[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by NPV

Google maps shows the route from inside Kovai Pudur. If that is possible, when going from Bangalore, one can take the L&T Coimbatore bypass till Madhukkarai, turn right onto old Palakkad Road and turn left near Krishna Engineering college/VLB inthstitutions and get into Kovai Pudur. Further inside, we can reach the Sirvuani Main Road which then leads to Isha centre as per the map, isn't this a possibility ?

Yes, this is indeed a possibility, though this may add around 10/12 km to the total distance and there is a toll gate near Echanari. However, one may still encounter heavy traffic at Perur! As I said earlier, if one manages to pass through the stretch between 11.00 am and 3 pm, he may still manage to wade through the traffic.

[APV]

Yes there are two options, coming from Salem through NH, you would be entering Coimbatore from East where as Isha is West of Coimbatore almost at western ghat foot hills. There are two options to reach Isha when taking this route.

Option 1: Look for BMW showroom on your right side few KMs after Kaniyur toll gate, & then look for road signs to Cochin or Palakkad, Take L&T bypass, (toll road - cost 31 INR which would take you till Madukkarai - you just need to show the ticket at next 2/3 junctions) zip past Trichy road, Pollachi Road junctions & enter into Coimbatore city from Palakkad road side at Madukkarai, you would notice an under construction flyover, thats where you need to take right to enter into Coimbatore city from south side.

Then Proceed further towards Coimbatore city for about 5 kms & then take left to enter Kovaipudur(a steep ascent from Palakkad - Coimbatore road) & proceed to towards Isha via sundakkamuthur & ramachettipalayam & take left toward Isha. You will skip all the city traffic including Perur, this road will take you on Perur to Isha road, right after Perur temple, so this is the best traffic free route.

Advantages: No traffic at all, you would just go past calm residential areas once you turn right at Madukkarai

Disadvantages: more distance, considering, you proceed from east to south & then turn towards west side of coimbatore city.

Option 2: Proceed further into Coimbatore city straight road till Lakshmi mills signal, after lakshmi mills signal, take the first left after Hyundai showroom, Proceed to sungam signal, Ukkadam, selvapuram, perur & further towards Isha center.

Advantage: Less distance compared to option 1 above.

Disadvantage: Traffic, Traffic Traffic during daytime till you go past Perur temple. You might need to ask for directions, at Sungam signal to reach Ukkadam & at Ukkadam signal to reach perur road.

[kanwal]

Originally Posted by Gokrish

Isha yoga centre is at the downhill of Vellingiri hills and there is no way, one can avoid the traffic of Townhall, Ukkadam, and Perur Road.

Thanks Gokrish for the suggestion - will try to visit this place if time permits.

Originally Posted by justwheels

Just did the Bangalore to Coimbatore this Saturday.

Thanks for sharing this justwheels. I am hoping the route Ampere suggested above will help me bypass the traffice @ Avinashi road inside the city. if you have another suggestion on route, please let me know as it will be good to compare both options. your first hand experience will also come handy.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by kanwal

I am hoping the route Ampere suggested above will help me bypass the traffice @ Avinashi road inside the city.

Please see my earlier post - here (Bangalore to Coimbatore : Route Queries)

The route @ampere has shared takes you on the L&T Bypass (so Avinashi Road and Coimbatore city traffic avoided) and you exit after the last toll booth.
Pay Rs.31 and show the same receipt at multiple toll booth en route on the L&T bypass, do not pay multiple times!

At Madukkarai, there is a flyover under construction and here you should turn right. About 4-5Km later you need to turn left to go inside Kovai Pudur (look for Krishna Engineering college/VLB Janakiammal institutions). Another 2-3Km inside Kovai Pudur, turn onto the Siruvani Main Road and proceed to Isha foundation. This adds ~12-15Km compared to Avinashi Road route overall, but should be worth it. Other alternative routes will at least involve Avinashi Road, so may not be as fast.

