All Roads to Kerala

HappyWheels · 26th December 2007, 14:46

just returned (as in, yesterday afternoon) from a trip to Trichy (Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Namakkal - Trichy). The road from Bng-Salem is not bad; it is not going to be a smooth sail. But you do not have any large wheel crusher pitholes or anything like that.

I am not sure on the stretch from Salem to CBE; but since the 4laning is going on, I would doubt only those short stretches in between the new roads.

CBE to PGT thru L&T is a smooth sail.

Drive safe, buddy!

speedzak · 26th December 2007, 15:11

@Stevie. The post just above your's pretty much explains how good the roads are. There's the alternate route from Hosur to Dharmapuri. That's via Palakkod. The road is quiet bumpy and has lots of sharp turns. But very less traffic.

speedzak · 26th December 2007, 15:19

@Stevie. The post just above your's pretty much explains how good the roads are. There's the alternate route from Hosur to Dharmapuri. That's via Palakkod. The road is quiet bumpy and has lots of sharp turns. But very less traffic.

BMW-X5 · 27th December 2007, 11:30

Just back from a trip to my home town (Perinthalmanna)

On my way to Kerala I took the following route

Bangalore-Mysore-Gundalpet-Bandipur-Gudallur-Nilambur-Perinthalmanna
Gundalpet-Gudallur - Except for 20-25 kmts (10 -12 kmts from gundalpet 10-15 kmts till gudallur) road is very good.This 20-30 kmts is very bad.

Total Distance covered was 340 kmts from HAL Police station to my home town

While coming back i took a different route.

Perinthalmanna -Manjeri - Mukkam - Kalpetta-Sulthan Battery- Muthanga - Gundalpet-Mysore -Bangalore

Muthanga-Gundalpet stretch (only in Karanataka) is very bad (More than 40 kmts i guess).Otherwise road is quite good.

Total distance covered was 418 kmts (Perinthalmanna - Bangalore, HAL Police station)

Bangalore-Mysore-Gundalpet-Bandipur-Gudallur-Nilambur-Perinthalmanna-Trichur (Perinthalmanna-Pattambi-Trichur stretch is less than 70 Kms and road is okay)

If anybody is planning to travel via Mysore i would suggest this route. Not just because it is the shortest route but also famous for its scenic beauty if you are not planning to explore Wynad.Except for the 20-30 kms road is good.

swathyd · 28th December 2007, 21:03

Had to travel through kannur while going to kollur. Have never travelled through such a bad road. From kannur to kanhjagad it was real hell.The condition of NH 17 is generally poor, when we used to travel the same route before 20 years it was far better. Now even the karnataka side is not much better than the kerala roads.

ramkya1 · 31st December 2007, 13:13

A friend, Joy, reached Bangy yesterday morning thro this route on a Scorpio:

He started from Kothamangalam, Kerala, @ 7 am, went thro Trichur, Shornur & from there asked some taxi drivers for the shortest route to Mysore, they directed him (told him the road till Nilambur was rubberized!), went thro Nilambur ( some sections before Nilambur and Nilambur to Bandipur was a horror, very bad roads), then Gudalur, Mysore, reached Bangalore around 8 PM. He reports after entry in to Karnataka the roads are good all the way.

Shows it's better to trust 1st hand experience of TBHpers than even local taxi drivers

--Ramky
-----------

Steeroid · 31st December 2007, 13:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramkya1

A friend, Joy, reached Bangy yesterday morning thro this route on a Scorpio:

He started from Kothamangalam, Kerala, @ 7 am, went thro Trichur, Shornur & from there asked some taxi drivers for the shortest route to Mysore, they directed him (told him the road till Nilambur was rubberized!), went thro Nilambur ( some sections before Nilambur and Nilambur to Bandipur was a horror, very bad roads), then Gudalur, Mysore, reached Bangalore around 8 PM. He reports after entry in to Karnataka the roads are good all the way.

Shows it's better to trust 1st hand experience of TBHpers than even local taxi drivers

--Ramky
-----------

Thats funny - this report is quite at odds with mogambo's report https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/665991-post68.html that the route was mostly good except for the forest leg before Kerala and that the road is much better after entering Kerala, and with BMW-X5's report a couple of posts before.

To quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mogambo

Stayed overnight at Mysore
21st December 2007 (Saturday):
5:30am: Started at Somasundaram Circle (near Mysore Zoo, Race Course) towards Nanjangud
6:15am: Nanjangud
7:00am: Gundlupet (58km)
7:30am: Bandipur
9:00am: Gudalur (after breakfast at a place just after the forest) - roads are horrible. They are being widened. Around 20-30km, it takes over 1 hr.
However, once you reach the Kerala border on the way to Nilambur the entire road becomes buttery smooth. The glide down towards Nilambur town is FANTASTIC.
10:00am: Nilambur (150km)
After this drove to TCR via Wandoor - Pandikkad - Perinthalmanna - Pattambi - Kunnamkulam
The roads are allright - occasionally quite rough although tarred. With 32psi in my tyres and 4 passengers, 1 kid and lot of luggage, I could feel some of the roughness - but it was still good.

speedzak · 31st December 2007, 14:46

Ok. Here's my version now!

Did a cross Kerala drive from Kasaragod to Trivandrum. Left Kasaragod on friday evening 5pm. Roads till Kanhangad via Bekal has been patched up but in a bad way. So, you can bounce infinitely in your cars. Boon for lovemaking in the backseat.

From there, the roads have some smooth change for 4/5 kms before you reach the stretch which was bombed by brothers in disgust Bush & Osama.

Now, the state government has broken it's disagreement and has done some (very bad) patch up job. Bouncing is not possible here, sorry! Instead you can digest anything in your stomach even if you had a pine tree whole for lunch. Remember, the tar is back on the roads but the potholes hasn't lost their shapes. This continues till Taliparamba. Then it gets better and roads are still undergoing some work between Kannur. Same is the condition till Tellicherry (Talasseri).

From there down, the roads were good earlier and it's still ok with some bad patches in between till Calicut.

I left Calicut on Saturday morning. Byepass is smooth and very dangerous with those speed controllers appearing out of nowhere. Then onwards, everything is good till Kuttippuram. I'm a very big fan of Ponnani route and I dunno the latest condition about other routes. The short route which connects Kuttippuram and Ponnani is in the same condition as it was before the monsoons with very little difference.
From Ponnani it's all good till Cochin.

Cochin - Tvm coming up soon.

pjay_in · 31st December 2007, 15:41

Thanks for the report, Speedzak. It is good to know that NH17 between Kasargod and Taliparamba has been touched up. Even a bad touch up would be a good improvement over what it has been, especially near Pariyaram.

ramkya1 · 31st December 2007, 17:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Thats funny - this report is quite at odds with mogambo's report https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/665991-post68.html (Bangalore - Cochin in my Ikon) that the route was mostly good except for the forest leg before Kerala and that the road is much better after entering Kerala, and with BMW-X5's report a couple of posts before.

To quote:

Hai,

After seeing your post, just called Joy in Bangy. He's emphatic, the road looked rubberized in sections from Nilambur to the Karnatake Border IN SECTIONS, IN SECTIONS it's gutted, after you corss the border, Bandipur to Gudalur is also very bad in SECTIONS.

Another friend is coming up next week through Gudalur, Mysore, Udipu, Goa to Mumbai, will get latest updates and hopefully a trip log to get km-by-km conditions.

Happy Driving,

--Ramky

speedzak · 31st December 2007, 17:51

I couldn't venture much into Cochin or spend much time there. So, after attending some urgent things, I left to Trivandrum.

Cochin byepass is still in it's same condition. There is a very few places where some poor patching job has been done. Some parts near the bridges are very much in bad condition. After byepass, it is again good roads till Alleppey. In between Kayamkulam, there're some bad patches but nothing bad. This continues till Kollam.
Kollam to Trivandrum is one of the best and smooth road in the state. Inside Trivandrum too, the roads are better maintained than elsewhere.

kutlee · 31st December 2007, 18:17

has the high court given up chasing the govt (well something of that sort)...to repair the roads?? does anyone know this?

pjay_in · 11th January 2008, 13:58

The latest news (saw it on Mathrubhumi yesterday) is that they've got the green signal for four-laning the entire lengths of NH17 and NH47 in Kerala, and also the connecting Palakkad-Kozhikkode highway (NH213) via Mannarkkad.

