[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by narayans80

These days I get out of the highway at Sunguvarchatram and taken SH120-Oragadam

Thanks for the input.
1. How is the road surface, potholes and things?
2. Does one have to use a vehicle like a Thar or can one use a car like a Mini?
3. Can you PM me this route please?
4. From which direction will the approach into Adyar be?

(Its been more than 20+ years since I took the Old Madras Mahabalipuram Road towards Vandalur and that old road via the salt flats near Mahabalipuram which comes all the way around to Velacheri and Tambaram and all. And that other road to Palavanthangal and all via the old Carborundum Universal factory towards Pallavaram and thence to Tambaram. In those days that whole area was a bird watcher’s paradise and pristine and green.)

[ampere]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

(Its been more than 20+ years since I took the Old Madras Mahabalipuram Road towards Vandalur and that old road via the salt flats near Mahabalipuram which comes all the way around to Velacheri and Tambaram and all. And that other road to Palavanthangal and all via the old Carborundum Universal factory towards Pallavaram and thence to Tambaram. In those days that whole area was a bird watcher’s paradise and pristine and green.)

If you are heading to North Chennai, this may not help. Question is where is the destination.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by ampere

If you are heading to North Chennai, this may not help. Question is where is the destination.

I m going to Adyar/ Kotturpuram - I just want to know how motorable is this road for my Mini Cooper. Or do I have to take my Thar?

[mah45]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I m going to Adyar/ Kotturpuram - I just want to know how motorable is this road for my Mini Cooper. Or do I have to take my Thar?

If you're asking about the Walajah - Vandalur road, it is in a good condition, I would say much better than the regular Bangalore highway

To go further to Adyar, one option would be to take Tambaram - Velachery road either until Medavakkam or until Pallikaranai and then take a right towards OMR, or continue in the same road beyond Velachery and reach Adyar thru Taramani.
Both roads are in decent condition.

There are some Metro constructions in some stretches like the Medavakkam - Sholinganallur stretch making that road narrow, but definitely motorable on a Mini.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

this route

This is the Sunguvarchatram-Sriperumbudur Sipcot-Vandalur-Pallavaram-200 ft Road-Madhya Kailas route. The Sunguvarchatram-Sipcot stretch, ravib has done.

and this is the Sunguvarchatram-SH120-Oragadam-Vandalur-Madhya Kailas route.

The only stretch that is bad is the stretch under NH4 from Sunguvarchatram on SH120 (50-100 meters at most). Beyond that Perungalathur is what you need to be careful with on a Mini. Should be a piece of cake for Thar.

SH120 is brand new 4-lane. You can't do more than 80 though and you have to be watchful of villages and random idiots enroute.

Only bad section on Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam 200ft Road got a fresh layer of tar today. Tambaram-Medavakkam-Pallikaranai-Velachery-SRP is also equally good

Originally Posted by mah45

There are some Metro constructions in some stretches like the Medavakkam - Sholinganallur stretch

He doesn't need to do Medavakkam-Sholinganallur. The Medavakkam flyover is complete and takes you all the way to Jayachandran. Doing Medavakkam-Pallikaranai-Velachery-SRP is quicker than doing Medavakkam-Sholinganallur-SRP.

Alternatively Tambaram-Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam-Madhya Kailas or Tambaram-Pallavaram-Kamakshi-Velachery-SRP will also work.

The only unavoidable metro construction is at CSIR Road-Tidel-Indira Nagar stretch.

[mah45]

Originally Posted by narayans80

He doesn't need to do Medavakkam-Sholinganallur. The Medavakkam flyover is complete and takes you all the way to Jayachandran. Doing Medavakkam-Pallikaranai-Velachery-SRP is quicker than doing Medavakkam-Sholinganallur-SRP.

The only unavoidable metro construction is at CSIR Road-Tidel-Indira Nagar stretch.

Agree, with the Medavakkam flyover completed it is a breeze for those going towards Velachery..

On both this Saturday and Sunday I was caught in heavy traffic in Pallikaranai - Velachery stretch, but yes in that case he can take a right towards Thoraipakkam or take the radial road entirely.

Btw, the other stretch of Velachery flyover also seems to be nearing completion, but the way it looks seems like it will again be uni-directional ie vehicles from Taramani side towards Tambaram can only use it, but not sure though.

If they allow traffic on the other direction as well, it will significantly reduce congestion at Vijayanagar junction.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by mah45

On both this Saturday and Sunday I was caught in heavy traffic in Pallikaranai - Velachery stretch

If you are talking about peak times, you can get caught in a lot of places regardless of the route since the destination is Adyar or Kotturpuram. The best cure is to land at off-peak times (Upto 8am, 1100am- 4pm or after 830 pm)

[concorde24]

Poor condition of Chennai Sriperumbudur road covered in The Hindu today.

