[ampere]

Originally Posted by zoombiee

Crossing Sarjapur is a pain, sometimes traffic gets stuck there in those narrow lanes and there is nothing you can do.

If you are heading to North Bangalore, one does not need to get into Sarjapur town. Instead continue of 207 via Chikka Tirupathi and reach the junction where ITPL road meets 207 (beyond Hope Farm Junction).

[hothatchaway]

Hi all,

Work is taking me to chennai from Bangalore and am getting to drive all the way to chennai which allows me to mix business with pleasure This thread has a wealth of info and wish I could plough through it all but the trip has come up at very short notice and I leave tomorrow evening, so a few questions which if veterans on this thread can help answer and save me the research

Want to stick to the GQ and hopefully avoid any part of AP due to the telengana issue, whats the route i.e. what towns do I go through?

Plan on leaving straight from office (which is in Bellandur ORR) by 5 PM tomorrow, should I take the Hosur road flyover from Madiwala and into NH4 and then straight on? Is it NH4 all the way to Chennai?

The inevitable question which is road condition, availability of petrol on the route, places to eat etc suggestions welcome.

Need to reach Nungambakam for which I need to take the Poonamalai road from the highway, any deviations, obscure turns etc I need to watch out for?

General route related advise like deviations, turns etc which one can get inside info only on TBHP!

Thanks in advance

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Plan on leaving straight from office (which is in Bellandur ORR) by 5 PM tomorrow, should I take the Hosur road flyover from Madiwala and into NH4 and then straight on? Is it NH4 all the way to Chennai?

The inevitable question which is road condition, availability of petrol on the route, places to eat etc suggestions welcome.

It is a combination of NH 7, NH 48 & NH 4.
Yes you need to take BETL / Electronics city fly over and go via Hosur. Be prepared for traffic snarls at Attibele toll booth and KA- TN border. There were few posts on this thread about bye-passing Attibele by taking NH 207 via Bagalur, however it may become bit confusing while travelling first time.
Once you cross Hosur traffic will be considerably less and after Krishnagiri road opens up.
This is the route to follow
For food and fuel you can stop at HP COCO or BP COCO around 70KMS from Silkboard at Shoolagiri. HP has a MacD, Coffee day and veg restaurant along. While BP has a Adayar Anand Bhavan restaurant, this BP bunk maynot be easily visible now due to a flyover construction in front of the same. Do remember fuel in TN is cheaper than KA. There are few diversions on way due to 6 laning of the road which are well marked hence not an issue. However since you will be travelling mostly in night keep an eye for road work.
Once you reach Krishnagiri (soon after Krishnagiri toll) you will cross one flyover, you need to take left from the second flyover. Look out for Chennai, Vellore on signboards. Again there is road work going on there so movement will be bit slow. Route straight (NH7) takes you to Salem- Madurai.
Once you take this left it is pretty much straight road till Chennai crossing Vellore- Sriperumbadur.

Also since you need to go towards Nungabakkam I guess it will be better for you take left on reaching Poonamalle (Below flyover) and proceed towards Koyambedu. My usual destination is Vadapalani and I usually take this route to avoid traffic on Ponnamalle high road. Once you reach Koyamdedu flyover based on your location you can either take right or go straight.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

It is a combination of NH 7, NH 48 & NH 4.

Its NH46. Suhas.

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

General route related advise like deviations, turns etc which one can get inside info only on TBHP!

Suhas has answered all for you. Some pointers :

- If you can leave by 4PM, even better. After 5 traffic starts piling up at Silk board. 4PM would be much better
- Hosur-Krishnagiri is biggest stress of all. Once you cross, traffic thins out but you get lots of deviations. But you should be able to manage.
- Shoolagiri has a CCD, MAC, A2B, Kamat etc. You can choose. Since you are leaving tomorrow, I dont expect any crowd at these places. During weekend they are packed.
- Poonamalle has a good bypass. When you see the flyover which points to Poonamallee, dont take it. Keep on the bypass road. Take the exit after Koyembedu.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

While BP has a Adayar Anand Bhavan restaurant, this BP bunk maynot be easily visible now due to a flyover construction in front of the same.

Yes, the Shoolagiri A2B & BP bunk are easy to miss now since the entry to the place is ahead. An alternative food stop could be Aryaas about 4-5 Km ahead of this place.

Once you reach Krishnagiri (soon after Krishnagiri toll) you will cross one flyover, you need to take left from the second flyover. Look out for Chennai, Vellore on signboards.

