[narayans80]

Originally Posted by tilt

Could you please maybe show me a picture of this route?

It is the route posted by binand above. If you put Vandalur and Murugan Idli Shop as end points, it'll route you through Mudichur-Manimangalam or this route.

Once on Walajabad-Kanchipuram section of Vandalur-Walajabad-Kanchipuram road, Google Maps itself will navigate you through Military Road and SH143, you don't need extra POIs enroute.

Originally Posted by binand

That last stretch along the bypass was pretty lonely - but the only time I took it was in the middle of the night (11PM+).

I have mostly taken it in afternoon and evenings, when there is suburban Kanchipuram traffic movement on Military Road and SH143. For sleepy hours (4AM starts, 10PM+ entry) I don't bother about detours

[ravib]

Originally Posted by srvm

How is Mordana dam? Did you visit?
Instead of driving through dense traffic of Gudiyattam town and narrow roads of Pallikonda, I prefer taking left at Gudiyattam junction- K Pudur - K V Kuppam - Vaduganthangal - Virinchipuram - join NH48 near Poigai.

Hi srvm & prabhuferrai, Nope. I didn't had time to take the detour and also it was raining, so skipped Mordana dam in this trip.
I was in dilemma whether to take katpadi route and avoid pallikonda toll or go straight via Pallikonda town. As the route was scenic, decided to go straight beyond Gudiyattam towards Pallikonda this time.

Originally Posted by narayans80

Am curious to know your timings on this section Evening times can be a pain to drive on Walajabad-Kanchipuram.

I hope you bypassed Kanchipuram by taking Military Road and joined NH4 at the 76th km, Google Maps guides you through this.

Hi Narayan, No i didn't bypassed Kanchipuram because it was lunch time and i planned to finish lunch inside Kanchi town. So ignored Google Maps recommendation to take Military road purposefully.
I exited NH45 @Vandalur around 12.30 pm and reached Kanchipuram around 1.45 pm. I was enjoying the drive sedately, so was not zipping through or floored the A pedal

-Ravi

[narayans80]

Few updates:

1. Roads beyond Kanchipuram first exit (67th km milestone) towards Bangalore have deteriorated, even though there haven't been much rains in Madras-Kanchipuram districts this rainy season I joined at Sunguvarchatram, so I don't know how it is before that.
2. New Shell station on Walajabad-Vandalur road towards Vandalur, towards Vandalur. This is after Padappai and 6 km to Vandalur. There are innumerable number of signages from 5 km ahead and the last km, there's one every 100m
3. New Murugan Idli Shop 6 km from Chennasamudram toll towards Madras, next to a Reliance petrol station. Parking lot isn't like a football field like the other one, but looked decent enough to park 10 vehicles driving past it.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Few updates:

1. Roads beyond Kanchipuram first exit (67th km milestone) towards Bangalore have deteriorated, even though there haven't been much rains in Madras-Kanchipuram districts this rainy season I joined at Sunguvarchatram, so I don't know how it is before that.

Thanks narayan. I forgot to mention this update in my previous trip posts.
I found in both ways Chennasamudram-Sriperumbudur and reverse road conditions were bad and getting back to its old form.

With couple of more months to go for rains to settle down, its going to be horrible and NHAI won't try to fix it then and there.

-Ravi

[kdadi]

Friends, I am planning a road-trip from Bangalore to Mahabalipuram from 24.Dec - 27.Dec. Ride is a Skoda Superb. Are the roads so bad to consider alternate modes of transport?

Have 2 kids who are travel-averse (dislike confined spaces)...so being able to complete the journey easily is key. I will leave around 11:00am from BLR (am in Bangalore North, will take NICE to reach EC).

Look forward to your advice!
Aditya

[ravib]

Originally Posted by kdadi

Friends, I am planning a road-trip from Bangalore to Mahabalipuram from 24.Dec - 27.Dec. Ride is a Skoda Superb. Are the roads so bad to consider alternate modes of transport?