Four-laning of NH47 will be complete in 3 years and NH17 in 4 years.

Insha allah..

ramkya1 · 11th January 2008, 14:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjay_in

The latest news (saw it on Mathrubhumi yesterday) is that they've got the green signal for four-laning the entire lengths of NH17 and NH47 in Kerala, and also the connecting Palakkad-Kozhikkode highway (NH213) via Mannarkkad.

Four-laning of NH47 will be complete in 3 years and NH17 in 4 years.

Insha allah..

That's great news, even if it means waiting for 3 years. Imagine a 4 lane road from Palakkad to TVM, something like the Angamaly-EKM stretch, would be great to do that stretch in 5-6 hrs. Likewise, NH 17 being 4 laned would be something great to look forward to.

Acquiring land on the narrow NH 17 with people almost living on the roads here, is going to be a nightmare, I forsee this to be a 10 year plan.

Happy Driving,

--Ramk

BaCkSeAtDrIVeR · 11th January 2008, 23:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by kutlee

has the high court given up chasing the govt (well something of that sort)...to repair the roads?? does anyone know this?

One of the main allegations in the writ petition was that the government is not spending as much it earns as motor vehicle tax on road maintenance. The govt. produced the info, and it turns out that amount spent on road repairs is a bit more than road tax collected. (In my reckoning, if the "cut" is excluded, the amount spent on road repairs is still less than road tax collection).

Naturally, the writ died (or will die) a natural death.

26th December 2007, 14:46	#136
HappyWheels Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,002 Thanked: 364 Times	just returned (as in, yesterday afternoon) from a trip to Trichy (Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Namakkal - Trichy). The road from Bng-Salem is not bad; it is not going to be a smooth sail. But you do not have any large wheel crusher pitholes or anything like that. I am not sure on the stretch from Salem to CBE; but since the 4laning is going on, I would doubt only those short stretches in between the new roads. CBE to PGT thru L&T is a smooth sail. Drive safe, buddy!
	() Thanks

26th December 2007, 15:11	#137
speedzak BANNED Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: India Posts: 4,347 Thanked: 24 Times	@Stevie. The post just above your's pretty much explains how good the roads are. There's the alternate route from Hosur to Dharmapuri. That's via Palakkod. The road is quiet bumpy and has lots of sharp turns. But very less traffic.
	() Thanks

26th December 2007, 15:19	#138
speedzak BANNED Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: India Posts: 4,347 Thanked: 24 Times	@Stevie. The post just above your's pretty much explains how good the roads are. There's the alternate route from Hosur to Dharmapuri. That's via Palakkod. The road is quiet bumpy and has lots of sharp turns. But very less traffic.
	() Thanks

27th December 2007, 11:30	#139
BMW-X5 BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 188 Thanked: 9 Times	Just back from a trip to my home town (Perinthalmanna) On my way to Kerala I took the following route Bangalore-Mysore-Gundalpet-Bandipur-Gudallur-Nilambur-Perinthalmanna Gundalpet-Gudallur - Except for 20-25 kmts (10 -12 kmts from gundalpet 10-15 kmts till gudallur) road is very good.This 20-30 kmts is very bad. Total Distance covered was 340 kmts from HAL Police station to my home town While coming back i took a different route. Perinthalmanna -Manjeri - Mukkam - Kalpetta-Sulthan Battery- Muthanga - Gundalpet-Mysore -Bangalore Muthanga-Gundalpet stretch (only in Karanataka) is very bad (More than 40 kmts i guess).Otherwise road is quite good. Total distance covered was 418 kmts (Perinthalmanna - Bangalore, HAL Police station) Bangalore-Mysore-Gundalpet-Bandipur-Gudallur-Nilambur-Perinthalmanna-Trichur (Perinthalmanna-Pattambi-Trichur stretch is less than 70 Kms and road is okay) If anybody is planning to travel via Mysore i would suggest this route. Not just because it is the shortest route but also famous for its scenic beauty if you are not planning to explore Wynad.Except for the 20-30 kms road is good.
	() Thanks