Commute to Sriperumbudur and beyond is a nightmare https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...le65685392.ece

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by concorde24

Poor condition of Chennai Sriperumbudur road covered in The Hindu today.

Oh no.
Reading this article makes me think and think. And leads to despair thinking about my little Mini.
Maybe its best to drive down to Madras in the Thar.
Or perhaps drive to Pondicherry and from there to Madras.
I will study the routes a little more and plan.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Oh no.
Reading this article makes me think and think. And leads to despair thinking about my little Mini.
Maybe its best to drive down to Madras in the Thar.
Or perhaps drive to Pondicherry and from there to Madras.
I will study the routes a little more and plan.

Not that worth to drive to Pondy and return to madras. You are burning more fuel, spending more time and effort. Rather, you can time it to enter/exit city which is more economical and still doable.
Of course, no option to escape the bad roads from Chennasamudram toll onwards.

Alternatively, if you are okay, you can take Chittoor-Pallipat-Nagari-Thiruttani-Thiruvallur-Poonamalle-Madras route, if you want to try out.

-Ravi

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by ravib

Of course, no option to escape the bad roads from Chennasamudram toll onwards.

Alternatively, if you are okay, you can take Chittoor-Pallipat-Nagari-Thiruttani-Thiruvallur-Poonamalle-Madras route, if you want to try out. -Ravi

Thats an idea.
Let me study this route too.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ravib

Chittoor-Pallipat-Nagari-Thiruttani-Thiruvallur-Poonamalle-Madras route

Its much slower than the Arcot-Cheyyar-Uthiramerur-Bukkathurai route man. You'll hardly touch 60-70 in Tiruttani-Thirumazhisai stretch and its annoying with 2-wheeler traffic. Arcot-Bukkathurai atleast doesn't have traffic. Its still not recommended because, it takes 30-40 min more and its not really perfect alternative either.

It is best to do NH4 till Sunguvarchatram and take the detour from there.

Walajabad-Kanchipuram has been worked on since early this year. Unless that work is done, I wouldn't advise going through that route.

[mah45]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Oh no.
Reading this article makes me think and think. And leads to despair thinking about my little Mini.
I will study the routes a little more and plan.

It's not that bad..
When you come from Bglr or Hosur, until Ranipet it's an awesome Highway.
From Ranipet/Chennasamudram toll until Sunguvarchatram is where the roads are going to be bad with multiple diversions.
From there you take the alternate route recommended by TBHP veterans here.

You will not touch Sriperumbudur or Poonamalaee, so it should be manageable.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Walajabad-Kanchipuram has been worked on since early this year. Unless that work is done, I wouldn't advise going through that route.

I used the Adyar -ECR- Mahabalipuram -Kanchipuram route in Feb-March of 2021 and caught up with the main Bangalore highway. I was in my Thar. And the road was absolutely miserable. Huge craters everywhere and huge lorries all over the place. It didnt matter at the time because I was in no hurry and anyway my Thar could handle all of these challenges easily.

Again on another trip around end March of 2021 I came back to Bangalore via the old Chittoor Palamaner Kolar road which used to be pretty and scenic and all when we used to use it often in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. But that road has a great deal of construction going on and plenty of places of no tarmac where concrete is being laid. This time too I was in my Thar hence wasnt too bothered. But the Kolar to Bangalore entry and the subsequent torture of getting to HSR is too much to bear.

So largely whenever Ive been going to Madras in whichever vehicle, Ive been using the Hosur- Vellore- Ranipet- Sriperumbudur- Poonamallee-Porur-Guindy-Adyar route and the same route back.

Perhaps now this Sunguvarchatram route - maybe I ll try it once as a recce in my Thar. And then decide whether to take the Cooper along it or not.

But thanks a lot for this input. This looks to be a viable alternative and hence worth trying.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by mah45

From Ranipet/Chennasamudram toll until Sunguvarchatram is where the roads are going to be bad with multiple diversions.

There's huge improvement till Kanchipuram based on my drive in May. Diversions in general are not bad, except those on 10 km long Kanchipuram bypass. It is Kanchipuram onwards where the road suddenly widens and narrows without warning, so under artificial lights you have to be very careful.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I used the Adyar -ECR- Mahabalipuram -Kanchipuram

Eventually you'd have ended up doing Walajabad-Military Road 9 km stretch which is flooded with traffic Post 2021 monsoon deluge, its been reported bad and widening is happening post January. Don't attempt unless you get a confirmation its good at present.