[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Garth

I have a Bangalore - Ernakulam drive coming up on the weekend of 26th April. How are the road conditions? There were a few flyovers under construction when I did the drive last year. Also the road surface wasnt that great back then. Has there been any improvements?

There are a few of these in Tamil Nadu and lots of these between Palghat and Ernakulam. I drove on sat afternoon and it was okay, but I did see a massive tailback before Thrissur towards Bangalore. The road surface was not so great, but there were no potholes.

[ike]

Originally Posted by ajmat

There are a few of these in Tamil Nadu and lots of these between Palghat and Ernakulam. I drove on sat afternoon and it was okay, but I did see a massive tailback before Thrissur towards Bangalore. The road surface was not so great, but there were no potholes.

The Walayar - Thrissur part has a few flyovers being built but is manageable. Thrissur Ernakulam is now a huge mess(it was not that great to begin with BTW) with multiple flyover constructions commencing especially after Chalakudy. Basically roads south of Thrissur are under construction with no end in sight, roads north of Thrissur(towards Calicut though Thrissur - Kunnamkulam is horrible) are in the final stages of completion. It's very manageable till Thrissur, with only the L&T bypass that is a major pain.

[Garth]

Last year I did the Bangalore - Ernakulam run in roughly 10 hours with 2-3 breaks, which was roughly slower by an hour or 30 mins than earlier runs. Should I expect a similar run now with all the construction, or expect another hour more?

[gadadhar]

I traveled from Bangalore to Kalady on April 12th, starting at 5 am and taking the Chamarajanagar route. The drive was peaceful and made good time until I joined the Salem-Coimbatore road. The only downside was a very late breakfast after merging onto the main highway. The L&T stretch was in poor condition due to the Vishu holiday rush to Kerala, with traffic worsening from Palakkad and becoming the worst after Thrissur. A friend who was an hour ahead on the same route warned me about a severe traffic jam at Koratty, where flyover construction is ongoing; they were stuck there for over 40 minutes. Fortunately, Google Maps suggested below alternate route that saved the day for me.

The map shown may not have been very accurate, as I was blindly following the directions from Google and trying to join at a point after the road works. The detour started after Muringur, and the directions pointed towards a place called Nalukettu. Although the village roads were narrow, they had a good surface. I rejoined the highway near Apollo Adlux hospital.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/suN1Gi3yFpksJMqe6

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by ampere

Not sure if this was discussed or mentioned earlier:

Omalur-Tharamangalam-Sankagiri is getting 4-laned with all bypasses in places. This should be the perfect option to bypass Salem for those heading to Coimbatore and beyond.

Thanks for this update.

A pleasant surprise! Took this route today and it was a real time saver, almost 30mins as per original GMaps estimate.

Originally Posted by Garth

Last year I did the Bangalore - Ernakulam run in roughly 10 hours with 2-3 breaks, which was roughly slower by an hour or 30 mins than earlier runs. Should I expect a similar run now with all the construction, or expect another hour more?

Travel time has definitely gone up due to multiple construction along the highway. But can be managed if you plan the timing a bit and the route. For west part of Ernakulam/Kochi, I suggest taking detour from Kodakara and join at North Paravur, and further proceed towards Kochi thus avoiding the traffic snarls at Koratty and Angamaly. This is what I did for my onward journey on 12th April.

[Garth]

Originally Posted by bejoy

A pleasant surprise! Took this route today and it was a real time saver, almost 30mins as per original GMaps estimate.

I have always had breakfast at the Saravana Bhawan just before the Vaikundam toll plaza. If I take this route I believe I will join the highway after the toll. Are there any other good eateries on the detour?

Or anything good immediately after joining the highway?

[silversteed]

On the weekend, on my drive from CBE to BLR, GMaps routed us through Perundurai instead of the highway



As a general observation, the drive time from Bangalore to Palakkad has increased by a good 25-30% while the toll went up by ~100% over the last 5 years.

[ike]

Has anyone been on then Palani - Trichy stretch recently? I drive to Chennai from Thrissur frequently and I'm considering driving via Pollachi - Palani - Vedasandur - Trichy - Villupuram just for the heck of it. I have been driving on the usual Thrissur - coimbatore - Salem - Attur - Ulundurpet - Villupuram - Chennai for ages, want to explore a new route. The toll will probably be a little less too.



Just wanted to see if anyone has been on this route. My next drive is probably on the 4th of May.

