[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by vivekkr_99

Thanks Ranjit for the quick reply. Yes, I'll be taking the NH 47 till Thrissur since the 4-laning is complete. THRISSUR-PUZHAKKAL-AMALA-KECHERI - is it on the usual Thrissur - Guruvayur - Kuttippuram route itself?

yes till Kecheri is on the usual thrissur-gvr route.At kecheri junction,you would see a road going right,take that road to perumpilavu.It helps you avoid the messy town traffic of kunnamkulam and saves around an hour or more of driving time

Originally Posted by vivekkr_99

Also, I heard that roads are miserable in the NH-17 beyond Calicut, will it be safe to drive in the night?Another option will be to opt for an overnight stay at Thrissur and then plan for an early start by 4 AM from there.

There are no safety issues as such,but the problem is that you would find it difficult to spot the potholes in the night and with all the truck headlights screaming away on your eyes,it would be very difficult to drive.

If you are considering an option of staying back at thrissur,then I would suggest that you do it and then leave thrissur early in the morning.thrissur to calicut is a 3hour drive and you would exit calicut before the day time private bus and fish lorry traffic begins.Daytime driving is any time a better option than driving this route in the night.Please let me know in case you need info on stay options in thrissur.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by vivekkr_99

It seems the roads from Trivandrum up to Calicut are in decent shape, but I don't have any idea on the road condition after Calicut. Any information will be appreciated.

Kozhikode to Quilandy, Mahe to Thalassery, Kannur to Valapattanam are non-existent. Other sections are "average". The road is bad around Thaliparamba as well.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

TVM-ALLEPPEY-ALWAYE-CHALAKUDI-THRISSUR-PUZHAKKAL-AMALA-KECHERI-RIGHT TURN-PERUMPILAVU-RIGHT TURN-NH17-EDAPPAL-KOTTAKAL-CALICUT.

Er! Isn't it Left at Perumpilavu? The road on the right leads to Pattambi, IIRC. Perumpilavu to Kuttipuram is on SH, and Kuttipuram onwards is on NH17. Edappal is NOT on NH17.

Are you suggesting Kecheri-Pannithadam-Perumpilavu? Just confirming. If the drive is during early morning hours, I guess its safer to stick to the regular route via Kunnamkulam. Atleast one might see some people on the road to clarify if one misses his way.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Kozhikode to Quilandy, Mahe to Thalassery, Kannur to Valapattanam are non-existent. Other sections are "average". The road is bad around Thaliparamba as well.

Also, coming from south, dont forget to take Kozhikode bye-pass before Ramanattukara itself and go till the end of bye-pass, take left at Malapparamba circle, proceed till mini bye-pass junction and then take right towards Kannur. As of now, Ramanattukara->Kozhikode road is in bad shape and you will encounter very heavy traffic as well.

Be prepared to spend about 1 hour each on Kozhikode->Quilandy (about 25 kms), Mahe->Thalassery (about 10 kms) and Kannur->Valapattanam (about 10 kms). Actually, from Chovva junction (where Bangalore->Iritty->Kannur road joins NH-17 joins) till you cross Valapattanam river bridge, it is virtually a crawl most of the times !

[coolclouds]

I am planning to do Bangalore-Kochi via Vazhikadavu-Perinthalmanna during Onam holidays.
Planning to start by 8th noon/afternoon. Any recent updates, please share.

Thanks in advance!

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

I am planning to do Bangalore-Kochi via Vazhikadavu-Perinthalmanna during Onam holidays.
Planning to start by 8th noon/afternoon. Any recent updates, please share.

Thanks in advance!

Not at all reccomended to go via vazhikadavu for the next couple of weeks.TN & KL PWD depts have been trying hard to repair the huge cracks on the nadugani ghat between nadugani & vkadavu.As per reports yesterday kerala pwd is almost certain to close the entire road to repair the huge cracks.the news have appeared in mathrubhumi and cnn ibn as well.either stick to the potholed nh 212 or go via nh7/nh47.

[coolclouds]

Thanks Ranjith for this info. I was assuming that the Nadugani stretch would be repaired before Onam.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

I am planning to do Bangalore-Kochi via Vazhikadavu-Perinthalmanna during Onam holidays.
Planning to start by 8th noon/afternoon. Any recent updates, please share.

Thanks in advance!

Keep checking the latest update as there is some traffic restrictions on Nadukani road and a possible closure for a day or 2 to carry out some repair work. Perhaps it would begood to check with the Manjeri/Malappuram/Perinthalmanna/Tirur over-night bus drivers, like that of PK Travels or SKS Travels.

