[Rajith]

friends,
iam planning a trip to sabarimala tmrw from bangalore in a scorpio.Going all alone with a driver joining from Tirupur.This is my @ 20-25 th trip.Need to know wether kumili road is opened after the dam issue or stick to pollachi-angamaly-erumely -pamba road.. Any body want to join with me can pm me.
Planning to see chotanikara,guruvayur in return.

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Posting some images once again for information.

Thanks for the pics. Its really confusing. I missed this road during my first drive. A bit confusing while coming back too. Easily missed the Coim road.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

There has been no compelling recommendations to avoid NH-47, in both Avinashi and Kuthiran stretches during non-peak day-time hours, and hence not taking detour (from NH-47) while driving from Salem till Ernakulam. Will provide an update once I am back. Tentative plan to make Ernakulam->Thrissur->Calicut and Calicut->Nilambur->Mysore->Bangalore drives on the return as we need to touch Thrissur and Calicut.

Need to reverse the loop and so it was Bangalore->Calicut->Thrisur->Ernakulam->Bangalore for the last weekend+monday drive. Here are some updates:
ONWARD : Bangalore(Koramangala Sony World@ 5.30 AM)->Mysore(Breakfast at Kamat Madhuvan @ 8 to 9 AM)->Sulthan Batheri(Tea Break @ 11.15 to 11.30 AM)->GhatRoad Begins(12.15 PM)->GhatRoad Ends(1 PM)->Calicut(Lunch @ 2.30 PM from New TopForm Opposite KSRTC)
Update: No issues for driving a car on day-time non-peak hours on the Wayanad ghats. Except for 3 hair-pins and 3-4 curves, all the stretches have been relaid beautifully now. The 3 hair-pins are digged up to the bottom to remove all tarred surface debris and levelling being done to start the interlocking work from 17th. On the remaining curves where repair work is happening, there is a traffic control to the extent of allowing one-way traffic for 5 minutes in one direction and then on the reverse direction for the next 5 minutes. This repair work will be finished in another 7-10 days and then, except for the interlocking works, the full 12-KM will be butter-smooth to drive and you may cover the same in about 20-25 minutes unless you are stuck behind a heavy vehicle.

RETURN: Did some local trips around Ernakulam/Aluva and then finally started the long drive back from Angamaly. So, the timings are as Angamaly(11.30 AM)->Mannuthy(12.30 PM)->Walayar(Tea break @ 2 to 2.15 PM)->Perundurai(Lunch @ 3.45 to 4.30 PM from Hotel Aryaas)->Krishnagiri(Dinner@ 7.30 to 8.30 PM from Hotel Vasaavi)-> Koramangala(10 PM). Did not have any issues on Thrissur->Palakkad stretch except about 5 kms of rough stretches in Kuthiraan). Similarly, Walayar->Madukkarai stretch had 4-laning work going on and hence is dusty at a few diversions that we encounter. Finally, L&T Bye-pass exit to Chengampally stretch is in very good condition now and was covered in about 45 minutes. Before the 4-laning work started, it would have taken more than an hour but now only the Avinashi town stretch of about 2 kms can slow you down as the diversions are all well-tarred road on other parts and even one-side of 4-lane road being opened in some long stretches as well.

Of course, in both NH-212 and NH-47 drives, it may be advisable to take detours unless you are eager to break monotony or you are very sure of hitting the bottleneck stretches at the WRONG timings :-)

Any more specific details on these routes, please let me know.

[pvkm]

Anyone have an update on the state of ghat road between Bangalore and Kozhikode?

I'd done the Bangalore-Mysore-Gundlupet-Sulthan Bathery-Kalpetta-Calicut route during end-Dec 2011 and the ghat road hairpin bends were in a mess.

I was told that the road is being closed for repairs from 2 Jan 2012.

Any updates? Is the road completely closed or are vehicles allowed in batches? What are the alternate routes between Kalpetta and Calicut? Thanks.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by pvkm

Anyone have an update on the state of ghat road between Bangalore and Kozhikode?

I'd done the Bangalore-Mysore-Gundlupet-Sulthan Bathery-Kalpetta-Calicut route during end-Dec 2011 and the ghat road hairpin bends were in a mess.

I was told that the road is being closed for repairs from 2 Jan 2012.

Any updates? Is the road completely closed or are vehicles allowed in batches? What are the alternate routes between Kalpetta and Calicut? Thanks.

The road is open to traffic at the moment. The roads would be closed for repairs from January 17 onwards. The alternative route from Kalpetta to Kozhikode is via Padinjarethara, Kuttiyadi, Puthiyangadi. The Kuttiyadi-Kozhikode section is already crowded, and with the ghat road closure, expect the roads to be choked.

Private vehicles could be allowed on the ghats, but in batches.

[white-rabbit]

Originally Posted by binaiks

The road is open to traffic at the moment. The roads would be closed for repairs from January 17 onwards. The alternative route from Kalpetta to Kozhikode is via Padinjarethara, Kuttiyadi, Puthiyangadi. The Kuttiyadi-Kozhikode section is already crowded, and with the ghat road closure, expect the roads to be choked.

Private vehicles could be allowed on the ghats, but in batches.

Does this 'closing' include Thamaracherry Ghat?(gudallur-nilambur route).I need to travell on 24th of this month.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by white-rabbit

Does this 'closing' include Thamaracherry Ghat?(gudallur-nilambur route).I need to travell on 24th of this month.