[aroonanand]

Fellow BHP-ians, have a query - has anyone recently done Coimbatore - Bangalore through Mettur & Palacode - Rayakottai - Hosur - Attibele? Primary reason for asking is as follows - I have to drive this stretch tomorrow on 15 Aug and have the following considerations:

1. Being an extended weekend, I foresee a lot of traffic on the Salem bypass road, especially with flyover construction in progress and the width of the bypass road being reduced. So i intend to switch from NH44 to SH20 at Erode and proceed through Mettur - Mecheri and rejoin NH44 at Thoppur

2. Same traffic story at Krishnagiri & Attibele toll where I have in the past wasted over an hour on long weekends due to combination of heavy traffic and extreme lack of preparedness at the tolls. So I am planning to exit NH44 after Dharmapuri, and take SH17 which will take me to Hosur through Palacode - Rayakottai. How do i continue with the State Highway to bypass the Attibele toll and join under the flyover? I am happy either going thru EC or Sarjapur to my house in East Bangalore

Any pointers on the quality of these state highways is much appreciated, I will be driving a sedan. Also I am aware there are no good places for eating on these SH, i am happy to do the trade-off if I can avoid the traffic at Salem & Krishnagiri

Thanks in advance

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Fellow BHP-ians, have a query - has anyone recently done Coimbatore - Bangalore through Mettur & Palacode - Rayakottai - Hosur - Attibele? Primary reason for asking is as follows - I have to drive this stretch tomorrow on 15 Aug and have the following considerations:

My friend traveled recently on the Attibele-Rayakottai stretch via Kelamangalam. He said the roads were in very good condition. Thoppur toll plaza can be a bottleneck.
The Omalur-Tharamangalam stretch has very good roads but you can expect truck traffic in Tharamangalam.

[haneeshN]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Fellow BHP-ians, have a query - has anyone recently done Coimbatore - Bangalore through Mettur & Palacode - Rayakottai - Hosur - Attibele? Primary reason for asking is as follows - I have to drive this stretch tomorrow on 15 Aug and have the following considerations:
=========
Thanks in advance

I use Palacode - Rayakottai - Hosur - Attibele route to reach to Bangalore to avoid the choking at Toll during extended holiday periods. The road is good and you can maintain decent speed as the traffic is usually moderate.

Since you'll have to pass through Thoppur toll you can also consider Erode - Sankari - Omalur - Thoppur instead of Erode - Mettur - Thoppur. The Omalur route is busy with trucks but the road is very good and it'll take a bit lesser or almost same time as taking the Erode - Mettur - Thoppur route.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by haneeshN

I use Palacode - Rayakottai - Hosur - Attibele route to reach to Bangalore to avoid the choking at Toll during extended holiday periods. The road is good and you can maintain decent speed as the traffic is usually moderate.

Since you'll have to pass through Thoppur toll you can also consider Erode - Sankari - Omalur - Thoppur instead of Erode - Mettur - Thoppur. The Omalur route is busy with trucks but the road is very good and it'll take a bit lesser or almost same time as taking the Erode - Mettur - Thoppur route.

The other option is Thoppur-Mecheri-Nangavalli-Jalagandapuram-Edappadi route to Sankagiri from Bangalore. I have been on this stretch and the roads are good.

[MeetSC]

I am a frequent traveller on the L&T Bypass, Coimbatore. Though I have always felt that this stretch of unlighted road without a median is highly dangerous, it wasn't until this Monday night on my journey from Kochi to Bangalore that I actually witnessed the danger it posed.

If you can recall, it rained heavily on Monday (4th-5th September) night. A bus had slipped and fallen off the edge of the road. I assume the bus was full and there were many people trapped. On my journey after the incident, the rain was so intense that I couldn't see anything past my own bonnet. I was lucky enough to soon find a truck in front of me which I followed until I regained visibility.