28th December 2007, 21:03	#140
swathyd BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: thiruvananthapuram Posts: 774 Thanked: 24 Times	Had to travel through kannur while going to kollur. Have never travelled through such a bad road. From kannur to kanhjagad it was real hell.The condition of NH 17 is generally poor, when we used to travel the same route before 20 years it was far better. Now even the karnataka side is not much better than the kerala roads.
	() Thanks

31st December 2007, 13:13	#141
ramkya1 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Palakkad, Keral Posts: 1,825 Thanked: 427 Times View My Garage	Shornur-nilambur-gudalur Conditions A friend, Joy, reached Bangy yesterday morning thro this route on a Scorpio: He started from Kothamangalam, Kerala, @ 7 am, went thro Trichur, Shornur & from there asked some taxi drivers for the shortest route to Mysore, they directed him (told him the road till Nilambur was rubberized!), went thro Nilambur ( some sections before Nilambur and Nilambur to Bandipur was a horror, very bad roads), then Gudalur, Mysore, reached Bangalore around 8 PM. He reports after entry in to Karnataka the roads are good all the way. Shows it's better to trust 1st hand experience of TBHpers than even local taxi drivers --Ramky ----------- Last edited by ramkya1 : 31st December 2007 at 13:14.
	() Thanks

31st December 2007, 14:46	#143
speedzak BANNED Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: India Posts: 4,347 Thanked: 24 Times	Ok. Here's my version now! Did a cross Kerala drive from Kasaragod to Trivandrum. Left Kasaragod on friday evening 5pm. Roads till Kanhangad via Bekal has been patched up but in a bad way. So, you can bounce infinitely in your cars. Boon for lovemaking in the backseat. From there, the roads have some smooth change for 4/5 kms before you reach the stretch which was bombed by brothers in disgust Bush & Osama. Now, the state government has broken it's disagreement and has done some (very bad) patch up job. Bouncing is not possible here, sorry! Instead you can digest anything in your stomach even if you had a pine tree whole for lunch. Remember, the tar is back on the roads but the potholes hasn't lost their shapes. This continues till Taliparamba. Then it gets better and roads are still undergoing some work between Kannur. Same is the condition till Tellicherry (Talasseri). From there down, the roads were good earlier and it's still ok with some bad patches in between till Calicut. I left Calicut on Saturday morning. Byepass is smooth and very dangerous with those speed controllers appearing out of nowhere. Then onwards, everything is good till Kuttippuram. I'm a very big fan of Ponnani route and I dunno the latest condition about other routes. The short route which connects Kuttippuram and Ponnani is in the same condition as it was before the monsoons with very little difference. From Ponnani it's all good till Cochin. Cochin - Tvm coming up soon.
	() Thanks

31st December 2007, 15:41	#144
pjay_in BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Melbourne Posts: 396 Thanked: 19 Times	Thanks for the report, Speedzak. It is good to know that NH17 between Kasargod and Taliparamba has been touched up. Even a bad touch up would be a good improvement over what it has been, especially near Pariyaram.
	() Thanks

31st December 2007, 17:51	#146
speedzak BANNED Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: India Posts: 4,347 Thanked: 24 Times	Cochin to Trivandrum! I couldn't venture much into Cochin or spend much time there. So, after attending some urgent things, I left to Trivandrum. Cochin byepass is still in it's same condition. There is a very few places where some poor patching job has been done. Some parts near the bridges are very much in bad condition. After byepass, it is again good roads till Alleppey. In between Kayamkulam, there're some bad patches but nothing bad. This continues till Kollam. Kollam to Trivandrum is one of the best and smooth road in the state. Inside Trivandrum too, the roads are better maintained than elsewhere.
	() Thanks

31st December 2007, 18:17	#147
kutlee Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 1,141 Thanked: 228 Times View My Garage	has the high court given up chasing the govt (well something of that sort)...to repair the roads?? does anyone know this?
	() Thanks

11th January 2008, 13:58	#148
pjay_in BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Melbourne Posts: 396 Thanked: 19 Times	The latest news (saw it on Mathrubhumi yesterday) is that they've got the green signal for four-laning the entire lengths of NH17 and NH47 in Kerala, and also the connecting Palakkad-Kozhikkode highway (NH213) via Mannarkkad. Four-laning of NH47 will be complete in 3 years and NH17 in 4 years. Insha allah..
	() Thanks

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