[etrast75]

Originally Posted by decode

Can any one provide an update on the present condition of Bangalore - Kanakpura - Sathyamangalam - Dhimbam - Coimbatore route? Has anyone travelled through this road recently, I heard there was some construction going on in between?

Did the route last week..
Blore-Kanakapura road conditions are ok..
Kanakapura - Kollegal - bad patches in stretches along the middle of road but easily avoidable in day time
Kollegal - Chamrajnagar - fairly decent road but some heavy traffic in stretches
Chamrajnagar- Sathyamangalam - bliss
Sathy - CBE - Excellent roads but horrible traffic after annur.

Overall it took me 6 hours whereas the NH4-NH47 route takes me 5 usually.
Bridge across cauvery is open

I drove Bangalore>Coimbatore>Bangalore yesterday and today. The details are here.

[gopikb]

I am driving from Bangalore to Coimbatore on 25th Dec 2015. As usual I am sure Attibele toll is going to be a nightmare for the long weekend. Thinking of taking the alternate Blore-Kanakapura - Kollegal - Chamrajnagar - Sathyamangalam - CBE route. Looking at the recent reports from Ravi and etrast75, it looks a good option. Is there any good eateries on the way and any specific item that I should be aware of while taking this route?

Thanks for your help people.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by gopikb

I am driving from Bangalore to Coimbatore on 25th Dec 2015. As usual I am sure Attibele toll is going to be a nightmare for the long weekend. Thinking of taking the alternate Blore-Kanakapura - Kollegal - Chamrajnagar - Sathyamangalam - CBE route.

If you're starting early, say 4am I still think Attibele-Hosur and regular NH7 + 47 route makes sense.

If you're taking the Kanakapura route here are some options:
1. Vasu Hotel and Hotel Shrinivas Sagar in Kanakapura town on left side of highway itself. But these may open post 6:30-6:45 am

2. Chamarajangar - Nijaguna

3. Sathyamangalam - Hotel Ramavilas opposite the police station

[speedkrish]

Anyone used Kollegal - Germalam - Dhimbam route to travel to Coimbatore.

There is monastery on this route and I was planning to visit en-route to Coimbatore.

Suggestions welcome regarding route, road safety as this is a forest road.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by speedkrish

Anyone used Kollegal - Germalam - Dhimbam route to travel to Coimbatore.

There is monastery on this route and I was planning to visit en-route to Coimbatore.

Suggestions welcome regarding route, road safety as this is a forest road.

Please check post 752 in this thread. I've been contemplating on taking this route for a while, will do it in Jan

[Haren]

Hi Folks,

Does anyone have any updates on road condition of the Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani section?

Thanks,
-haren.

[etrast75]

Originally Posted by Haren

Hi Folks,

Does anyone have any updates on road condition of the Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani section?

Thanks,
-haren.

I did this stretch last in september

Initial 5-10 kms of the thoppur-mettur stretch was bad. After that it was ok till mettur. Expect fairly heavy traffic as you get closer to mettur and you will be stuck behind a lot of slow moving trucks
Mettur - ammapettai was fairly ok. This stretch used to be bad but it looks like they have relaid it.

The recent rains may have changed the picture quite a bit though. If you are headed to CBE, I would advise mettur-ammapettai-anthiyur-athani-sathy-CBE. Pretty decent roads and you can avoid all the tolls. Should take you about the same time give or take 30 minutes.

Has anyone taken the side roads/back roads to avoid the new toll in arasur after karumathampatti? My brother found something on the way from CBE and said it was fairly easy and did not add much in terms of distance.

[etrast75]

Updates on the routes that can avoid tolls from bangalore to coimbatore

Attibele - TVS factory (till tamilnadu border) - bad as usual. Lot of big potholes and broken roads
Hosur inner ring road - rayakottai > road till uddanpalli is bad with a lot of potholed stretches. After uddanpalli it is much better . Sparse traffic.
Vellichanthai - karimangalam > Decided to take a diversion towards NH at vellichanthai instead of going till dharmapuri-hogenakkal road. Excellent stretch of 10 kms.
Thoppur-Mettur-bhavani - Horrible condition. Don't take this road
Omalur - tharamangalam > Okish. Small stretches in horrible state.
Tharamangalam - konaganapuram > Horrible. Don't take this. It will end up damaging your vehicle's suspension.

