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No there is no left turn on that junction. The crossing road goes below the highway.

I took this route.

This lets you hit SH86. The connecting road is a relatively narrow one through farms, but very much doable. It has one tiny bit where the tarmac would be absent, but no worries it will connect you.

I also did try the Thoppur-Mettur-Ammapet-Sathy-Coimbatore and the entire stretch has been relaid and is very nice to drive now. I believe the Mettur-Bhavani is also in similar state (will try next week) and if so I think this will be quicker than the tharamangalam route which has sizable truck traffic.

GMaps shows the bhavani mettur route as shortest and slowest, but let me try next week and update here.

Coimbatore to Thoppur

1. Via Salem- 202 KMS 3:28
2. Via Tharamangalam- 191 KMS 3:28
3. Via Bhavai - 185 KMS 3:41

Hello,
I need to drive to Coimbatore next weekend, starting from HSR Layout. I am planning to start by 5 am. Kindly suggest if NH44 and NH 544 is the best option based on road conditions.

Where is your destination in Coimbatore. Is it North or South. If it is South Coimbatore then going via NH544 makes sense. If it is North Coimbatore, then go via NH544 till Avinashi and then divert towards Annur or you can go via Mettur, Ammapettai, Sathy and Annur.

Thanks for the reply. Its south Coimbatore only.

The Salem route any day.Has far better facilities and eating options as well.

Actually I have come to the observation that whether your destination in Coimbatore is North or South, the NH 44/544 is the best. Earlier when the Avinashi-Coimbatore was being 6 laned, the NH948 was an option. But now, even if your destination is North Coimbatore, the 544 followed by the Kalapatti route will still make it faster than 948.

But then, the 948 is a serious contender when traveling during long weekends/holidays as the toll booth crowd acts deterrent for the 44/544.

I would also want to try NH 948, but not very sure of Dhimbam section. Don't want to get struck and curse myself !! Has anybody done this route recently?

It is always a hit or miss depending upon your luck! Anyway it is not worth it unless you want to drive for the fun of it, which by the way I also do from time to time!

Any update on the works @ Salem by pass? Is it still a bottleneck and Taramangalam-Omalur skip route is still worth it? Planning a trip to Bangalore day after and hence keen to know. Thanks. Cheers

The Salem work is progressing quite fast now, during my last visit in December 2016, they were already beginning work on the girders for the flyover since the piers were already done. Unless it is a long weekend or you're driving in peak hours, just go via Salem. The main carriageway lanes are cut off for about 2Km and you will have to use the service road lanes.

With an early start, say 4-5am from Bangalore, you will cross Salem by 8am which is fine, so not worth going via Omalur-Tharamangalam at that time.

*With an early start from Coimbatore also it should be a similar situation, traffic is painful in Salem between 8:30am-11am and again between 5pm-8pm.

Tried the Thoppur Bhavani route for the last weekend home run. Started from Bangalore around 3pm on Friday and that wasn't the best time when I reached Bhavani. Traffic was heavy. Mettur to Ammapet was fine, but Ammapet to Bhavani is where the traffic builds up and you get really frustrated by the time you enter back onto the NH544.

Tried the same route this morning for the return leg as well. Though there was no traffic, the speed breakers where an irritant. Though not many, it was hindering the drive. But the roads are good and traffic was sparse.

Idea was to try various options which would enable me to skip the omalur and sankkagiri tolls and also not be stressful. I felt the Omalur Tharamangalam was better than Bhavani in-spite of the rather high truck traffic even during early hours.

Below stat for Bhavani to Thoppur.

Mate as an alternate, you can try the Thoppur-Mecheri-Nangavalli-Jalagandapuram-Edappadi route to NH 544. Sparse traffic and very good roads all the way except for a very small stretch near the Mecheri level crossing. I came by the above said route on Jan 1st while driving from Kochi to Bangalore

Thanks Suresh! Will try out next week. Where would this join on NH544? Would I be by-passing the Sankkagiri toll?

Also any suggestions to by-pass the Thoppur toll? These days more than paying the amount, the waiting hurts.

The best way to avoid Sankari & Omallur tolls while coming from Coimbatore is to take the Sankari - Edappadi road, Tharamangalam and Omalur. The route is 46 KMS long and it takes 46 - 50 mins for me during day time. Roads are good through out. To avoid Thoppur and Krishnagiri you can take

Mecheri - Pennagaram - Rayakottah - Palacode - Hosur route.