Aditya, the road conditions all the way from Bangalore to Chennasamudram toll or even beyond for few kms is excellent to very good 6L. Only after Chennasamudram toll the road condition deteriorates when you enter 4L towards Kanchipuram or Madras.

For you, as you are heading towards Mahabalipuram, you will be traveling in 4L road for short distance, may be about 40 kms or so before you take right turn towards military road and head towards Walajabad. Once you take the right and exit NH4 (currently NH48 as in gmaps), road conditions are good till walajabad. Beyond that, probably narayan can suggest, but i assume there is nothing to worry.

BTW, beware of heavy traffic in this holiday season especially in tolls. Plan your timing accordingly. 11 am should be okay, but still a word of caution.

-Ravi

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by kdadi

Are the roads so bad to consider alternate modes of transport?

Roads are not bad to consider alternate transport, but you might want to drop your speeds to say 80 where you can judge the bad sections better. If you are a first-timer, do it in daytime.

Driving on 24th/25th might not be bad, 22nd would be the worst travel day regardless of start time.

There are 3 routes from Chennasamudram:

1. Military Road (Kanchipuram bypass) - SH48 (Kanchipuram-Walajabad) - Chengalpattu -Mahabalipuram

I've not personally done this. You can refer binand's update here (Bangalore - Chennai - Bangalore : Route Queries).

2. Military Road - SH48 - Vandalur - Kelmbakkam - ECR Link Road - Mahabalipuram

In both 1 & 2 the SH48 section is 2-laned between Kanchipuram and Walajabad and has moderate to heavy traffic. Towards Vandalur there are some on and off road work sections (which should'nt be a bother unless you are overtaking from left). There are some average section till Oragadam. After which it is very good tarmac until Vandalur.

Vandalur-Kelambakkam is in very good condition. About 1/2 km of resurfacing work in progress where you have to take the opposite lane. You have to keep your eyes peeled for miscellaneous traffic here.

3. Sunguvarchatram-SH120 - SH48 - Vandalur - Kelambakkam-ECR Link Road - Mahabalipuram

This adds more kms than 2, but avoids the entire traffic filled section bypassing Kanchipuram all the way to Walajabad.

There is a 1/2 km of pain crossing Sunguvarchatram town. After that it is mild traffic till you hit SH48. There are some speed breakers at couple of villages enroute and some surprise curves. Off late this is my preferred route for peace of mind.

Updates Walajabad-Vandalur and Vandalur-Kelambakkam are a day old

[kdadi]

Originally Posted by ravib

Aditya, the road conditions all the way from Bangalore to Chennasamudram toll or even beyond for few kms is excellent to very good 6L. Only after Chennasamudram toll the road condition deteriorates when you enter 4L towards Kanchipuram or Madras.

Thanks a lot! then I will take my car along for this - the prospect of driving on the 6L road is quite juicy!

Originally Posted by narayans80

Roads are not bad to consider alternate transport, but you might want to drop your speeds to say 80 where you can judge the bad sections better. If you are a first-timer, do it in daytime.

Thanks a lot! That was really helpful. I am a seasoned traveller, so it's not a problem to drive any time of the day but have some quirky kids this time

Like you said, I am hopeful that most of the outbound traffic would have gone away during the weekend and 24th would be relatively OK.

[binand]

Originally Posted by kdadi

Friends, I am planning a road-trip from Bangalore to Mahabalipuram from 24.Dec - 27.Dec. [...] I will leave around 11:00am from BLR

Originally Posted by narayans80

1. Military Road (Kanchipuram bypass) - SH48 (Kanchipuram-Walajabad) - Chengalpattu -Mahabalipuram

I've not personally done this. You can refer binand's update.

Oh this is quite good to drive on. My trip was not from Mahabalipuram though (it was from Thiruporur, merging with the above route at Chengalpattu).

Another option is Chennasamudram-Sriperumbudur-Oragadam-Vandalur-Kelambakkam-Kovalam-Mahabalipuram.

• This is dual carriageway till Kelambakkam.
• It has an extra toll (ECR is tolled).
• It might be a better option on a weekday. Best would be to trust Google Maps.