[vinucv]

I am planning a Chennai - Palakkad trip along with family this weekend. We plan to cross Avinashi by around 10 PM Friday. Could someone please update how bad/good the avinashi –palakkad stretch during night.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

Keep checking the latest update as there is some traffic restrictions on Nadukani road and a possible closure for a day or 2 to carry out some repair work. Perhaps it would begood to check with the Manjeri/Malappuram/Perinthalmanna/Tirur over-night bus drivers, like that of PK Travels or SKS Travels.

Heavy vehicles are not plying at the momemt is what i hear.
OT;i would be driving to kerala arnd the 8th from bangalore.7th intend to do hyd blore

[vivekkr_99]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

yes till Kecheri is on the usual thrissur-gvr route.At kecheri junction,you would see a road going right,take that road to perumpilavu.It helps you avoid the messy town traffic of kunnamkulam and saves around an hour or more of driving time

There are no safety issues as such,but the problem is that you would find it difficult to spot the potholes in the night and with all the truck headlights screaming away on your eyes,it would be very difficult to drive.

If you are considering an option of staying back at thrissur,then I would suggest that you do it and then leave thrissur early in the morning.thrissur to calicut is a 3hour drive and you would exit calicut before the day time private bus and fish lorry traffic begins.Daytime driving is any time a better option than driving this route in the night.Please let me know in case you need info on stay options in thrissur.

Thanks Ranjit. From both your as well as Ajith's replies, I think it is better to do an early morning start from Thrissur. Usually I stay in some hotel in Thrissur "Rounds". If there are no rooms available, I may go to one of my friends' house at Edappal.

Originally Posted by ajithbr

Also, coming from south, dont forget to take Kozhikode bye-pass before Ramanattukara itself and go till the end of bye-pass, take left at Malapparamba circle, proceed till mini bye-pass junction and then take right towards Kannur. As of now, Ramanattukara->Kozhikode road is in bad shape and you will encounter very heavy traffic as well.
Yes, I do take the By-pass and never even think of going through the city traffic

Be prepared to spend about 1 hour each on Kozhikode->Quilandy (about 25 kms), Mahe->Thalassery (about 10 kms) and Kannur->Valapattanam (about 10 kms). Actually, from Chovva junction (where Bangalore->Iritty->Kannur road joins NH-17 joins) till you cross Valapattanam river bridge, it is virtually a crawl most of the times !

Thanks Ajith for the reply. Will plan for an early morning drive, so that I can avoid the private buses at least to some extent.

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by vinucv

[COLOR=black]I am planning a Chennai - Palakkad trip along with family this weekend. We plan to cross Avinashi by around 10 PM Friday. Could someone please update how bad/good the avinashi –palakkad stretch during night. [/COLOR]

It isnt all that bad since you are driving only till Palghat. Watch out for the heavy vehicles after Coimbatore since there might be some hold ups near Walayar check post. Two weeks I did this stretch but was fine till Palghat. The stretch between Palghat - Thrissur is horrible. But I would always recommend day drives along NH 47 any day.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by vinucv

[COLOR=black]I am planning a Chennai - Palakkad trip along with family this weekend. We plan to cross Avinashi by around 10 PM Friday. Could someone please update how bad/good the avinashi –palakkad stretch during night. [/COLOR]

Of late the stretch from Walayar to Palakkad has started worsening - watch out for potholes all through the stretch

Avinashi - Walayar - road work going on and hence lots of diversions and in the rest of the places the condition is not good, especially the Madukkarai-Walayar stretch (except the L&T bypass)

[vasoo]

How about driving through Kanakapura road through Chamrajnagar and Sathy towards L&T bye-pass? Did anybody try this route off late? I am really bored of the regular NH 7-47 route.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by vasoo

How about driving through Kanakapura road through Chamrajnagar and Sathy towards L&T bye-pass? Did anybody try this route off late? I am really bored of the regular NH 7-47 route.

Me too planning to take this route on 8th of this month since the news that Perinthalmanna route may be closed for repairs. I hope this route should be ideal for doing 70-90 speeds, that too a scenic drive.

[shefeeqyr]

Did the regular Bangalore to Palakkad NH7/NH47 on Sep 2. The road condition from Avinashi till L&T bypass is slowly improving as more stretches of the newly built roads are opened for use. However, after Madukkarai its sheer hell all the way till Palakkad. Madukkarai till Walayar Border is miserable with too many cuts, loose metal and potholes. Walayar road is deteriorating with lots of dangerous deep potholes as well. I usually do this stretch twice a month, but I've decided to give it a break and reserve a Chair Car in the Intercity (6:15 AM) for some time till this is fixed.

Regarding the Kanakpura/ C'nagar route, its a single lane highway and I did not feel all that great when I went to Chikmagalur via that route. You come across a lot of town junctions and the road surface is rough at many places. Rather you could use the 4 lane Mysore road and go to C'nagar and then enter the Sathyamangalam Ghats. Not sure of the road condition in Sathy though.