[prabhuferrari]

Originally Posted by luvurride

Did a BLR-MAA-BLR early this week. Took the Chittoor route both ways. Onwards took exactly 5 hours from Whitefield to Guindy starting at 7am with a 15min break. Return took 6 hours starting 3pm from Perungalathur with a 30min break. There were rains from Chittoor to Kolar. The good part though is the bad stretch in Mulbagal by-pass and forward has been patched up. So no slowing down necessary! Another compelling reason to use the NH4 now! Also saw a new Adigas near Kolar, looking upscale and shining!

I did this yesterday. Mulbagal stretch has been patched up and is smooth. Also I see that they have begun the road widening work from TN border to Ranipet. Good times ahead.

Meanwhile Adigas is open now. Also in Ranipet the restaurant Virundhu is quite good. Have had twice there and taste is decent. It's not pure veg though, but pretty decent. The worst stretch is now between walajah and sriperumbudur with lots of uneven patches and potholes and melted(!) tar.

[Shiv_1984]

Did a Blore-Chenn-Blore last weekend. Hosur-K'giri has lot of diversions now which will eat up sometime. Onwards, its mostly smooth and easy. Upward journey it took around 7.5 hrs due to the maddening traffic from Ponamalle to Annasalai. Downward was within 5.5 hrs.

[sbkumar]

Did BLR-CHN-BLR over the weekend.
Took the GQ route this time since the time of start was 6.40 PM on Friday.
Reached BETL by 7.20 PM. Had a dinner break for 30 mins at A2B Chinnaar and reached CHN ( Nungambakkam) by 12.45 AM. All the potholes between Ranipet and Sriperumputhur which were there last month are patched up ( although very uneven).

Return trip - Started from nungambakkam around 5.00 PM, reached BLR by 11 PM with a dinner break at A2B again.

There are places where there the patched areas are more than the unpatched surface. Wonder if they have a clause in their contract for re laying the roads after a period of time or under certain circumstances.

It's nice to drive on those 3 laned stretches. Once 3 laning is done for the entire route this should be one comfortable drive although the toll rates seem to increase rapidly to my liking.

[dhuli]

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

Meanwhile Adigas is open now.

Great! Can you indicate on a map or directions where exactly is it located on this stretch. Which direction as one drives from Bangalore to Chittoor? Also, there is a Kamat and a Woodys I remember from a while back. Couple of months back when I drove this section, I didnt notice them! I did wonder if they were below those innumerable flyovers that one zips over.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by dhuli

Great! Can you indicate on a map or directions where exactly is it located on this stretch. Which direction as one drives from Bangalore to Chittoor?

One Adigas I know on this stretch (wasn't open in August when I saw it though) is just about a Km or two after the Kolar Woodys (same side as Woody's) on right side when going from Bangalore towards Kolar. I think I'd posted about this earlier.

[prabhuferrari]

Originally Posted by dhuli

Great! Can you indicate on a map or directions where exactly is it located on this stretch. Which direction as one drives from Bangalore to Chittoor? Also, there is a Kamat and a Woodys I remember from a while back. Couple of months back when I drove this section, I didnt notice them! I did wonder if they were below those innumerable flyovers that one zips over.

It's in the same complex where CCD is there. It comes on the right when you go from bangalore. If am not wrong some few Kms after Kolar.

[CBlazer]

I took the Chithoor route to/from Chennai last weekend.

We started on Friday at around 6.15 pm (was unplanned) and reached KR Puram around 8. We took a 30 minute break at Adigas. Till Mulbagal bye-pass, the roads were pretty good. After the bye-pass the road seems newly patched up and okay. At some places the drive was uncomfortable, but there are no craters really - just worn off surfaces. The real challenge is to drive in the truck traffic at night. There were very few long chassis vehicles though (read the account of my return journey). The real let down was once we reached the GQ after Walajah. The roads are so badly maintained. I wonder what they do with all the toll they collect. I still could do decent speeds, but only because it was well past mid-night. Of course you'll appreciate the divided road after all the waiting behind trucks on single roads.

I left Chennai around 4.20 pm. The GQ close to Chennai was quite busy for a Sunday evening. I had to be more watchful because there were plenty of two-wheelers around. I could make good progress as we neared the first toll-booth. I took a detour at Wallajah after the second toll-booth to join the Chithoor road. We passed through Wallajah and Ranipet towns which slowed us down. Till Chithoor bye-pass the roads were good and traffic was minimal. But from Chithoor onwards the traffic was heavy. This time I came across a lot of long chassis trucks (Hyundai must be selling a lot of cars!). Overtaking these requires a lot of patience on the single roads. Then there were plenty of trucks - some moving at 30, some at 60, but you need to slow down most of the time till it is safe to over take. Of course this time there were a lot of four wheelers returning from Chithoor / Tirupati.

Surprisingly I didn't find many rash drivers except for a white, KA03 x Honda City who was tail gating, with the high-beam flashing constantly. I hope he got home without causing any accidents.

The drive from Mulbagal was pretty good. Stopped for dinner around 9 pm at Adigas. This time the break was almost an hour because the service was slow and the place was crowded. We got home around 11.15 pm.

IMO, I would take this road only for two reasons:

1. I'm sick of long waits at the Krishnagiri, Attibele toll booths on the GQ.
2. I'm okay with driving on single roads. I even find it more involving. (But then a traffic jam on this road must be a nightmare.)

