[kshastry]

Can anyone comment on this please? I plan to drive from BTM to Salem. This time would like to try Attibele-TVS Factory-Rayakottai-Palacode-Dharmapuri route to reach Salem. I will start around 7 am.

Is the road condition good? If yes, what is the best time to start the drive (when traffic is less)?

Thanks.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by kshastry

Can anyone comment on this please? I plan to drive from BTM to Salem. This time would like to try Attibele-TVS Factory-Rayakottai-Palacode-Dharmapuri route to reach Salem. I will start around 7 am.

Is the road condition good? If yes, what is the best time to start the drive (when traffic is less)?

Thanks.

As per the updates about a month or so, the Hosur Rayakottai road is not in good condition while the Rayakottai-Palacode stretch is good.

Try to leave early say by 5 AM so that you can reach Salem by 8 30 and avoid the lorry traffic

[kshastry]

Thanks Suresh. There seem to be two roads.

1. Hosur - Rayakottai
2. Attibele - Rayakottai

Out of these which one could be in better condition. It would be very helpful to know.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by kshastry

Thanks Suresh. There seem to be two roads.

1. Hosur - Rayakottai
2. Attibele - Rayakottai

Out of these which one could be in better condition. It would be very helpful to know.

The Hosur Rayakottai road is not in a good condition . I am not sure about the Attibele Rayakottai road condition

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by kshastry

1. Hosur - Rayakottai
.

I traveled on 19th April and the condition was good. In fact the entire stretch from Dharmapuri-Palacode-Rayakottai-Hosur were in good condition. There were tarring work going at many places around Rayakottai and it might be complete by now.

Rayakottai-Kedamangalam-Attibelle was not so good, the last time when I drove (six months back).

[slakhs]

I will be driving to Valparai from Bangalore next Monday. Is it better to go via Avinashi - Palladam - Pollachi or Coimbatore (L&T bypass) - Pollachi

[kala]

Originally Posted by slakhs

I will be driving to Valparai from Bangalore next Monday. Is it better to go via Avinashi - Palladam - Pollachi or Coimbatore (L&T bypass) - Pollachi

Coimbatore-Pollachi is a high traffic part of NH209, so Avinasi-Palladam-Pollachi would certainly make more sense. The roads are quite good, traffic is much lower and you save some money on toll as well.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by slakhs

I will be driving to Valparai from Bangalore next Monday. Is it better to go via Avinashi - Palladam - Pollachi or Coimbatore (L&T bypass) - Pollachi

If you wish to save some money on tolls, the preferred route would be via Hosur, Krishnagiri, Thoppur, Omalur, Tharamangalam, Sankagiri, Perundurai, Kangeyam, Palladam and Pollachi

[NPV]

Originally Posted by slakhs

I will be driving to Valparai from Bangalore next Monday. Is it better to go via Avinashi - Palladam - Pollachi or Coimbatore (L&T bypass) - Pollachi

Agree with @Kala - take the Avinashi bypass-Palladam-Pollachi-Aliyar-Valparai route.
You get 4/6 lane toll roads till Avinashi bypass and will be a good drive if you start early, say 5am.

You can also consider returning via the Kerala side, so Valparai-Sholayar-Athirapilly-Chalakudy (NH47)-Palakkad-Coimbatore bypass-Bangalore or even take the Chalakudy-Vadakkencherry-Kollengode-Pollachi-Palladam-Avinashi bypass and back to Bangalore.

[h14]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

If you wish to save some money on tolls, the preferred route would be via Hosur, Krishnagiri, Thoppur, Omalur, Tharamangalam, Sankagiri, Perundurai, Kangeyam, Palladam and Pollachi

How is the road conditions for Omalur - Tharamangalam - Sankkagiri? Would like to try it presuming one can avoid both omalur and Sankkagiri tolls.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by h14

How is the road conditions for Omalur - Tharamangalam - Sankkagiri? Would like to try it presuming one can avoid both omalur and Sankkagiri tolls.

I traveled on the above said route in the last week of March and the road conditions were excellent to drive. i will share my trip details for your reference

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...oimbatore.html

[blackstallion76]

Just returned yesterday from Kovai. Right from flyover circle till Neelambur bypass signal there was lot of traffic on Avinashi road. I am not sure if there is any bypass road to avoid this signal from Kovai and out to BLR. We spent close to 1.5hrs in that hard traffic just to pass Kovai. Rest was smooth.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by h14

How is the road conditions for Omalur - Tharamangalam - Sankkagiri? Would like to try it presuming one can avoid both omalur and Sankkagiri tolls.

Update from 18th May, cross-posting from the All Roads to Kerala thread:

Originally Posted by silversteed

After a long gap, I took the Sankari-Omallur route to bypass Salem (the Salem Bypass, rather) last evening. Roads are relaid, and many places have the cat's eye reflectors also installed. The surface is devoid of potholes. Except for the towns, traffic was sparse for 6-7pm. The towns invariably have energy conscious 2-wheeler riders (riding without turning on the lights), most of them riding ~100cc bikes instead of the usual TVS XL50s.

Avoiding tolls is only secondary for me, as the traffic in Salem, especially the mad two-wheelers and rash private buses will make you feel you're in Bangalore itself.

[Sandy28]

Did Bangalore-Coimbatore last Saturday. All my earlier trips on this route used to be via the Salem-Coimbatore NH. This time took the alternate route - Bangalore - Rayakotai-Dharmapuri-Thopur-Metur-Bhavani-Avinashi-Coimbatore.

Rayakottai-Dharmapuri: This is a superb stretch with very minimal traffic. The roads are in excellent condition. Route passes thru very scenic areas and gives you a good glimpse of the rustic rural life. Only issue is that there are no good restaurants on this stretch.

Thopur-Mettur-Bhavani: Overall the route is ok ok. It is largely patchy with few intermittent smooth stretches. No good hotels or restaurants.

This was the first time I did both the above stretches and I feel that while these stretches are much more scenic and interesting compared to the boring straight NH option, in terms of time, these routes take longer since you cant maintain a 3-digit speed due to the narrower roads.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Did Bangalore-Coimbatore last Saturday. All my earlier trips on this route used to be via the Salem-Coimbatore NH. This time took the alternate route - Bangalore - Rayakotai-Dharmapuri-Thopur-Metur-Bhavani-Avinashi-Coimbatore.

Rayakottai-Dharmapuri: This is a superb stretch with very minimal traffic. The roads are in excellent condition. Route passes thru very scenic areas and gives you a good glimpse of the rustic rural life. Only issue is that there are no good restaurants on this stretch.

Thopur-Mettur-Bhavani: Overall the route is ok ok. It is largely patchy with few intermittent smooth stretches. No good hotels or restaurants.

This was the first time I did both the above stretches and I feel that while these stretches are much more scenic and interesting compared to the boring straight NH option, in terms of time, these routes take longer since you cant maintain a 3-digit speed due to the narrower roads.

How is the road condition of the Hosur-Rayakottai route. The last update I got was the road was not in a good condition.
It is actually a pleasure to drive on these SH's. I have driven more often than not on the SH's than the NH's. The Mettur Bhavani route has more fuel stations than hotels. That is the only drawback of the SH's in terms of options to break for food.
I would suggest you to go via Hosur, Rayakottai, Thoppur, Omalur, Tharamangalam, Sankagiri and then the usual NH47 route to Kovai. The advantages include bypassing Salem completely and avoiding 2 tolls.