[Ford5]

NH is clogged with buses of all sorts who are avoiding the toll road. It was a nightmarish situation for me yesterday as all the big volvo's ate up 70% of the road leaving very little for the scorpio i was travelling in. As this route has many blinds due to top down road movements (near hills) car's would be better off taking the toll road.

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by ampere

Post lunch you should see lot of truck and cross road traffic. But I think as NPV said it is still better to take the Kolar route. Because you still will not fly by the word on the Krishnagiri route. (Though you still can do decent average in this sector as well.)

I have been taking these two routes alternatively for my last two trips ( within the last month) and I don't see much of a difference in time. It's probably the speed I drive at but I don't seem to gain much on the Krishanagiri route. For a night drive, i would still prefer the Krishnagiri route though.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sbkumar

I have been taking these two routes alternatively for my last two trips ( within the last month) and I don't see much of a difference in time. It's probably the speed I drive at but I don't seem to gain much on the Krishanagiri route. For a night drive, i would still prefer the Krishnagiri route though.

True about the night drive aspect. For the day drive I referred to the Kolar route because since if one is starting from CV Raman Nagar it would be very easy and fast in getting out of the city.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Hey guys

Planning to drive down to Chennai this weekend from CV Raman nagar(near Old madras road)

Is it advisable to take Old madras road via chittoor or better to go through the usual Hosur-krishnagiri route ?

Few questions

Is the KR Puram-Mulabagal toll road complete ? what kind of traffic can i expect on this route ?

I need to hit Tambaram to be precise. Last time in december, i went through the Chennai city via poonamalee high road and took a turn on Chennai bypass.

Is the Sriperumbudur-tambaram stretch in a good condition now ?

Edit:

Read about siriperumpudur --> Oragadam --> Vandalur --> Tambaram route.
But what are the chances of hitting chennai traffic if i reach Chennai city at around 8-9PM on a saturday ? if the traffic wont be much, i would like to stick to the map shown my google

Rajshenoy, i too stay in C.V.Raman Nagar, near OMR Big Bazaar.
I did B'lore-Madras-B'lore recently last month in both the routes.

Refer to my post # 715 for complete details.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2734103

-Ravi

[rajshenoy]

Guys

I will be driving down to Chennai tomorrow morning 9ish via Old madras road, chittoor-ranipet route.

Planning to have lunch on the way. Looking at the distance, I might cross the nandi plaza pretty early, so Can you suggest some decent Veg hotel for Lunch?

On GQ route there are plenty of options, but i have never taken the Chittoor route.

[binand]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Planning to have lunch on the way. Looking at the distance, I might cross the nandi plaza pretty early, so Can you suggest some decent Veg hotel for Lunch?

There's a (new?) restaurant near Kanchipuram - it is on the left side, before Kanchipuram town, when coming towards Bangalore from Chennai (so, for you, it will be on the opposite side after crossing the town). I have forgotten its name and even its location, but see if you can locate it (also please note its GPS coordinates and post here :-)

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by binand

There's a (new?) restaurant near Kanchipuram - it is on the left side, before Kanchipuram town, when coming towards Bangalore from Chennai (so, for you, it will be on the opposite side after crossing the town). I have forgotten its name and even its location, but see if you can locate it (also please note its GPS coordinates and post here :-)

Is it on the highway? I saw a new hotel where these buses stop during last trip. If i go inside Kanchipuram city, I will just blindly go to Saravana bhavan anyway

[babu.sundaram]

Originally Posted by binand

There's a (new?) restaurant near Kanchipuram - it is on the left side, before Kanchipuram town, when coming towards Bangalore from Chennai (so, for you, it will be on the opposite side after crossing the town). I have forgotten its name and even its location, but see if you can locate it (also please note its GPS coordinates and post here :-)

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Is it on the highway? I saw a new hotel where these buses stop during last trip. If i go inside Kanchipuram city, I will just blindly go to Saravana bhavan anyway

If I remember correct, this is "Sakthi Ganapathy". One the left when coming towards Bangalore. Opposite to some medical college (Minakshi / Kamakshi?). Comes in just after the flyover over the Kanchipuram - Arakkonam railway line.

[rajshenoy]

Reached chennai yesterday via chittoor route. I must say very scenic two lane and decent roads. Can do 60-80kmph easily.

I had planned for lunch at ranipet but thanks to the roads i reached there at 11:30 and meals were not ready.