Thanks to the construction activity you cannot miss the Chennai exit now
The flyover to bypass the Chennai Road (NH46) junction is not complete so you will end up going on the old service lane and will see the signal and sign for Chennai where one needs to turn left.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by NPV

Thanks to the construction activity you cannot miss the Chennai exit now

True, not sure when they are going to finish off this work. It is ongoing since last 1.5 years or so. Last time I traveled on a Monday evening there was no construction workers to be seen also.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Hi all,

Need to reach Nungambakam for which I need to take the Poonamalai road from the highway, any deviations, obscure turns etc I need to watch out for?

General route related advise like deviations, turns etc which one can get inside info only on TBHP!

Thanks in advance

Here are the directions to reach Nungambakkam -http://goo.gl/maps/qv6Zq

I've marked the points of confusion so you can be careful:

B - Thirumazhisai turn-off: This is the first signal you'll encounter. An indication that from here on, you need to watch out for the correct turns.
G - Poonamallee town entrance: When you drive down, you'll see a flyover leading up. DO NOT take it, but stay on the left to continue on the left.
F - Poonamallee bye-pass road turn-off that leads to Porur: STAY ON LEFT lanes to continue straight as the right lanes will lead you to take the turn.
E - Koyambedu flyover: Climb the flyover and keep it straight.
H - ANNA Arch Signal: At this junction, you'll see the Arch to your left. Be cautious and move on to the right lane as you need to make the next immediate right turn.
C - Aminjikkarai Signal: Take the right turn here (You'll see Ampa Skywalk Mall to your right bang on the junction) which will lead you to Loyola College where you enter Nungambakkam.

If you can be specific about where in Nungambakkam you need to go to, I can guide as Nungambakkam features a lot of one-ways.

For food, if you start 5pm from ORR, you'll reach the COCO outlets near Shoolagiri by 6.30-7pm. That might be too early for dinner.

I believe there is a road side vegetarian restaurant that has opened up somewhere between Krishnagiri and Vellore which would be ideal for your timing.

Some one who has travelled in this route recently might help as its been more than a year since I've taken the NH46 to Chennai, have been patronizing Chittoor route lately!

[ravib]

Did a peaceful drive from Bangalore-Chittoor-Madras-Tiruttani-Nagari-Madras-Bangalore trip in last 4 days.

After reading news reports on 13th Sept Friday, that there will be a 48 hour bandh in AP due to telengana protests, on 14th Sept consciously took the risky decision to go via Chittoor route this time to reach Madras as i was tired of driving in GQ. For couple of reasons, i personally prefer NH4 instead of GQ

- Easy & quick to exit city (K.R. Puram) and get on to highways in less than 10 minutes from C.V.Raman Nagar.
- Shorter distance to Madras compared to GQ
- Less tolls to pay
- Consistently i get better FE (easily 15 kmpl in my i20 petrol car with 100% A/C)
- Not driving in high speeds (100+ kmph) for longer periods. Most of the drive is about 70 to 90 kmph leading to better FE and less risky too. (At times in GQ, i get speed sickness due to spikes and drop in speeds (100+ kmph in empty roads and 20 kmph in diversions )

Coming back to the route updates, since i was leaving home around 7 am in the morning on 14th Sept, didn't want to go via GQ and told my wife in advance that incase, if there are roadblock protests, we may have to drive additional kms and join GQ wherever possible. She agreed with some hesitation. Started the drive at 7 am and reached Madras Tambaram Sanitorium at 12 :30 pm including 30 minutes break.

Though it was a bandh day, there were surprisingly no protests anywhere and things were normal all throughout in NH4. Infact it was more peaceful to drive now in NH4 as there is not even a single APSRTC/KSRTC bus plying in this route. Only few trucks and private vehicles are traveling and hence very less traffic. I considered myself lucky and my bet to take NH4 worked well !

Upto Mulbagal, the 2 toll booths are all set to become operational and they are noting down all the vehicles plying through the route, but not collecting money at the moment though all the gates are fully staffed and working like a regular toll.
I asked when they will start collecting money, but they are unsure and said it is trial runs.

Toll rate after Hoskote : Rs. 15 / -
Toll rate before Mulbagal : Rs. 61 /-


I took Sriperumbudur-Manimangalam-Mudichur-Tambaram route this time as i had to attend a function in Tambaram Sanitorium. The road is awesome to drive tilll Mudichur. Both the sides fully covered trees and for a moment, i thought whether we are really driving around Madras or in some place near pollachi

In return journey yesterday 17th Sept, being a working day and as there was no bandh in AP, i was in dilemma whether to take chittoor route or drive in GQ. Since my previous attempt was successful and also i knew that no buses are plying (and hence less traffic) again took the decision to drive completely in NH4.

