[suresh_gs]

Folks
Does anyone have the latest updates on the developments in TN and chennai. Is it safe to go by car (TN registered one) say by tuesday / wednesday.

[satan's_valet]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Folks
Does anyone have the latest updates on the developments in TN and chennai. Is it safe to go by car (TN registered one) say by tuesday / wednesday.

Suresh, You should not face any issued with a TN registered car. But everything is still unclear in Chennai. I spoke with my folks there and the shops and life are going on as usual in their locality. Just keep an eye out for any specific issues. Otherwise, it should be ok for travel.

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Folks
Does anyone have the latest updates on the developments in TN and chennai. Is it safe to go by car (TN registered one) say by tuesday / wednesday.

I think you can travel tomorrow as life is kinda normal now! Most of the shops open in Chennai. But would not know about the situation in other places. Try to take Chittoor route instead of Hosur route!

[tharian]

I'm planning to ride to Chennai for the long weekend. Thinking of taking the Chitoor route due to the latest incidents., although the krishnagiri route was what I had in mind .
Is it safe now to head there on Thursday and return on Saturday on a KA regd bike?

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by tharian

Is it safe now to head there on Thursday and return on Saturday on a KA regd bike?

As of now things are normal. However with the bail petition up for hearing today things may change.

However since your plan is on Thursday I don't think it will be much of an issue, even on Saturday violence was contained to certain areas for short time only.

[Daz]

I too will be driving to Bangalore tomorrow; It has been many years since I took the Chitoor route and so was thinking of taking that route - more to check the route rather than anything else.
By and large Chennai and TN in general seems to be normal; there are demonstrations and fasts, but these do not seem impact the public.
Will decide on the route later today.

[rnidumolu]

Last Sunday night, I have opted for Chennai -> Tada -> Sri Kalahasti -> Tirupati -> Chittor -> Bangalore route to avoid any possible block-outs. As my brother stays near to GQ after Redhills I chose this route. By distance it is the longest one, but I preferred this due to better road condition against Chennai -> Periyapalem -> Tirupati route. It took a tiring 8 hours drive to reach to Electronics City.

[hserus]

As of the 28th buses have apparently started plying on the krishnagiri - hosur route to Bangalore. Most of them were running empty and private buses kept off the roads.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/43757180.cms

Two days later and there has been absolutely no news on the subject so I can only assume things are back to normal.

In any case Chennai is totally back to normal and started to regain normalcy the very evening of Jayalalitha's arrest.

[hserus]

Any further updates? Her bail plea was posted to Oct 7 to be heard before a full bench of the Karnataka High Court, instead of being heard today by a vacation bench single judge.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/43967624.cms

She does have Ram Jethmalani defending her but I am not sure this is going to work out too well. I would personally exercise caution over the next week or so.

[suresh_gs]

Bangalore-Chennai-Bangalore: Many alternate routes

Folks

I had been to Chennai on 30.09.2014 by car to pick my wife and kids from her father's place in Nanganallur. For the onward journey since it was a solo drive, I experimented with the following route

Via Attibele, Hosur bypass, Rayakottai, Krishnagiri, Bargur,Tirupattur,Alangayam,Vellore,Kanchipuram,Wa lajahbad and Tambaram.

Here is the map showing the onward journey




In the return trip along with wife and kids, we went to Chettipunyam to have darshan of Lord Hayagreeva and returned via Kanchipuram and NH.

More details to follow....

[narayans80]

Just a wild question: Is there a way to avoid Madras-Ranipet. Maybe like doing Madras-Tiruttani-Chittoor and NH4 from thereon.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Just a wild question: Is there a way to avoid Madras-Ranipet. Maybe like doing Madras-Tiruttani-Chittoor and NH4 from thereon.

Coming via Arakkonam, Sholinghur and then joining NH4 from chittoor could be one solution.

[tharian]

Had the fastest Chennai - Bangalore ride yesterday. Left Beasant Nagar at 945am and was at Cooke Town at 315pm with a total of a half hour stop.
Chennai had traffic till Sriperembudur, coupled with bad roads and the heat, it was not enjoyable.
Crossed the cut off to Chitoor and roads were beautiful 6 Lane till Bangalore. It took just an hour and ten minutes to do Soolagiri McDonald's to home which was a distance of 60kms.Hosur was free and two more flyovers have opened for traffic as well. No traffic in Bangalore as well.

The put off during the journey was some local guys in a Qualls trying to screw around between Vellore and Vaniyambadi because I was riding alone and probably seeing the bike- Duke 390 and KA registered provoked them. They were trying to provoke me to race them or not sure if they wanted me to come close to them so they can try something., which I didn't. The first instance I slowed down and let them go, after which they stopped and again caught up after few Kms. This time I wanted to loose them and opened up which left them clean behind me and I stopped at the next patrol to inform them.
I was rather surprised with this since I have been riding solo for years and this was a first and that too on a busy Highway.