If I could time my journey to avoid the toll booth delays, I would prefer the Hosur route.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by CBlazer

1. I'm sick of long waits at the Krishnagiri, Attibele toll booths on the GQ.
2. I'm okay with driving on single roads. I even find it more involving. (But then a traffic jam on this road must be a nightmare.)

If I could time my journey to avoid the toll booth delays, I would prefer the Hosur route.

Thats the key. For example on a Sunday morning drive, I just lazed through Chittoor side and also absolutely no traffic even on GQ (Chennai-Walajah).

The only issue is, many people dont want to drive in such morning hours as that is their productivity time for the reasons of their visit !

[prabhuferrari]

Originally Posted by ampere

Thats the key. For example on a Sunday morning drive, I just lazed through Chittoor side and also absolutely no traffic even on GQ (Chennai-Walajah).

The only issue is, many people dont want to drive in such morning hours as that is their productivity time for the reasons of their visit !

Another option is deviate at palamaner and go via gudiyattam. By the way this time I saw that there is a road to pernambet from punganur. Tis road joins NH4 around 1 to 2 Kms after you enter AP. How good is this road? If its good then you can reach gudiyattam faster and avoid the check post before palamaner.

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by CBlazer

1. I'm sick of long waits at the Krishnagiri, Attibele toll booths on the GQ.
2. I'm okay with driving on single roads. I even find it more involving. (But then a traffic jam on this road must be a nightmare.)

If I could time my journey to avoid the toll booth delays, I would prefer the Hosur route.

You probably took this route (OMR) at the worst possible time. I would rather take this route If I can time it properly. For any early morning/afternoon start , this route should be fine.

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by CBlazer

IMO, I would take this road only for two reasons:

1. I'm sick of long waits at the Krishnagiri, Attibele toll booths on the GQ.
2. I'm okay with driving on single roads. I even find it more involving. (But then a traffic jam on this road must be a nightmare.)

If I could time my journey to avoid the toll booth delays, I would prefer the Hosur route.

Good. But with the current road widening and deviations, I still prefer the chitoor route. After 2 long years, I tried the Hosur route, and I see that the roads are pretty bad for a toll road. Not to mention the worst conditions in every tolls. They actually do not need any speed breaker. Its so worst.

[prabhuferrari]

I am planning to leave for chennai today at around 3 PM from MG Road. How is the Hosur route now? I want a stress free ride, as I have to drive to Tirupati tomorrow from Chennai and don't want 2 stressed days. Few weeks back when I left for chennai from Hebbal at 3.30 PM, I had a tough time between Chitoor and Ranipet due to the truck traffic and it was bit tough. Also policemen at Kolar catch you if you cross 80 kmph within kolar limits on the expressway! Similar to bangalore they wait with their speed guns(whatever it is called).

Is it worth driving via Hosur? Can I reach Velachery in say 6 hrs driving time?(Plan to take right at sriperumbudur, manimangalam, tambaram, velachery)

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

I am planning to leave for chennai today at around 3 PM from MG Road. How is the Hosur route now? I want a stress free ride, as I have to drive to Tirupati tomorrow from Chennai and don't want 2 stressed days. Few weeks back when I left for chennai from Hebbal at 3.30 PM, I had a tough time between Chitoor and Ranipet due to the truck traffic and it was bit tough. Also policemen at Kolar catch you if you cross 80 kmph within kolar limits on the expressway! Similar to bangalore they wait with their speed guns(whatever it is called).

Is it worth driving via Hosur? Can I reach Velachery in say 6 hrs driving time?(Plan to take right at sriperumbudur, manimangalam, tambaram, velachery)

If you are leaving from MG road, take the road to Forum Mall and continue on the silk board junction and on to elevated highway. 3 PM is stress free time. No worries. I suggest you to go through Hosur. 70 percent of road widening between Hosur and Krishna giri is complete and since you will be driving in day light, no issues either. Beyond Krishnagiri it is a smooth ride.

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

I am planning to leave for chennai today at around 3 PM from MG Road. How is the Hosur route now? I want a stress free ride, as I have to drive to Tirupati tomorrow from Chennai and don't want 2 stressed days. Few weeks back when I left for chennai from Hebbal at 3.30 PM, I had a tough time between Chitoor and Ranipet due to the truck traffic and it was bit tough. Also policemen at Kolar catch you if you cross 80 kmph within kolar limits on the expressway! Similar to bangalore they wait with their speed guns(whatever it is called).

Is it worth driving via Hosur? Can I reach Velachery in say 6 hrs driving time?(Plan to take right at sriperumbudur, manimangalam, tambaram, velachery)

I travelled in the Hosur - Krishnagiri - Vellore route to Madras and back last weekend. My average was 70 kmph.

Many diversions between Krishnagiri and Vellore. Many diversions within Vellore town (some of the flyovers are now not available).

Expect heavy truck traffic between Sriperumbudur and Madras - you'll have to do zig-zag driving in this stretch.

1500 hours is a good time to start. Use the BETL.

Goodluck

[Jammy70]

I will be driving back alone from Chennai to Bangalore on Thursday - probably around 11am - in my Honda City. I haven't taken the Chittoor route in a long while - probably 6 years now. I am tired of the Hosur route due to its drabness (once I nearly dozed off at the wheel!).

Is it a good option to take the Chittoor route for a change, if I am leaving Chennai around 11am? Your advise will be helpful.