[jacs]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Hosur - Rayakottai - Palacode - Dharmapuri in excellent condition as on last Friday.

Attibelle - TVS - Rayakottai route also should be fine compared to Hosur mess.

I took Mettur route some 6 months back and its much slower than NH due to towns and local traffic.

I think Salem route would be the fastest one even at peak hours. You may consider Omallur route to save two tolls and few kms, but running time would be more or less same.

Thanks for latest update. I am always tempted to take Mettur route, it was my regular during my initial Bangalore drive days while Salem work was going on.

Yes Attibelle - TVS - Rayakottai - Dharmapuri is advisable till the Hosur - Krishnagiri mess is cleared off. Lost 1.5 hours during my last drive at 12 noon.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by silversteed

Anyone has updates on Attibele-Rayakkottai-Dharmapuri-Mettur-Bhavani route?

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Hosur - Rayakottai - Palacode - Dharmapuri in excellent condition as on last Friday.

Attibelle - TVS - Rayakottai route also should be fine compared to Hosur mess.

Do check that there may be some rough sections around Kelamangalam.
Apart from that should be decent. But note, roads are narrow till you reach Rayakottai if you plan to take the Attebele TVS road.

I think Salem route would be the fastest one even at peak hours. You may consider Omallur route to save two tolls and few kms, but running time would be more or less same.

Originally Posted by jacs

Thanks for latest update. I am always tempted to take Mettur route, it was my regular during my initial Bangalore drive days while Salem work was going on.

I would say use this option only till Dharmapuri. Its not worth driving to Mettur and Bhavani. The 4-lane is much better.

Attebele-TVS-Kelamangalam-Rayakottai-Palacode-Dharmapuri bypass-NH 7 4-lane.

[binaiks]

Reached home at 5pm, after a 10hr ride from Bangalore.

Started from my home in Arakere (off Bannerghatta Road) at 7AM (2hrs late from my planned departure). Took the NICE Road, and got off the Kanakapura exit. Took the Kanakapuram-Malavalli-Kollegal-Ch.Nagar-Sathy route to Coimbatore. Reached Coimbatore at 1215hrs - traffic was quite heavy after Sathy (expected on a working day afternoon).

Lost my way twice at Kollegal - absolutely no signboards - it was GMaps to my rescue both times. First time I took the MM Hills road - had a doubt about 2kms after Kollegal since the milestones mentioned MM Hills. Went back to the town, turned around and headed on the right route. After Kollegala, lost my way again, and entered the road to T.Narsipura. Just checked GMaps, and realised the folly, turned around again.

Spent some 1.5hrs in CBE, including a sumptuous meal in Annapoorna. Left Coimbatore at around 1345hrs (passed Athupalam at 1400hrs after refueling at ABT pump). Finally reached home near Kodungallur at 1710hrs - covering about 134kms from Coimbatore in 3 hrs. Took the normal Palakkad-Alathur-Kuthiran-Mannuthy route. Amazing roads from Vadakkencherry - never seen such a good road in Kuthiran in my lifetime. Some rough patches exist around Pattikad - but its very well managable.

I was laughing as I saw cars sticking religiously to the 70kmph limit between Mannuthy and Thalore - it was fun to see Mercs, BMWs, T-Forts and M-800s all going at the same speed. Rishiraj effect is quite strong (BTW, I too maintained 70kmph - driving a KL registered car). Except an odd TN regd car, all of them were decently driven, proper lane discipline - couldn't believe I was in Kerala! Hope it stays around.

End of the day - got a decent mileage - around 21kmpl. Loved the drive.

Originally Posted by silversteed

Maybe we didn't notice it! Do update your experience on this route.

I missed the hotel - in fact, I skipped breakfast, so really did not search for this one. I might be returning through the same route, will keep an eye for "Ramavilas" then.

[meisnutz]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Reached home at 5pm, after a 10hr ride from Bangalore.

The route I use to follow from Bglr to Alpy is Banglore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Salem-Bhavani-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Mannuthy corridor-Cherthala-Alappuzha....takes me about 11hours.