On return I took Sankari bypass- idappadi- jalakandapuram-tharamangalam.
Excellent roads throughout but it adds distance and time but helps avoid 2 tolls and salem city traffic.

On the whole, the toll bypass roads are not in great condition and that may be by design :-)

[Haren]

I was not too enthusiastic about taking the Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani road after etrast75's comments. But seeing the traffic on NH7, I decided to take a chance. the first 10-15 Kms are pretty bad. lots of broken road. then the road got ok. have to pass a lot of trucks. after Mettur the road is awesome. I decided not to take the Sathy shortcut fearing more broken roads.

I feel, on a normal day, this road may not save any time. it does save on tolls.

[suresh_gs]

Folks

My office colleague wishes to drive to Thudiyalur, Coimbatore from HSR layout on Jan14th. Anticipating rush on toll plazas, I have suggested the following route.
Need your opinion on the same

[ampere]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

My office colleague wishes to drive to Thudiyalur, Coimbatore from HSR layout on Jan14th. Anticipating rush on toll plazas, I have suggested the following route.

Simple solution. Ask him to take the regular 4-lane but start at 4AM. Thats the best possible solution.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Folks

My office colleague wishes to drive to Thudiyalur, Coimbatore from HSR layout on Jan14th. Anticipating rush on toll plazas, I have suggested the following route.

Heard from a few friends who'd tried the Mettur route recently that it's not worth it anymore, as the roads are not as good as they used to be, and my own experience from a couple of months ago with the Palacode route was not that great, thanks to the many potholes that we saw on the SH. Attibele-TVS route was worse, just FYI.

Originally Posted by ampere

Simple solution. Ask him to take the regular 4-lane but start at 4AM. Thats the best possible solution.

I've seen long queues at Attibele, Krishnagiri and Chengappally tolls even after starting at 03:15hrs, during one of the holiday seasons. With a 04:00hrs start, you'll cross Salem by 07:00hrs, which is the time the traffic picks up beyond the Omallur toll plaza. I'd recommend starting by 03:00hrs, so hopefully the Attibele, Krishnagiri, Thoppur and Omallur tolls will be relatively free and you can cross Salem before traffic starts to pick up.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

My office colleague wishes to drive to Thudiyalur, Coimbatore from HSR layout on Jan14th. Anticipating rush on toll plazas, I have suggested the following route.
Need your opinion on the same

Thudiyalur is on the Mettupalayam Road so it may be a good idea to avoid entering Coimbatore from Avinashi Road-Gandhipuram side and instead turn off from Avinashi Road near the Coimbatore Airport junction (turn right where you can see signages for Annur).
During last week of Decemeber I'd planned to visit Coimbatore on our way back from Pollachi but could not due to time constraints.
I was told by my relatives that Gandhipuram has very heavy construction activity in progress due to flyovers being built near the Gandhipuram Bus Stand-Cross cut road-100 feet road area so please avoid Gandhipuram.

[etrast75]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Folks

My office colleague wishes to drive to Thudiyalur, Coimbatore from HSR layout on Jan14th. Anticipating rush on toll plazas, I have suggested the following route.
Need your opinion on the same

Attachment 1457215

Ask him to take the kanakapura-> malavalli-> Kollegal -> Chamrajnagar -> Thimbam -> Sathy -> Annur -> CBE

Very less traffic and decent roads whenever I took this route during peak travel days.

Additionally, you can turn off at saravanampatti and reach thudiyalur easily. No need to enter the city.
If ghat driving is not preferred, take the 4 lane. Roads are bad in the mettur stretch and rayakottai stretch.. Did it during christmas time and regretted taking them.