[Safety is Param]

Hi.

Trivandrum - Bangalore upcoming tomorrrow. Can someone pls. suggest if Trivandrum -Thenmala - Shenkottai - Tirumangalam - Madurai - Bangalore is decent?

Planning to start at 11 am, and enter Bangalore NOT before midnight.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by Safety is Param

Hi.

Trivandrum - Bangalore upcoming tomorrrow. Can someone pls. suggest if Trivandrum -Thenmala - Shenkottai - Tirumangalam - Madurai -

Did you take the Thenmala - Shenkottai route? If yes, please update the conditions.

[Safety is Param]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Did you take the Thenmala - Shenkottai route? If yes, please update the conditions.

Yes, I did take, and ended up regretting.

Average speed was less than 40 kmph.

It took 8 hrs. from Kovalam to Thirumangalam (250 kms.)

With family in tow, I decided not to proceed to Bangalore, and instead stayed overnight on the highway at Hari's Restaurant, 500 m. before Madurai toll.

Roads are not bad, but not great either. Once the ghat section gets over, roads are good, but frequent road works, NH passing through towns, etc. slow down your progress.

Roads are better on TN side, after crossing KTDC Motel Aaram.

More than the time taken, one gets exhausted due to the frequent down shifting on undivided road.

Anyone planning to do this stretch, with Bangalore as destination, I suggest you start no later than 6 am from Trivandrum.

Pls. let me know if I can provide any specific details.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by Safety is Param

Yes, I did take, and ended up regretting.

Average speed was less than 40 kmph.

It took 8 hrs. from Kovalam to Thirumangalam (250 kms.)


Roads are not bad, but not great either. Once the ghat section gets over, roads are good, but frequent road works, NH passing through towns, etc. slow down your progress.


Pls. let me know if I can provide any specific details.

What time did you start from Kovalam? Where were the road works happening. I was thinking of taking this route in the Bangalore - Trivandrum direction. My destination is Kesavadasapuram.

[Safety is Param]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

What time did you start from Kovalam?

11.30 a.m.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Where were the road works happening

.

Rough patches, unavoidable potholes between Thenmala Dam reservoir and just outside Trivandrum city.

Road works between Shenkottai and Rajapalayam.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

I was thinking of taking this route in the Bangalore - Trivandrum direction. My destination is Kesavadasapuram.

I asked the same qs. to my co-passengers, next day, if they thought we could take this route while going to Trivandrum. They were of the opinion that this route would need to be traversed towards the end of the journey, when one would already be feeling exhausted. So, not advisable, and I agree with them. I am happy to negotiate the fly over diversions in & around Nagercoil with less than 60 odd kms. to Trivandrum.

But this differs on case to case basis. People who have taken this route multiple times may not find it too difficult. Also, taking Kanyakumari highway every month (for frequent travelers) gets boring, especially after Madurai.

For tourists, I see no reason getting off tolled roads.

Couple of points -

1. Till last week, all our return journeys from Kerala have been from Kochi, which is a no-brainer.

2. I did not time correctly my start from Trivandrum. With an aim to reach Bangalore out skirts only after 23.30 hrs. on Oct 2, I started exactly 12 hrs. before, which did not play out as per my liking.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by Safety is Param

11.30 a.m.
Rough patches, unavoidable potholes between Thenmala Dam reservoir and just outside Trivandrum city.

Road works between Shenkottai and Rajapalayam.

Thanks for the detailed update. You got unlucky both-ways.

I think the route via Nagercoil looks to be a better option now. (Nagercoil - Asaripallam - Thingal Nagar - Karungal - Pudhukkadai - Kannanagam Junction Bus Stop - Thirumannam - Uchakkada - Poovar - Kovalam/Trivandrum)

[shinuak]

Folks, any improvements in the road diversion at Nagercoil and Marthandam ?
My last trip to Trivandrum from Bangalore was in July 2018 and I din't take the aralvaimozhi diversion as there was too much traffic and long wait to get into the nedumangad SH. So I came to Nagercoil town, went through the medical college road and instead of getting into the NH, continued all the way through the costal road for a good distance with the help of google maps and some amount of intuition. This worked well for most part. Anyone who has travelled in the last one week, appreciate if you could update if there is any overall improvement

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Thanks for the detailed update. You got unlucky both-ways.

