[NPV]

Originally Posted by bejoy

Not sure if the Sankari route is viable while coming from Madurai

True, Sankari route is good for anyone heading towards Coimbatore, Palakkad and other parts of Kerala on that route.

For Namakkal, Karur, Madural the Tiruchengode route may be a better option (go upto Sankari on same Omalur-Tharamangalam-Idappady route, then continue straight towards Tiruchengode instead of turning right onto NH 47 at Sankari bypass).
Other options may be via Perundurai-Kangeyam or Erode which may be longer detours and slower too.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by bejoy

I traveled around the same time and took the omalur route. Google showed that the selam route was 50 mins slower. The omalur route was also heavily crowded with two wheelers and people shopping for the festival.

Not sure if the Sankari route is viable while coming from Madurai

If anyone is heading towards Coimbatore and post Palakkad, then going via Omalur, Tharamangalam, Sankagiri is viable.
For people going to Madurai and beyond, the option is to go via Omalur, Tharamangalam, Sankagiri, Tiruchengode and Paramathi. By this one can avoid paying toll at Namakkal also.

[motomaverick]

We went to Kerala on 22nd Oct and came back on 27th Oct. Took the route through Salem-Coimbatore. No issues anywhere.

Onward journey we went through Omalur and joined the highway near Sankari as suggested by NPV. The total journey took around 10hrs till Thrissur after starting from Bangalore at 7am with around 1.5 hour break for eating. Got stuck in a small jam just after Palakkad due to road widening, had to resort to some off road to bypass few cars. We faced the jam at around 3PM.

Return journey again on the same route took around 12hrs due to a huge jam at Attibele and then at Electronic city just before the flyover at around 6pm. Also we started from Alleppey.

Apart from the two traffic snarls rest of the journey was fast and peaceful.

Food Stops:
Onward: Breakfast at Shoolagiri Krishna Bhavan
Lunch at Vazhiyoram, Walayar

Return: Breakfast at Edapally
Lunch at Sarvana Bhavan Karumathampatti

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

On the way, we saw lot of signs for Sri Sai Krishna and decided to check it out. They were open and was serving breakfast - had a sigh of relief and had a very tasty breakfast from there. The food taste is better than Sree Sharavana Bhavan and rates are less, but the toilets are not as good as Sree Saravanabhavan, though they were neat and clean. There is ample parking space and they have a children play area and a store - almost like Sree Sharavana Bhavan.

Tried it for dinner on the way to Kochi. Reached here by 8PM. Good facilities and ample parking. But was disappointed with the dinner, may be we made the wrong choice of food. Was a bit expensive also.

Originally Posted by NPV

2. Tiruppur Sree Annapoorna (branding similar to the Coimbatore based chain) - 24Km

Tried this today for breakfast, fast service and the food was good too. Rest rooms were clean and spacious, resembling some mall interiors (is outside the restaurant, and still being completed)

[sunil8089]

Last week traveled from Chennai to Cochin via Palakkad and following are the updates on the roads and refreshments.

Roads:
Chennai to Ulundurpet (NH45) - Road condition is good, but was slow because of Deepavali traffic. Chocked at Chengalpet and Thidivanam toll plazas, mainly because of poor lane system (drivers really don't know whether there is a toll booth, till they reach very near) and the jumbling of ques. Had to pass through two accident scenes - one near SRM University and next near Villupuram - spent at least 15-20 minutes for each.

Ulundurpet to Salem (NH79) - Road is free and good to drive. But watch some potholes, especially near Valappady

Salem to Neelambur (NH47) - Its the best stretch to drive, with relatively low traffic and good roads.

L&T Road - I really don't understand why they are still collecting Rs.31 toll. Long time back they could have doubled it and had some fly overs at both the traffic signals.

Coimbatore to Walayar (NH47) - Much better than I came last time, Other than two three diversions (manageable), things are good. 75% work is complete.