Left vadapalani at 3 pm and reached C.V.Raman Nagar at 8:45 pm including 30 minutes break. I reached chittoor around 6 pm and since road widening work is happening between palamaner & mulbagal one word of caution to drive very carefully after sunset in this stretch.

In short, if you are lucky you will have a very peaceful drive if there are no protests in AP !

-Ravi

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by luvurride

Some one who has travelled in this route recently might help as its been more than a year since I've taken the NH46 to Chennai, have been patronizing Chittoor route lately!

On your way to Chennai after crossing Pallikonda Toll Plaza, on your right you will find Dheepam and Aryaas. Both these restaurants serve good food and have good rest room too.

As already pointed out by fellow BHPian, you need to take right turn to Nelson Manickam Road at Ampa Skywalk signal (earlier known as Arun Hotel signal). This will lead you to Loyola College which is the starting of Nungambakkam area. Depending on your ultimate destination, we can guide you.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Gokrish

On your way to Chennai after crossing Pallikonda Toll Plaza, on your right you will find Dheepam and Aryaas. Both these restaurants serve good food and have good rest room too.

Along with Aryas, you also have CCD. Helps in case, when either one is crowded.

[VeeTee]

Last week drove from Chennai to Bangalore in my Palio 1.2 starting at about 5.45 PM (from Chengalpet). I drive almost every weekend since wife is in Bangalore and I am in Chennai. Off late, prefer the Chitoor route since it is closer, more enjoyable drive and less toll. Due to the agitation, have been using the Hosur road in the past few weeks. I wasn't too happy since there are few deviations between Vellore and Krishnagiri. There is quite a bit of road work going on near Hosur.

So last week decided to try Venkatagiri Kota route. Drove until Pallikonda toll and took a U-turn after that to enter Gudiyattam. The roads are quite narrow in the initial stretch. Expected to cross the town in 3~5 kms. Realized the town is much larger and you drive about 10~12 kms to cross the town. Once you cross Gudiyattam the road is quite good in rest of Tamilnadu. Road in Andhra isn't all that good. As you approach V. Kota the road becomes narrower and also is filled with more potholes. The road after V Kota is also equally bad. Entering Karanataka, you are invited by good tarmac. Alas, this lasts only for the first few kms. Beyond that, it is difficult to classify it as a road. This continues until the right turn to Mulbagal. The stretch to Mulbagal is slightly better and you join NH4 eventually.

My recommendation is not to try this route unless you are in no hurry and willing to negotiate the craters in Karnataka.

Satish

[ampere]

Originally Posted by VeeTee

The road after V Kota is also equally bad. Entering Karanataka, you are invited by good tarmac. Alas, this lasts only for the first few kms. Beyond that, it is difficult to classify it as a road. This continues until the right turn to Mulbagal. The stretch to Mulbagal is slightly better and you join NH4 eventually.

Did you take V-Kote-Bangarpet-Malur road Or V-Kote-Kolar route?
The Bangarpet road is quite bad.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by ampere

Did you take V-Kote-Bangarpet-Malur road Or V-Kote-Kolar route?
The Bangarpet road is quite bad.

I think what he means is he took the right turn after V.kota and joined the NH4 at Mulbagal. He might not have tried the Malur or Kolar route.

[VeeTee]

Originally Posted by luvurride

I think what he means is he took the right turn after V.kota and joined the NH4 at Mulbagal. He might not have tried the Malur or Kolar route.

luvurride, you are right. I took the right turn after V.Kota and joined NH4. This comes before Bethmangla. I didn't go via Malur

[pisthpeeps]

Did Chennai - Vellore(Golden Temple) - Chennai trip last weekend. Took the following route

Onward: Sembakkam-Mudichur road-Padappai-Oragadam-Sriperumbudur-Vellore. Since it was first time i missed the mudichur-sriperumbudur road and took the wrong route towards oragadam/walajabad/kanchipuram. Finally at oragadam took a detour and joined Sriperumbudur. Roads were pathetic on NH4 till Ranipet. Full of potholes. I know that 6 lane work is in progress but the conditions are too bad. Hope they complete the work soon.

Return: Vellore-Ranipet-Sriperumbudur-Mudichur-Sembakkam
This time i did not miss the Sriperumbudur-Mudichur road-Tambaram link. Mudichur road is in excellent condition except for one place where i saw water crossing and small detour.
Sriperumbudur-Tambaram link road: