[Soccerfan]

Update on NH 47

Road is bad from Kalavoor till Ambalapuzha. Surface is gone at most places and there are some big craters here and there. After ambalapuzha its good till Haripad. Haripad to Kayamkulam also the surface is gone at most places

[Sandy28]

I just drove down to Kootanad (near Pattambi) yesterday from udupi. Kasargod, kanjangad stretches are totally in mess. no roads at all at many stretches. north kerala in general is in tatters. roads in canoor and kozikode cities are also a total mess but the highways are relatively better. the legendary kerala traffic lived up to expecations. the new edapal highway was a pleasant surprise. felt like heaven driving on it after driving thru the above stretches.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

I just drove down to Kootanad (near Pattambi) yesterday from udupi. Kasargod, kanjangad stretches are totally in mess. no roads at all at many stretches. north kerala in general is in tatters. roads in canoor and kozikode cities are also a total mess but the highways are relatively better. the legendary kerala traffic lived up to expecations. the new edapal highway was a pleasant surprise. felt like heaven driving on it after driving thru the above stretches.

Did you notice the big green board that declares this newly relaid stretch of SH 69 at the right fork of NH-17 after the Kuttippuram Bridge? I have done Calicut->Guruvayur->Calicut over the weekend and felt heavenly on this new stretch as I drove from Kuttippuram to Kunnamkulam. It used to take above 1 hour a couple of years back and now it takes just about 30 minutes to cover this stretch. I believe the full stretch of SH 69 is "NH-17 Fork after the Kuttippuram Bridge -> Edappal -> Perumpilavu -> Kunnamkulam -> Choondal -> Thrissur" and after "Kuttippuram -> Kunnamkulam" stretch, the next phase is to improve "Kunnamkulam -> Choondal -> Thrissur" stretch.

2 points to share for those who are planning Calicut->Guruvayur route:
a) From anywhere inside Calicut city, it is better to drive upto NH-17 bye-pass and then drive south rather than going via Farook->Ramanattukara for both heavy-traffic and bad-road reasons. From near Railway Station, we drove through Medical College Road (4-lane road with divider like our Bangalore->Mysore road) upto NH-17 junction with traffic signal. Then, took a right to proceed southwards. Took about 20 minutes to reach Ramanattukara where it joins back NH-17 a couple of kms after crossing NH-213 whereas it may take atleast 45 minutes during day-time via the regular Farook route and will have to suffer both bad-roads and heavy-traffic.
b) Just at the Kottakkal junction where NH-17 takes almost 90-degree right (Chankuvetty?), after you take right, you will find "Food-n-Fun" hotel on your left side. We found this place to be good in terms of both food and ambience. They have lots of stuff for kids to play as well as private rooms for families. Remember seeing the same in web but dont remember the links now.

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

Did you notice the big green board that declares this newly relaid stretch of SH 69 at the right fork of NH-17 after the Kuttippuram Bridge?

2 points to share for those who are planning Calicut->Guruvayur route:
a) From anywhere inside Calicut city, it is better to drive upto NH-17 bye-pass and then drive south rather than going via Farook->Ramanattukara for both heavy-traffic and bad-road reasons. From near Railway Station, we drove through Medical College Road (4-lane road with divider like our Bangalore->Mysore road) upto NH-17 junction with traffic signal. Then, took a right to proceed southwards. Took about 20 minutes to reach Ramanattukara where it joins back NH-17 a couple of kms after crossing NH-213 whereas it may take atleast 45 minutes during day-time via the regular Farook route and will have to suffer both bad-roads and heavy-traffic.

after driving thru near-hell conditions i was so relieved to see the good road that i guess i missed the green board

you are right about taking the NH 17 bypass. I took the Farook-Ramanatukara route and it was really bad - both trafic and road condition. Wasted lot of time.

Happened to drive on the Thrissur - Irinjalakuda road today morning to visit couple of temples. The road was excellent, though a 2 lane road.

[modthomas]

Planning Bangalore > Ernakulam > Thodupuzha > Kanjirapally > Bangalore on the Independence Day weekend.

Had done Bangalore > NH7 > NH47 > Perundurai > Kangeyam > Pollachi > Vadakkencherry > Trichur in May as per advice here, and the roads were fantastic. Any update on the state post monsoon, and is there a better route to get all the way to Cochin?
For the return, what is the current state of Kanjirapally > Mundakayyam > NH 220 > Theni > Bathlagundu > Dindigul > NH7 back? For this is Theni > Madurai > NH7 a better alternative?

Variables :
Car : i20, family of 4 pax, exit from Blore and return from Kanjirapally both planned around 5 am.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by modthomas

Had done Bangalore > NH7 > NH47 > Perundurai > Kangeyam > Pollachi > Vadakkencherry > Trichur in May as per advice here, and the roads were fantastic. Any update on the state post monsoon, and is there a better route to get all the way to Cochin?
For the return, what is the current state of Kanjirapally > Mundakayyam > NH 220 > Theni > Bathlagundu > Dindigul > NH7 back? For this is Theni > Madurai > NH7 a better alternative?

Palakkad-Trissur is bad as usual.

Kumili-Kanjirapalli is lovely, great roads.

[kala]

Originally Posted by modthomas

Planning Bangalore > Ernakulam > Thodupuzha > Kanjirapally > Bangalore on the Independence Day weekend.

Had done Bangalore > NH7 > NH47 > Perundurai > Kangeyam > Pollachi > Vadakkencherry > Trichur in May as per advice here, and the roads were fantastic. Any update on the state post monsoon, and is there a better route to get all the way to Cochin?
For the return, what is the current state of Kanjirapally > Mundakayyam > NH 220 > Theni > Bathlagundu > Dindigul > NH7 back? For this is Theni > Madurai > NH7 a better alternative?

Variables :
Car : i20, family of 4 pax, exit from Blore and return from Kanjirapally both planned around 5 am.

For Kanjirappally-Bangalore, can't think of any route that would come anywhere near the one through Kumily-Theni-Dindigul-Salem.

The last time I travelled that route, about 10-15 kms on either side of Kumily was quite bad (the Vandiperiyar-Kumily-Lower Camp sector), but in spite of this I'd choose this route any day because all other alternatives either have more or less than same amount of bad roads, or would take much longer to traverse because of the extra distance (And in most cases both )

[modthomas]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Palakkad-Trissur is bad as usual.

Kumili-Kanjirapalli is lovely, great roads.

Originally Posted by kala

For Kanjirappally-Bangalore, can't think of any route that would come anywhere near the one through Kumily-Theni-Dindigul-Salem.

The last time I travelled that route, about 10-15 kms on either side of Kumily was quite bad (the Vandiperiyar-Kumily-Lower Camp sector), but in spite of this I'd choose this route any day because all other alternatives either have more or less than same amount of bad roads, or would take much longer to traverse because of the extra distance (And in most cases both )

Thanks for that. Re the bad Palakkad - Thrissur stretch, any ideas for bypassing Palakkad Thrissur altogether? Is it worth trying Pollachi > Valparai > Chalakudy in the daytime in this season?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by modthomas

Thanks for that. Re the bad Palakkad - Thrissur stretch, any ideas for bypassing Palakkad Thrissur altogether? Is it worth trying Pollachi > Valparai > Chalakudy in the daytime in this season?

Roads are good in that section. Only thing I am not sure about is if rains would cause landslides in this region.

[naveen.raju]

Started resurfacing Kuthiran as per the latest report from my friend who took this route this weekend. Let's hope they fix the Thrissur - Palghat section at the earliest.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Started resurfacing Kuthiran as per the latest report from my friend who took this route this weekend. Let's hope they fix the Thrissur - Palghat section at the earliest.

Good news indeed!!
Also saw a news last Friday that they budgeted 7** crores for Walayar-Vadakkancherry four laning work.

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Good news indeed!!
Also saw a news last Friday that they budgeted 7** crores for Walayar-Vadakkancherry four laning work.

Let's see how much amount actually goes into the road works. They have already acquired the land for four laning of this section.

Hope they will atleast resurface this section asap. I have a drive planned to Blore during the second week of August.

[dhanushs]

Sulthan Bathery - Gundelpet - Chamrajnagar - Satyamangalam - Coimbatore, road is good. Takes about 4 hours to cover ~240 kms, in a very sedate manner.

Also, Metupalayam - ooty - Goodalur - Sulthan Bathery is good. CBE - Metupalayam is a bit battered.

[DieselLover]

I have a Thrissur - Kottayam drive planned for coming Friday. I am planning to take Thrissur-Angamaly-Perumbavoor-Muvattupuzha-Kottayam route. How is the current road condition after Angamaly?

My return journey will be in the evening and would like to know if this route (between Angamaly and Kottayam) is heavily crowded?

[kala]

Did a Bangalore-Trivandrum-Bangalore trip about 10 days back. Slightly late in reporting on the road conditions, but better late than never - so here it goes :

Section 1 : Bangalore-Trivandrum (Day 1)

Started from home (close to Banashankari) at around 5:45 AM - Took NH7/NH47B/NH47 to Trivandrum.

Salem - Reached at 8:10 AM, stopped for breakfast for about 25 minutes (included a short break about 5-10 minutes to fill up diesel at Hosur). Road conditions excellent except for the speedbreakers around Thoppur ghats.

Reached Kavalkkinar at 12:50 PM deviated onto NH47B towards Nagerkoil
Passed Nagercoil (Parvathipuram) at around 1:15 PM - break of about 10 minutes to fill up diesel. Road excellent till Kavalkkinar, decent between there and Nagercoil.

Reached Kowdiar in Trivandrum at sharp 3 PM. Road conditions decent, but traffic heavy to very heavy.

Total of 9 hours 15 minutes for 715 kms. (Average 77.3 kmph)

Section 2 - Trivandrum to Kottayam (Day 2)

Started at around 4 PM. Took MC Road. Pretty slow going till Venjarammood because of winding roads and heavy traffic. Excellent roads / not too heavy traffic from there on till Chengannur (Reached at 6:25 PM, 2 hrs 25 minutes for 115 kms inclusive of a 10 minute tea break at Adoor).

Terrible roads from there till Kottayam - The remaining 42 kms took me around 1 hour 25 minutes (even after using the new Changanacherry byepass : roads are bad even on this byepass)

Total of 3 hrs 50 minutes for 157 kms (Average 41 kmph)

Section 3 : Kottayam to Ernakulam (Day 3)

Start : 2:50 PM from Vadavathoor (abt 6 kms east of Kottayam) -

Route Manarcad-Thiruvanchoor-Ettumanoor-Vaikom-Vyttila-Ernakulam (72 kms)

Time taken : 1 hr 45 minutes - including 15 minutes taken to cross the signal at Vyttila.

Road conditions : Quite decent except for a few kms between Thiruvanchoor and Ettumanoor. Traffic fairly heavy.

Average 42 kmph

Section 4 : Ernakulam to Bangalore (Day 4)

Started at 11 AM from Thevara (EKM) - Reached Trichur (80 kms) by 12:15 AM (1 hr 15 minutes) - Road condition - Excellent

Trichur-Shoranur-Kulappulli-Parali-Mundur-Olavakkot : (80 kms) - Reached Olavakkot at 2 PM (1 hr 45 minutes for 80 kms inclusive of a 15 minute forced halt at Wadakkancherry level crossing). Road conditions - decent till Kulappully, excellent from there till Parali where I turned off towards Mundur in order to byepass Palghat. From then on till Olavakkot average roads.

Lunch break at Olavakkod for 30 minutes.

Olavakkot - Palghat - Coimbatore (55 kms) 1 hr 10 minutes. 6 kms from Olavakkot to Palghat is very bad, good roads from thereon till Coimbatore.

Coimbatore-Satyamangalam-Chamarajnagar-Kollegal-Kanakapura-Bangalore (Banashankari) - 315 kms - 5 hrs 20 minutes inclusive of a 15 minute coffee break at Chamarajnagar and a diesel fillup break of 5 minutes at Satyamanglam.

Roads slow till Kurumbapalayam (Coimbatore city traffic), good from then on till Bangalore.

Reached Banashankari at 9PM. Total of 530 kms in 10 hours. (Average 53 kmph)