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by silversteed

On the weekend, on my drive from CBE to BLR, GMaps routed us through Perundurai instead of the highway

I have seen this too, GMaps has trouble routing all along the Selam highway stretch wherever the construction is happening, often asking a long detour. Not sure if it is due to the users reporting lane closures or something else.

Originally Posted by Garth

I have always had breakfast at the Saravana Bhawan just before the Vaikundam toll plaza. If I take this route I believe I will join the highway after the toll. Are there any other good eateries on the detour?

There are some eateries on the detour, but nothing like the Saravana Bhavans.

Yes, the one at the NHAI Amenities before Vaikundam is our first stop too. A new flyover has just opened right opposite to it, so it has taken a hit on the footfall. They have placed direction boards all over and I took an exit due to this and had to go on service road for more than a km.

Originally Posted by Garth

Or anything good immediately after joining the highway?

Not immediately, but an A2B around 45kms later at Perundurai. Note that it is on the other side of the road.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7QU3nA1bXBySXBAJ6

[NPV]

Originally Posted by bejoy

Not immediately, but an A2B around 45kms later at Perundurai. Note that it is on the other side of the road.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7QU3nA1bXBySXBAJ6

This is another NHAI Amenities plaza but not very well maintained.

[ike]

Originally Posted by bejoy

Not immediately, but an A2B around 45kms later at Perundurai. Note that it is on the other side of the road.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7QU3nA1bXBySXBAJ6

Originally Posted by Garth

Or anything good immediately after joining the highway?

There's an Annapoorna(popularly known as Coimbatore Annapurna that has branches all over Coimbatore and is known for the filter coffee) located another 40KM down the road from the A2B mentioned by Bejoy, but this too is on the right side of the road if you are headed towards Coimbatore from Salem. However there are very helpful signboards and an exit that is very conveniently located. There is also a Sree Annapurna(identical branding but the two are separate groups) that is equally good, maybe a KM or two further down the same road, take the same exit. Both places serve very good food though I usually eat at the Sree Annapurna when travelling this route. Both restaurants have clean washrooms(for men, not sure about the women's rooms) and ample parking. Sree Annapurna has EV charging facilities as well.

Located here

Sree Annapurna is here

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ike

Has anyone been on then Palani - Trichy stretch recently? I drive to Chennai from Thrissur frequently and I'm considering driving via Pollachi - Palani - Vedasandur - Trichy - Villupuram just for the heck of it. I have been driving on the usual Thrissur - coimbatore - Salem - Attur - Ulundurpet - Villupuram - Chennai for ages, want to explore a new route. The toll will probably be a little less too.

Palani-Odanchatram-Dindigul is a superb 4-lane now. And beyond that also it continues to be a 4-lane all the way to Trichy.

In fact Coimbatore-Pollachi-Udumalpet-Palani-Odanchatram-Dindigul is getting ready to be 4-lane with bypasses to all towns. I think sections till Palani are also done completely. Not sure about that. But Palani-Dindigul is a 4-lane for sure. I have driven myself. In addition you get a clean bypass to Trichy highway at Dindigul.

[Garth]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my questions. Had a nice and easy drive from Whitefield to Ernakulam yesterday. I started at 4:15 am and reached by 2:30 pm with a breakfast and a lunch break. And 2-3 mini breaks to stretch backs, cool down the tyres etc. Since we started early took the usual Salem route.

With all the construction happening in Kerala progress is slowest in Kerala. There are a few flyovers getting constructed in Tamil Nadu, but somehow there is no build up of traffic there.

[ThatSimpleGuy]

Hello all,

I am travelling from Ernakulam to Electronic city, BLR this weekend and google is showing below route.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/m5m914L7koniSecS8?g_st=aw

Has anyone tried this route before. This goes through Chittar > Kurichi > Mettur > Mecheri > Thoppur > Palacode> Rayakottai > Hosur > EC.

How is the road condition. Is this route okay to be driven in late evening/early night hours. Any other suggestions other than the normal Salem Krishnagiri Hosur route with good roads

Suggestions will be of great help.

Thanks

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by silversteed

On the weekend, on my drive from CBE to BLR, GMaps routed us through Perundurai instead of the highway

Attachment 2751045

As a general observation, the drive time from Bangalore to Palakkad has increased by a good 25-30% while the toll went up by ~100% over the last 5 years.

The same thing happened to me on Saturday. We had stopped in Palakkad for a break. Google initially was going to route us through Satyamangalam/Mysore. This was at 2 pm. I was a little skeptical about forest crossings at twilight.

We were coming from Athirappaly so missed the Koretty mess as we joined the highway at Pota. There was large tailbacks 10 km up the road towards EKM just after Trissur.