Iam not sure whether Iam talking about the same route you are mentioning.Any how 2 precautions:

1.Tolls-Humungous amount
2.If you are planning for a night drive the lorry traffic through the route is very heavy

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by meisnutz

Iam not sure whether Iam talking about the same route you are mentioning.Any how 2 precautions:

1.Tolls-Humungous amount
2.If you are planning for a night drive the lorry traffic through the route is very heavy

I took the Bangalore-Kanakapura-Kollegal-Sathy-Coimbatore-Walayar-Palakkad BP-Mannuthy-Thalore-Thaikkattussery-Irinjalakkuda route to reach home. The only toll I paid was Rs. 26 for NICE Road (which was also avoidable had I left home according to my original plan of 5AM).

The lorry traffic on the Salem route isn't that high - IMHO. I normally prefer night if I take that route.

[meisnutz]

Originally Posted by binaiks

I took the Bangalore-Kanakapura-Kollegal-Sathy-Coimbatore-Walayar-Palakkad BP-Mannuthy-Thalore-Thaikkattussery-Irinjalakkuda route to reach home. The only toll I paid was Rs. 26 for NICE Road (which was also avoidable had I left home according to my original plan of 5AM).

The lorry traffic on the Salem route isn't that high - IMHO. I normally prefer night if I take that route.

Hi Binani,
I had taken the route i mentioned a month back and had found a lot of volvos and lorrys in the 6 lane road.May be it was not my day rather night. I started at 6 in the evning from alappuzha and drove through night and reached banglore at 5 in the morning.

By the way the route you took seems interesting. How are the road conditions? Are those Ghat roads?

regards
Nutz

[Wind]

Originally Posted by Mnjdnght

Got back to Bangalore from Shoranur yesterday. Quick update.
- Took Shoranur - Palakkad - Walayar - Coimabtore - Avinashi - Salem - Krishnagiri - Hosur - Nice road - Bannerghatta road route
- Shoranur - Palakkad is a super smooth drive.

I took the Shornur - Palakkad route on my drive to BLR today. Since I am not familiar with Palakkad town, I had my MapMyIndia turned on and it lead me to Market Road where I was told that the road is closed for through traffic. The locals directed me to another road and I finally ended up in Coimbatore road just before the turn out to Calicut road. It would be great if someone can guide me with the right route through Palakkad town from Shornur Road to Coimbatore road.

-- Wind

[treadmark]

Originally Posted by Wind

I took the Shornur - Palakkad route on my drive to BLR today. Since I am not familiar with Palakkad town, I had my MapMyIndia turned on and it lead me to Market Road where I was told that the road is closed for through traffic. The locals directed me to another road and I finally ended up in Coimbatore road just before the turn out to Calicut road. It would be great if someone can guide me with the right route through Palakkad town from Shornur Road to Coimbatore road. -- Wind

While coming from Shoranur after Priyari take right at Meparamba bus stop (here you can also find green colour signboard mentioning the way to Coimbatore) this will be a four lane road with divider, at the end of the road take a left at Bharath Petrol Bunk.
Stay on the same road pass through Mercy college, KSRTC bus stand, and a slight right at BEM school pass through Fort and then a slight left to reach Coimbatore highway, ultimately this will take you to Chandranagar.
Hope this helps, Cheers!

[Mnjdnght]

Originally Posted by Wind

I took the Shornur - Palakkad route on my drive to BLR today. Since I am not familiar with Palakkad town, I had my MapMyIndia turned on and it lead me to Market Road where I was told that the road is closed for through traffic. The locals directed me to another road and I finally ended up in Coimbatore road just before the turn out to Calicut road. It would be great if someone can guide me with the right route through Palakkad town from Shornur Road to Coimbatore road.

-- Wind

This is what I do which, I agree, is not the ideal option to cut through Palakkad town avoiding the market.
- The road turns right just before the main market area starts.
- Take the next prominent left and you'll arrive at a circle
- Take left and follow directions towards Coimbatore (I think this goes near the town bus stand)
Issue with this route is, there is a junction (Where the Pollachi road joins, I guess), where you've to go straight towards Coimbatore but the straight is now not allowed. So I take left and a immediate U turn to get back onto that road.

I think it is cleaner to take the right before market road and go towards Palakkad Fort. From Fort you can either get onto Stadium bypass road or Coimbatore road to get back onto the main road. Next time I am going to try this option.