[suresh_gs]

Bangalore-Chennai-Bangalore: Many alternate routes

Folks. Here are my onward journey details. I went via Attibele, Hosur Inner Ring Road, Rayakottai, Krishnagiri, Bargur, Tirupattur, Alangayam, Vellore, Kanchipuram, Walajahbad, Vandalur, Tambaram to Nanganallur.

I left my home at Bommanahalli at 5:30 AM. The Attibele-TVS road is in a patched up condition. No major potholes on this stretch. Infact the road after TVS factory is very good indeed.
I went via Hosur by pass road, Hosur Railway station and then took a turn towards the Inner Ring Road to join the Hosur Rayakottai road

HOSUR - RAYAKOTTAI ROAD

This stretch is butter smooth in most of the sections. At some places i did notice the top layer of tar being eroded but as such no major potholes. I did notice some private volvo buses plying on this road to Bangalore.



RAYAKOTTAI - KRISHNAGIRI ROAD

From Rayakottai, I took the road that leads to Krishnagiri. Till you reach a village called POOVATHI, the roads are narrow and winding as it is a ghat section there. From the village onwards, you get broad 2 lane roads to drive and the roads are in impecccable condition. of course one has to watch out for speed breakers.




I reached Krishnagiri by 7:45 AM. From here i proceeded towards Bargur via the NH. The exit road towards Bargur is clearly shown on the display board on the NH.

BARGUR ROAD

The road leading to Bargur is a treat to drive with lots of trees on the road side.



BARGUR - TIRUPATTUR ROAD

This stretch is even better than the road leading to Bargur. Even though i travelled on a week day, traffic was less.




TIRUPATTUR - ALANGAYAM ROAD

After reaching Tirupattur, I stopped to inquire from the locals the road leading to Vellore via Alangayam. Of course we have one more option of going via Jolarpet and Vaniyambadi to Vellore. In the latter, we have to shell out toll at Pallikonda whereas in the former, we get to avoid paying toll at both Vaniyambadi and Pallikonda.

This is the first time i travelled on the Alangayam road and surprisingly the road was good. Comparatively traffic was slightly high as there were number of villages enroute coupled with speed breakers. At some sections the tar had come off but no potholes as such.
It was a treat to drive on this stretch as well. In fact I passed through forest sections enroute to Alangayam. In these stretches, it was a single lane road. At one point of time, i was all alone on this road.





Once you reach Alangayam, if you take a right turn it leads to Kavalur wherein we have the observatory of Indian Institute of Astrophysics.

ALANGAYAM - VELLORE ROAD

Once again it was a bliss to drive on this road. As you proceed on this stretch, you will see a sign boards showing SRIPURAM further ahead and ABDULLAHPURAM towards the right.
We have to take a right turn to proceed towards Abdullahpuram. From here i joined the NH. I reached vellore by 9:45 AM. Distance wise travelling on the Alangayam road is more compared to the NH route. Also we have the forest section till Alangayam that slows you down.





IMO driving on the SH's of TN was far far better than travelling on the NH. The stretch on the NH where NH4 joins the Hosur road till Kanchipuram was a pain to drive with innumerable potholes. It tests your driving skills in terms of how to drive by avoiding the potholes. The worst part is after driving on this pathetic road we have to pay toll at Chennasamudiram.

KANCHIPURAM - WALAJAHBAD ROAD

I reached Kanchipuram by 11 AM. The traffic was on the higher side inside the temple town. It took me some time to exit Kanchipuram. Walajahbad is about 15 kms from Kanchipuram.

From here the road leading to Walajahbad was too good.



WALAJAHBAD - VANDALUR ROAD

This is a 4 lane SH. This can be considered as an alternative to Sriperumbudur-Mannimangalam route. Work is going on in full swing on this SH. About 90% of the stretch is a 4 lane road.



From Vandalur, I reached Tambaram and proceeded towards Nanganallur via GST. I reached home in Nanganallur at 12:30 PM. The odometer diaplayed 371 kms and i took exactly 7 hrs including a 1 min break for coffee to cover this distance.

RETURN JOURNEY

We intended to visit Chettipunyam near Singaperumal koil where we have the famous Lord Hayagreevar temple. This is the same idol as you find in Thiruvahindrapuram near Cuddalore.
After visiting the shrine, i proceeded along GST towards Paranur toll plaza. After paying toll, i went a bit further on the GST and took a turn towards Kanchipuram.

SH 58 towards Walajahbad from Paranur is an average stretch with quite a number of potholes. Since i was travelling in the night, i was not able to take any snaps.

Once i reached Walajahbad, it was the usual road to Kanchipuram. I was caught in a traffic jam at Kanchipuram owing to rain. It took me a while before i could exit the temple town.

From here i took the NH route to reach Bangalore.

Overall it was a satisfying driving experience for me as i experimented with many alternative routes.

[ampere]

Suresh,

Is the SH 4-lane from Walajabad to Oragadam? Beyond Orgadam the 4-lane part is well know till Vandal;ur is know and many use it. If the entire stretch is 4-lane then great. Typically Sriperumbudur to Oragadam has lots of truck traffic thanks to many manufacturing outlets in there.