Thamarassery Ghat refers to the ghat section between Wayanad and Kozhikode. The Gudalur-Nilambur ghat area is called Nadugani ghat. There is no closure planned there.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pvkm

Anyone have an update on the state of ghat road between Bangalore and Kozhikode?

Check the post just before yours. Ajit has provided the updates.
Relaying work almost over.

[pvkm]

Originally Posted by ampere

Check the post just before yours. Ajit has provided the updates.
Relaying work almost over.

So he has, thank you both. Good to know the Vythiri-Adivaram ghat stretch is motorable. The alternative is quite a detour.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by ampere

Check the post just before yours. Ajit has provided the updates.
Relaying work almost over.

Route through the Wayanad ghats is ever-improving with hectic repair and relaying work happening in the last few days. Only pain points on NH-212 these days (apart from the 3-4 hair-pin bends marked for interlocking works and left with some levelling work after removing the tarred surface debris) will be the stretches inside Sulthan Battery and Kalpetta towns. For 1 or 2 kms, it may take about 10 minutes on both towns if you hit the points on wrong timings even if the road conditions are very good.

There is NO ban on traffic in this route except for heavy vehicles. There might be a regulation (one-way traffic allowed for 5-10 minutes in one direction and then reverse the direction and REPEAT_PATTERN) on the hair-pin bends where work is happening. As was the case with the work done on the already interlocked hair-pin bends, they may work on half the breadth of the work allowing vehicles on the other half and that is exactly the reason they are banning heavy vehicles which need a larger turning radius at curves, sometimes doing some reversing as well. As a matter of fact, KSRTC is planning to run mini-buses between Lakkidi and Adivaram when the work is happening.

For south of Calicut, Nilambur route is a better option though and for north of Calicut, Coorg/Iritty route would be a good option. It is not a good idea to take Kuttiyadi route as the roads are narrow-n-congested and you may get lost at some of the junctions too.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

For south of Calicut, Nilambur route is a better option though and for north of Calicut, Coorg/Iritty route would be a good option. It is not a good idea to take Kuttiyadi route as the roads are narrow-n-congested and you may get lost at some of the junctions too.

So now to goto Calicult, does it make sense to go via Nilmabur or take the
regular NH212? (Assuming the new updated condition is much better).

[vu2pmc]

Originally Posted by ampere

So now to goto Calicult, does it make sense to go via Nilmabur or take the
regular NH212? (Assuming the new updated condition is much better).

Use Nilambur till middle of feb. The ghat section is yet to be done and now loads of traffic block. Also after Jan 17th, Ghats section will be closed for about two weeks for road repair.

Nilambur road is great, and I would suggest, to turn right just before edavanna town, go over a bridge and all the way to Mavoor. From Mavoor, Calicut town is about 18 kms. saves a lot of time negotiating small towns.

[sajidclt]

Originally Posted by ampere

So now to goto Calicult, does it make sense to go via Nilmabur or take the
regular NH212? (Assuming the new updated condition is much better).

Originally Posted by vu2pmc

Use Nilambur till middle of feb. The ghat section is yet to be done and now loads of traffic block. Also after Jan 17th, Ghats section will be closed for about two weeks for road repair.

AFAIK, the ghat section would be closed only for heavy vehicles. Other traffic would still be allowed. As others have already mentioned, only the hairpin bends would be affected and probably traffic would be allowed only in one direction at a time in these stretches.

I would suggest to use the regular NH 212 (766) as the condition has improved a lot compared to two to three months back (especially near Kalpetta and Meenangadi). Also, as heavy vehicles would use a different route, there could be lesser traffic

I was able to cover the distance between Calicut and Gundlupet in around three and half hours during last week of December (luckily was held up only around ten minutes due to the road repair). I feel that through Nilambur, the time taken would be more owing to narrower roads (at least in my case).

In any case, one would need to wait till the road works start to ascertain the actual impact.

P.S. I had posted a link to a Mathrubhumi article about the repairs in an earlier post

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2633966

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by sajidclt

I was able to cover the distance between Calicut and Gundlupet in around three and half hours during last week of December (luckily was held up only around ten minutes due to the road repair). I feel that through Nilambur, the time taken would be more owing to narrower roads (at least in my case).

Agreed. What I found in the recent few weeks is the following time break-ups on some normal timings: Gundlupet->SulthanBathery=1 hour, SulthanBathery->Lakkidi=1hour, GhatRoads=0.5 hour and Adivaram->Calicut=1hour.

Comparing to my Nilambur route timings, it is very similar and the added advantage there is better predictability of the timings due to less traffic (and of course, no hair-pin bends) in that route. The timings are generally: Gundlupet->Gudalur=1hour, Gudalur->Nadugani=0.5hour,Nadugani->Vazhikkadavu=0.5hour, Vazhikkadavu->Nilambur->Areekode->MedicalCollege->Calicut=1.5hours

So, if you can predict the traffic density on the ghat section and Bathery/Kalpetta towns based on 2 factors(1. office and school timings, 2. traffic peaking due to forest gate closure/openings), you can easily decide which route to choose.

One thing that can tilt the odds in favour of NH-212 for someone though is the availability of better food and fuel facilities all along the route except inside the forest section.. and of course, the comfort of seeing SOME CROWD all along the route

[gkrishk]

Does anybody have an update on the road condition between Palakkad and Coimbatore? I'm planning to travel from Trivandrum to Coimbatore on 17th Jan.
I would like to know if any repairs have been carried out.