I think the route via Nagercoil looks to be a better option now. (Nagercoil - Asaripallam - Thingal Nagar - Karungal - Pudhukkadai - Kannanagam Junction Bus Stop - Thirumannam - Uchakkada - Poovar - Kovalam/Trivandrum)

Any update on the condition of Aralvaimozhi- Boothapandi - Vellarada route?

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by shinuak

So I came to Nagercoil town, went through the medical college road and instead of getting into the NH, continued all the way through the costal road for a good distance with the help of google maps and some amount of intuition. This worked well for most part. Anyone who has travelled in the last one week, appreciate if you could update if there is any overall improvement

I think you are talking about the route which I have mentioned in the previous post. This is a better option than others. I am planning to take this route on Monday.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Any update on the condition of Aralvaimozhi- Boothapandi - Vellarada route?

I have no update on this route.

[shinuak]

I think thats right Arun, I dint know all the names of the places to be sure, but yes, it connects to the Poovar road. I am going tomorrow by the way.

Aralvaimozhi- bhoothapandi was a better option earlier since it saw less traffic, despite having few rough patches for few kms. But now with most of the vehicle traffic including trucks and buses take it, it does not seem like a viable option for the moment. I don't know if anything drastically improved over last couple of months. All routes to TVM has its fair share of problems, but the Nagercoil option as Arun mentioned makes most sense now.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by shinuak

Aralvaimozhi- bhoothapandi was a better option earlier since it saw less traffic..

Originally Posted by arun_josie

I have no update on this route.

Took the Boothapandi route on Saturday. Avoid this route for the next few months. Road is dug up after Boothapandi for laying some pipe and only 1 lane traffic is possible at many places. Deep craters for about 11 Kms after Boothapandi. After that the condition is good except for few potholes in the Kerala side. Reached Aralvaimozhi at 2:00 pm but reached Kesavadasapuram at 5:20 PM. Distance is around 90 Kms. Had covered the same distance in 2;hours 15 mins in June 2017. Took more than 10 mins to cross Kattakkada town.

[arun_josie]

Aralvaimozhi - Nagercoil - Asaripallam - Thingal Nagar - Karungal - Poovar - Trivandrum route update:

I took the Nagercoil - Asaripallam - Thingal Nagar - Karungal - Poovar route today and it took exactly 2 hours to reach near Trivandrum airport from Nagercoil.

Aralvaimozhi - Nagercoil: This will take around 20-25 minutes. Roads are decent to good with occasional minor potholes.
Crossing Nagercoil: This is around 3Kms, takes 5-15 minutes based on the traffic.
Nagercoil - Trivandrum: This is around 80 Kms and takes around 2 hours.

• This route is decent throughout
• Initial 5 Kms has heavy traffic as all the buses towards Marthandam/Trivandrum and tourist vehicles takes this route. They deviate in a different route after this.
• Traffic is less after the initial 5kms
• Apart from occasional potholes and speed breakers, this route is good.
• Also, there are some nice curvy stretches, narrow street-circuit type roads and its scenic too.
• Less options to stop for breakfast/lunch
• No truck traffic

In my opinion, considering the other feedbacks from pramodpk (Aralvaimozhi- bhoothapandi route, Post #551) and Safety is Param (Bypassing Nagercoil from Aralvaimozhi, Post #539 and Thenmala route, Post #543), I would say the route via Nagercoil - Asaripallam is a much better option.

Here is a small clipping during my return to Nagercoil from Trivandrum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tma...ature=youtu.be

[arun_josie]

I came across the below videos which shows the current status of Marthandam flyover and Parvathipuram flyover. Looks like Marthandam flyover is the longest steel flyover in South India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J-fiVy9AjE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=druTqIq-R8s

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

I came across the below videos which shows the current status of Marthandam flyover and Parvathipuram flyover.

Any updates on the expected completion dates of these fly overs? Apart from the flyovers, how is the condition of the NH?

Thanks in advance.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Any updates on the expected completion dates of these fly overs? Apart from the flyovers, how is the condition of the NH?

Thanks in advance.

No official announcement yet. But some news says that Marthandam flyover will be opened by November end.


NH should be decent, its long time since I took this route.