Finally i found a good veg eatout near sriperumbudur. Sai saravanam or sakti saravanam something like that

Decent veg thalis. They even have a multicuisine non veg option near by too.
There was good crowd and i recommend this place

[mpksuhas]

Did another Bangalore-Chennai round trip through GQ over weekend. Started from Bangalore around 4:45 PM on sat evening. Crossed electronics city before evening traffic picked up. Till Krishnagiri traffic was high but managable. Krishnagiri- Vellore strech traffic was sparse however due to six laning at certain places the road width is reduced to 1.5 lanes. Be cautious while overtaking any wide / heavy vehicles. Road surface gets worse some 60 Kms before Chennai. Was able to reach home at Chennai (Vadapalani) around 10:15 PM.
Return, started sunday 03:00 PM from Vadapalani, reached Krishnagiri at 06:45 after being slowed down between Vellore- Krishnagiri due to road work and also soon after that due to a convoy of wide load trucks. Not sure but looked like some tunnel boring machine. Thankfully after a KM or so they parked towards left allowing the line of vehicles to overtake. From Krishnagiri till Bangalore it was the usual chaos, reached home in Murgeshpalaya at 09:00 PM.
Since the road works has started its now 6 hrs door to door for me on this route. Need to check out old Madras route sometime.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Return, started sunday 03:00 PM from Vadapalani, reached Krishnagiri at 06:45 after being slowed down between Vellore- Krishnagiri due to road work and also soon after that due to a convoy of wide load trucks. Not sure but looked like some tunnel boring machine. Thankfully after a KM or so they parked towards left allowing the line of vehicles to overtake. From Krishnagiri till Bangalore it was the usual chaos, reached home in Murgeshpalaya at 09:00 PM.
Since the road works has started its now 6 hrs door to door for me on this route. Need to check out old Madras route sometime.

I too started at around 3PM from Tambaram this sunday but i took the Chittoor route since i stay in CV Raman nagar. Reached home at 8:30 with a 20 min break at Nandi plaza.

Traffic is definitely better on this route, but its better to be careful to choose the timing such that we reach the 4 lane road before it gets too dark. Overtaking those huge container trucks on a two lane especially during evenings and nights can be a nightmare.

In such cases its better to stick to GQ.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

I too started at around 3PM from Tambaram this sunday but i took the Chittoor route since i stay in CV Raman nagar. Reached home at 8:30 with a 20 min break at Nandi plaza.

Need to try the Chitoor route next time. Was not able to do that this weekend trip since it was unplanned and was on time constraint. More than time why GQ turns me off is due to the traffic on Krishnagiri-Bangalore strech.

[RedOne]

I did a Bangalore-Chennai-Bangalore this weekend. Though I always take the GQ, this time, after reading about the construction related traffic snarls here, decided to take the Chittoor road on the onward trip. Left Koramangala at 7 AM on Friday, got caught in traffic in KR Puram and Ranipet. Reached Chennai Alwarpet at 1:30 PM with a breakfast break after Kolar and a fuel stop at Sriperimbadur. 6:30 hours door to door.

Since I didn't see any significant advantage in the Chittoor road, returned by GQ. Left Anna Nagar at 10 on Saturday morning and reached Bangalore at 3:45 PM with a lunch break at Ambur and a restroom break after Krishnagiri. Mild traffic most of the way and no serious jams. Was cruising mostly at 100 - 120 max as I was carrying some fragile stuff in the trunk. 5:45 hours door to door.

Maybe I got lucky but I felt traffic was the same on both routes. I could do better time on the GQ due to better road surface and the 4 lanes. Incidentally, I used to regularly do Chennai-Bangalore in 4 hours. Leave a 4 AM and reach at 8 or 8:15, with no breaks.

Gears
Red-One.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Need to try the Chitoor route next time. Was not able to do that this weekend trip since it was unplanned and was on time constraint. More than time why GQ turns me off is due to the traffic on Krishnagiri-Bangalore strech.

Yup, that is the reason why i tried this route since i stay close to Old madras road.

[sbkumar]

Took the chitoor route from BLR-CHN and GQ for CHN-BLR.

Started 3.00 PM from Indiranagar and reached Chepauk by 9.45 with one short break. This route is getting scenic with the recent rains. Got stuck with some traffic in the towns but overall it was pretty okay. Surprisingly traffic was sparse in Chennai on Friday evening and helped reach faster than expected. Last time around the stretch between Poonamalle -> Central - Chepauk took around 1.30 hrs and I was pretty worried about it.

Did the return trip - 3 PM from Chepauk and reached Indirangar by 9.30 with couple of short breaks. Took GQ as I didn't want to do the two-lane route in the night. Traffic was okay except for the krishagiri-hosur stretch with lots of truck traffic. I get a feel that over the past two years since I started driving on this route my average speed has come down mainly due to large number of small towns enroute especially as I near chennai. It feels like city traffic ( may be it is ?) after Kanchipuram.