[kdadi]

Originally Posted by binand

Oh this is quite good to drive on. My trip was not from Mahabalipuram though (it was from Thiruporur, merging with the above route at Chengalpattu).

Another option is Chennasamudram-Sriperumbudur-Oragadam-Vandalur-Kelambakkam-Kovalam-Mahabalipuram.

• This is dual carriageway till Kelambakkam.
• It has an extra toll (ECR is tolled).
• It might be a better option on a weekday. Best would be to trust Google Maps.

thanks! Google Maps has been showing the road via Walajabad and Chengalpattu as the fastest option (about 30-45mins faster).

[binand]

Originally Posted by kdadi

thanks! Google Maps has been showing the road via Walajabad and Chengalpattu as the fastest option (about 30-45mins faster).

When I said "trust Google Maps" I meant trust it when you're already on the road for instantaneous and nearby road conditions. Check it when you are at the Kanchipuram exit. If it still suggests going via Kanchipuram then by all means go for it.

The Walajabad-Chengalpattu route certainly is 30-35 kms less. Whether that translates to time savings, we can only know by comparing traffic/average speed along the two routes at the time of travel.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by kdadi

thanks! Google Maps has been showing the road via Walajabad and Chengalpattu as the fastest option (about 30-45mins faster).

Kanchipuram-Walajabad section (10 km) speeds won't exceed 60 kph even if it shows all blue. It also is a bus route and many Oragadam based industries have company shuttles till Kanchipuram. Evenings would be bad, took me 30 mins once at 5pm-ish. Afternoons are better

[Secretariat]

Update on the Chittoor road

Past Nangili toll, the road upto Palamneru is complete except for the four bridges. All four lanes have been opened and its a comfortable drive except for the bridge diversions

Palamneru bypass is not complete. We now go through the town on the old road ; same as before

Bangarupalayam bypass is also not complete. Its the same road as before through the town for now, but this stretch has developed bad patches.

Between Palamneru and Chittoor, at least two lanes of the road have been completed. However there are constant switches between the sides. This does not make driving easy, but at least driving on the completed sections is smooth with more room than before to overtake the lumbering rust buckets.

It's between Chittoor and the AP/TN border where everything is still a big mess. Less than 50% of even one side of the road has been completed. Dusty, bumpy, messy.

Traffic on the entire stretch has thinned down a lot as everybody is obviously giving this route a miss. Hence it should be back on the radar of Tirupathi goers. As for Chennai, we have to wait another 4 months I think until the Chittoor - TN border section becomes passable.

As Senior BHPian ravib has observed a few posts ago, the entire section is being concreted. Once this is complete, for those of us from east and north Bangalore, travel times to Chennai are going to significantly reduce. We can consign memories of Hosur Road, Attibele toll, Krishnagiri toll, etc to the archives. Hurray !

[narayans80]

For a change, I have a question : What good quick lunch options are available between Hosur and Dobaspete without the hassle of dealing with traffic.

The innumerable restaurants on Krishnagiri-Hosur stretch might be tad too early, unless they have meals ready like early 11 am-ish. The Tumkur Road list starts at Dobaspete, which might be close to 1:30pm or more.

Looking for an option that'd be quick (say about 45-50 mins in and out), as this is in the middle of longer drive.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by narayans80

The innumerable restaurants on Krishnagiri-Hosur stretch might be tad too early, unless they have meals ready like early 11 am-ish. The Tumkur Road list starts at Dobaspete, which might be close to 1:30pm or more.

Looking for an option that'd be quick (say about 45-50 mins in and out), as this is in the middle of longer drive.

There is a Kamat Upachar in Dabaspet near the Reliance pump that provides OK food and you can tank up as well, Reliance fuel being - along with Shell and Essar - among my preferred fills for highway drives.

Also a New Agarwal Bhavan near Nelamangala - North Indian food of quite decent quality.

Most highway places and indeed most restaurants will start meals by 10.45-11.00 AM anyway.