Walayar to Vadakkancherry (NH47) - Roads are really good, but you don't get the real benefits of a highway. There are at least 6 traffic signals which you have to stop. After collecting the toll for the highway, all these signals gives more preference to local roads than the highway (70 seconds you have to wait but 20 seconds to pass). This accumulates the traffic and delays the travel at least 30 minutes. Lets all congratulate the brilliant fellows who installed these type of unsystematic traffic lights.

Vadakkancherry to Mannuthy - Slow traffic and there there are many potholes, which needs to be careful. I see the road works are progressing well, especially near Mannuthy. Really tiring to drive this stretch, behind some long heavy trucks.

Mannuthy to Cochin - Roads are good, but will be slow because of 5-6 traffic signals and slow moving traffic. One thing I appreciate is there is not much hindrance near Ernakulam due to metro rail work.

Onward I had to spend 14 hours, but return only 12 hours.

Refreshments:
Hotel Woodlands - Senkurichi, Ulundurpet. - Two years back, when they started they got a good restaurant and wash facility. Now the quality had gone down, especially for the food. If you prefer only a good rest room go there, other ways it is better to go to A2B. Had breakfast, but there were no options other than Dosa and it was bad (very salty and sour).

Hotel Malabar -Kanickkode, Palakkad - Those who prefer authentic Kerala food taste, especially non vegetarian, its a good place. Place is neat and family friendly. Good food, but average rest rooms.

Indian Coffee House - Pattikkad - Driven to this place to escape for some time from the maddening traffic between Vadakkancherry and Mannuthy. Had a tea break. Food is good and the rates are very nominal.

Overall things are better than before, but the scope of improvements are huge. One thing is the widespread use of a prepaid travel like Fast Tag - in toll plazas can really reduce the time per transaction. More details about Fast Tag at following link: https://www.icicibank.com/Personal-B...tag/index.page

[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by sunil8089

Walayar to Vadakkancherry (NH47) - Roads are really good, but you don't get the real benefits of a highway. There are at least 6 traffic signals which you have to stop. After collecting the toll for the highway, all these signals gives more preference to local roads than the highway (70 seconds you have to wait but 20 seconds to pass). This accumulates the traffic and delays the travel at least 30 minutes. Lets all congratulate the brilliant fellows who installed these type of unsystematic traffic lights.

Vadakkancherry to Mannuthy - Slow traffic and there there are many potholes, which needs to be careful. I see the road works are progressing well, especially near Mannuthy. Really tiring to drive this stretch, behind some long heavy trucks.

Mannuthy to Cochin - Roads are good, but will be slow because of 5-6 traffic signals and slow moving traffic. One thing I appreciate is there is not much hindrance near Ernakulam due to metro rail work.

[/url]

When I traveled last 3 weeks back had the same issues of these traffic signals

Traveling from Hyderabad upto Walayar effortless no signals except while bypassing Banglore and
Coimbatore bypass.


Walayar - Vadakkancherry these signal takes the time.Added to that these auto guys suddenly appearing from now where make you miss a signal. The purpose of these express highways gets defeated.


Vadakkancherry to Mannuthy May take another year or two.

Had an accident of long trailer falling into the construction site.

Mannuthy to Cochin This stretch was better traffic was there but had speed restrictions of 80kms/Hr.

As was traveling in the afternoon saw many volvos towards Hyderabad vying for space between
Vadakkancherry and Mannuthy probably had to keep up their stiff running time.

[NPV]

Salem experience (flyover construction zone) update from recent Trichy trip:
Onwards - reached Salem around 8:15am and the city traffic (swarming 2 wheeler traffic) was just beginning to build so just managed to cross the city in good time.

Return - reached Salem around 5:45pm, took a break for about 45 minutes and started by 6:30pm. Traffic came to a standstill about 750 metres before the signal & roundtana (circle) after which the main carriageway lanes are blocked and traffic is diverted to the service lanes. Took easily about 25-30 minutes to cross this place. What I realized was that it wasn't caused by choking of the service lanes due to excessive traffic, rather it was because the heavy vehicles like long trucks needing lot of space to negotiate the large roundtana's periphery and divert to the service lanes, this blocks other vehicles and speeds come down to a crawl.

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by gajadonga

Mannuthy to Cochin This stretch was better traffic was there but had speed restrictions of 80kms/Hr.