[silversteed]

Drove from Bangalore to Palakkad on friday via Salem & Coimbatore. Avoided the busy checkpost at Zuzuwadi and the mess at Hosur. This is the route I took:



... and the condition of roads:



Except that I avoided the tolls between Attibele and Dharmapuri and a 20km reduction in distance, there wasn't any advantage in terms of travel time or better roads. There were short stretches where the surface was excellent. It was not one long stretch but very short, probably a kilometre or so, and then the rough, patchy surface returns.

The heavy downpour and the unmarked roads between Avinashi and Neelambur slowed me down. Visibility was very low. Saw a couple of minor accidents, which I guess happened because of misjudging the borders of the road.

Madukkarai-Walayar was very rough, though there weren't many craters as it used to be. There were diversions and flyover constructions galore after Walayar. The surface is not very smooth, but no craters. If there is no traffic, a steady pace can be maintained, not as fast as on the Ottapalam-Shornur road or the Palladam-Pollachi road.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by silversteed

Except that I avoided the tolls between Attibele and Dharmapuri and a 20km reduction in distance, there wasn't any advantage in terms of travel time or better roads. There were short stretches where the surface was excellent. It was not one long stretch but very short, probably a kilometre or so, and then the rough, patchy surface returns.

Roads beyond Rayakottai were also bad? That old SH I thought was good.
Only bad section was per my opinion Attibele to Rayakottai via Kelamangalam.

So no advantage to take this option ?

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by ampere

Roads beyond Rayakottai were also bad? That old SH I thought was good.
Only bad section was per my opinion Attibele to Rayakottai via Kelamangalam.

So no advantage to take this option ?

Herr Ampere, Rayakottai-Palacode was better than the preceding stretch, but I won't call it excellent. Took me about 2 hours to cover Attibele-Dharmapuri stretch, which is about 100km long.

You have the advantage of less traffic and a reduced distance, but not comfort and travel time.

Originally Posted by Wind

I took the Shornur - Palakkad route on my drive to BLR today. Since I am not familiar with Palakkad town, I had my MapMyIndia turned on and it lead me to Market Road where I was told that the road is closed for through traffic. The locals directed me to another road and I finally ended up in Coimbatore road just before the turn out to Calicut road. It would be great if someone can guide me with the right route through Palakkad town from Shornur Road to Coimbatore road.

Try this route:

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=P...a=1,2&t=m&z=14

[binand]

I didn't see much coverage here of the recent Kerala High Court observation that night travel restriction can also be implemented in the Mananthavady-Gonikkuppa road. So looks like soon the only option left for overnighters will be the Iritty-Virajpet route.

[Waxeloquent]

Today drove to Theni enroute to Munnar-Kumarakom-Cherai-Guruvayur! Thanks to Ampere's suggestion for checking out Western Gatz at Theni From outside, it is pretty ordinary location. Then the rooms are good, clean and the rate (booked through Cleartrip) nice with free wifi internet access. Food / room service is good.

The road upto Dindikkal is smooth with very little traffic. The SH to Theni is not bad at all; one can still do average 70 kmph. Started at 6.30am from Bangalore (Haralur Road) and with a 1/2 hr fuel fill+A2B breakfast at Krishnagiri, 10 minutes stop for chai before Karur and 10 minutes bedsheet/door mats shopping @ Karur, reached Theni hotel @1.15pm.

Tomorrow looking forward to the Cumbum-Cumbummettu-Pooppara-Chinnakanal drive. Hopefully it does not rain.

Cheers

P.S. Shall post pictures in Travelogues forum after return.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by binand

I didn't see much coverage here of the recent Kerala High Court observation that night travel restriction can also be implemented in the Mananthavady-Gonikkuppa road. So looks like soon the only option left for overnighters will be the Iritty-Virajpet route.

Here is a news about that from Manorama News. The news article says that the order is following a PIL filed by a Wayanad based Environment forum. It says that 19kms of the route goes through the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, and hence is a threat to the wildlife. The recent KA-KL govts discussion had ended up in no concrete resolution - this HC order will only make life difficult to passengers in this area.