I can't help but ask the authorities if these incidents couldn't have been avoided if reflectors were installed at the edge of the road. Isn't this the least that could be done in order to ensure the safe passage of travellers?

Does anyone know if there is any channel to reach out to the authorities or get someone to take an action? If there is any other thread which is more relevant for such discussions, kindly guide me.

[NPV]

Routing query for a destination in Erode - this is for a friend who needs to travel from Bangalore to Sakthi Duraisamy marriage hall in Palayapalayam, Erode.
Gmaps is suggesting this route - Link

Basically it is suggesting turning off from NH544 near Allinaickanpalayam near Sankari West (taking the road opposite the Saravana Bhavan Classic hotel) and going via Padaiveedu, Veppadai, etc.

Since he is not very familiar with the places around, I was wondering if it is better to continue on NH 544 for few more Kilometres towards Perundurai and turn off onto SH 173 near Nasiyanur to reach the destination - Link

@luvurride, others familiar with these places, please help.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by NPV

Routing query for a destination in Erode - this is for a friend who needs to travel from Bangalore to Sakthi Duraisamy marriage hall in Palayapalayam, Erode.
Gmaps is suggesting this route - Link

Basically it is suggesting turning off from NH544 near Allinaickanpalayam near Sankari West (taking the road opposite the Saravana Bhavan Classic hotel) and going via Padaiveedu, Veppadai, etc.

Since he is not very familiar with the places around, I was wondering if it is better to continue on NH 544 for few more Kilometres towards Perundurai and turn off onto SH 173 near Nasiyanur to reach the destination - Link

@luvurride, others familiar with these places, please help.

Absolutely no second thoughts - Nasiyanur is the best option as you have marked clearly in the second link. The interior roads from Nasiyanur are also pretty good, so no worries.

This marriage hall is in a small road leading from the main road. When he touches Perundurai road near the Renault showroom, just a few metres ahead there will an ICICI bank on the left. He has to take the road opposite on the other side. Since this is a divided road, he will have to go a few more metres ahead where he can make a U turn at the Palayapalayam junction, come back and turn left into this marriage hall road.

Hope this helps.

[kanwal]

Originally Posted by NPV

Please see my earlier post - here (Bangalore to Coimbatore : Route Queries)

The route @ampere has shared takes you on the L&T Bypass (so Avinashi Road and Coimbatore city traffic avoided) and you exit after the last toll booth.
Pay Rs.31 and show the same receipt at multiple toll booth en route on the L&T bypass, do not pay multiple times!

At Madukkarai, there is a flyover under construction and here you should turn right. About 4-5Km later you need to turn left to go inside Kovai Pudur (look for Krishna Engineering college/VLB Janakiammal institutions). Another 2-3Km inside Kovai Pudur, turn onto the Siruvani Main Road and proceed to Isha foundation. This adds ~12-15Km compared to Avinashi Road route overall, but should be worth it. Other alternative routes will at least involve Avinashi Road, so may not be as fast.

I know it is quite late but I wanted - 1) to thank team bhp friends for guiding me with exact details - I was on that rode for the first time physically but I always felt I knew all the turns and twists. and 2) The route suggested by ampere and NPV is , I think is the best and safest among all options. Recommend to take this route.

[tharian]

Did a weekend trip to Coimbatore and back via Salem on the toll road.

Was in for a shock when I added up the toll including the Electronics City Elevated road. Rs 490 one way. The distance is around 360 kms.
The roads are good though and six lane till Krishnagiri and the last 40 kms or so nearing Coimbatore.

I remember it being an average of 1 rupee per km.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by tharian

Did a weekend trip to Coimbatore and back via Salem on the toll road.

Was in for a shock when I added up the toll including the Electronics City

Did you find barricades on the NH at intersections?

[tharian]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Did you find barricades on the NH at intersections?

Yes, around Salem. It was there while approaching Salem from Bangalore as well as Coimbatore. Not just at intersections, they had kept some as speed checks.