would avoid Poonamalee-Kathipara entirely till metro work is done. Its a mess. A colleague who commutes 15 km to Mugalivakkam to Taramani takes the same 1 hour as I do, sometimes his commute timings are worser than mine.