I think 90 Kms/Hr is the speed limit in Kerala on four-lane roads for LMV and Mannuthy Cochin stretch is four-lane.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

I think 90 Kms/Hr is the speed limit in Kerala on four-lane roads for LMV and Mannuthy Cochin stretch is four-lane.

Originally Posted by gajadonga

Mannuthy to Cochin This stretch was better traffic was there but had speed restrictions of 80kms/Hr.

Speed limit is 90 KM/H on 4 lane National Highways.

Originally Posted by gajadonga

Walayar - Vadakkancherry these signal takes the time.Added to that these auto guys suddenly appearing from now where make you miss a signal. The purpose of these express highways gets defeated.


Vadakkancherry to Mannuthy May take another year or two.

Yes. Signals on NH are very irritating. It gets worse after Angamaly.

How is the progress of Vadakkenchery - Mannuthy? Any sections completed?

[gajadonga]

The road work is going on till Trichur bypass.
Small stretches are complete.
As the traffic is quite slow in this stretch plan atleast 1 to 1.30mins in this stretch. If there is a a traffic jam may take longer time

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Speed limit is 90 KM/H on 4 lane National Highways.



Yes. Signals on NH are very irritating. It gets worse after Angamaly.

Angamaly is becoming a bottleneck and passing the town can easily take more than 30 minutes during peek hours. Situation can be eased if they develop the left road towards Kalady MC Road before the KSRTC bus stand. MC road has another connection that joins back on the National Highway after the busy part of the town.

[bbhavan]

My experience on the Salem bypass option through Sankari -Omallur route.
On my Onward journey to Krishnagiri last week, I chose the Salem highway itself as it was the noon time. Didn't get any major blocks and sailed smoothly.
On my return journey, as it is the evening time, I opted for the Omallur route. The road was full of trucks,bikes and more than that it passes though some villages. I don't think I got any major savings in time.

regards

[arjithin]

Posted this in the Bglr CBE thread, but didn't get any response, hence posting here
_______________

Going to Coimbatore tomorrow 4 AM. Planning to take the below route for a change.

Bangalore-> Kanakapura-> Kollegal-> Chamarajanagar-> Bhavanisagar dam-> Coimbatore (https://goo.gl/maps/4NznKGbiofR2)

1. I am very comfortable till Ch. Nagar. How are the road conditions post Ch. Nagar?
2. Google is asking to bypass Sathy and go via Bhavanisagar dam. I also think its a good idea to go via that route so that Kids can have a look at the dam. Any idea on the road conditions and any specific info on what to visit on the dam?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Bangalore-> Kanakapura-> Kollegal-> Chamarajanagar-> Bhavanisagar dam-> Coimbatore
...

Chamarajanagar-Hasanur-Dhimbam was very good few months ago, don't expect that to be very bad now. Very scenic too around Hasanur and Dhimbam. Dhimbam ghat is the only unpredictable part, in case of a truck breakdown, can have jams but again it is just a possibility, I would suggest you go ahead.
Also, bypassing sathy and going via the bhavanisagar dam has been recommended many times on the forum. Though I haven't tried it myself, I think it will be worth it for a change.
Please update your experience after the trip.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by NPV

Chamarajanagar-Hasanur-Dhimbam was very good few months ago, don't expect that to be very bad now. Very scenic too around Hasanur and Dhimbam. Dhimbam ghat is the only unpredictable part, in case of a truck breakdown, can have jams but again it is just a possibility, I would suggest you go ahead.
Also, bypassing sathy and going via the bhavanisagar dam has been recommended many times on the forum. Though I haven't tried it myself, I think it will be worth it for a change.
Please update your experience after the trip.

Thanks.Will try it out and let everyone know.

Return is Sunday afternoon and expecting a lot of long weekend rush at toll booths. I am wondering which route to take.
Option 1 - Regular NH7 via Tharamangalam
Option 2 - Bhavani -Idappadi - Mecheri - pennanagaram - Palakode - Rayalkottai - Hosur - Bagalur- Whitefield