[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by enfield_500

Also, what are the approximate travel times that I will be looking at?

Thanks!

Mangalore-Calicut should take ~6-7 hours and Calicut-Kochi another ~5 hours. Rough estimates, guess it can go a little less or more depending on your luck. This is for normal day time travel.

[binand]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

The route is straight forward. Take the NH 66 ( Old NH17) all the way. But the drive inside Kerala will be very slow during day time.

https://goo.gl/maps/mQYMybYRUkF2

Don't know much about the route till Calicut, but beyond:

- The above route doesn't follow NH 17 between Calicut and Chamravattom. It generally is considered faster to take the actual NH 17 from Calicut onwards due to multiple railway crossings and crowded towns along the alternate routes.

- It takes NH 17 between Chamravattom and Kochi. Local wisdom it that it is quicker to go to Thrissur via state roads and take the much wider and faster NH 47 from there to Kochi (about 20 km extra but quicker to cover).

[enfield_500]

Originally Posted by binand

Don't know much about the route till Calicut, but beyond:

- The above route doesn't follow NH 17 between Calicut and Chamravattom. It generally is considered faster to take the actual NH 17 from Calicut onwards due to multiple railway crossings and crowded towns along the alternate routes.

- It takes NH 17 between Chamravattom and Kochi. Local wisdom it that it is quicker to go to Thrissur via state roads and take the much wider and faster NH 47 from there to Kochi (about 20 km extra but quicker to cover).

Yes, that's what I heard too. I'm taking the Thrissur route only because I have been advised that NH17 is very narrow after Calicut.

Thanks everyone for the help!

[Waxeloquent]

Bangalore to Kochi, is the byepass @ Salem ready or does the work in progress affect so much that one still has to go through State Highway at Omalur? What is the present state? Thanks. Cheers

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Waxeloquent

What is the present state?

Work isn't complete yet but the diversion onto the service road isn't painful in non-peak hours. Usual peak hours there are between 8am-11am and 5pm-8pm and during these times it's better to use the Omalur route.

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by Waxeloquent

Bangalore to Kochi, is the byepass @ Salem ready or does the work in progress affect so much that one still has to go through State Highway at Omalur? What is the present state? Thanks. Cheers

This image shows how good the roads are. That's the time taken from Koramangala to Cochin when my brother in law drove last week. Salem bypass isnt done and also traffic will slow you down at Kuthiran. It's all good otherwise.

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

This image shows how good the roads are. That's the time taken from Koramangala to Cochin when my brother in law drove last week. Salem bypass isnt done and also traffic will slow you down at Kuthiran. It's all good otherwise.

Is it 6.38 hours? That is terrific timing, which was the drive?

[sunsetorange]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

This image shows how good the roads are. That's the time taken from Koramangala to Cochin when my brother in law drove last week. Salem bypass isnt done and also traffic will slow you down at Kuthiran. It's all good otherwise.

Attachment 1608438

Tribute to the highway capabilities of the Jetta!

[NPV]

Once you cross the Walayar check post, the posted speed limit is 50kmph almost all the way till Alathur with several signals as well in between

There was just one 80 kmph speed limit signage on one of the flyovers en route!

Almost every vehicle (except maybe some 2 wheelers and local goods carrying mini-trucks and autos) does speeds of 60+ kmph, so technically all vehicles are driving above speed limit on this stretch! And this is the widened 4 lane section of a National Highway (old NH 47, now 544) on the Kerala side!

Wonder if there are any speed cameras/speed gun enforcement here ?

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by NPV

Wonder if there are any speed cameras/speed gun enforcement here ?

Yes there is. Made a trip last week, and I can vouch for it. Between Walayar and Kuthiran, generally there are two highway police vehicles. Saw the first one after Walayar toll booth, and the next one was spotted near Kuzhalmannam town. I did notch up a bit after Kuzhalmannam hoping that all is fine.

But some where near Alathur (there is a huge bridge kind of a thing - with fields on both sides of the road) suddenly I find another "highway police" type vehicle. And that was the "Interceptor". Luckily for me, they had just reached the spot and was only getting ready for action! The camera on top was covered up.

Earlier Kerala Police had very few "Interceptor" vehicles. Now all districts which have a sizeable NH and SH connectivity has been given one such vehicle.

[binand]

Originally Posted by NPV

Once you cross the Walayar check post, the posted speed limit is 50kmph almost all the way till Alathur with several signals as well in between

What about the limits published here?

http://www.keralamvd.gov.in/index.ph...2014/91-14.pdf

Maybe the entire stretch you speak of is within some municipality limit or other.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by binand

What about the limits published here?

It should be 90kmph for cars as per that, right ?

I'm not sure about the municipality part, but I'm guessing you are familiar with this stretch of NH47 from Walayar towards Alathur ?

[binand]

Originally Posted by NPV

It should be 90kmph for cars as per that, right ?

I'm not sure about the municipality part, but I'm guessing you are familiar with this stretch of NH47 from Walayar towards Alathur ?

Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. My question was whether the limits posted on this website are applicable, or the on-road signage. Or maybe they both are the same if the entire stretch falls under some municipality limit or other (though I doubt this).

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

Is it 6.38 hours? That is terrific timing, which was the drive?

Yes. That's a Jetta. This was actually from Kochi to Bangalore. He is driving down next week also .

[kala]

Originally Posted by binand

Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. My question was whether the limits posted on this website are applicable, or the on-road signage. Or maybe they both are the same if the entire stretch falls under some municipality limit or other (though I doubt this).

I suspect the speed limit boards must be placed at locations that fall under some municipality limits - the corresponding End of speed limit signboards may either be missing or inconspicous I would think.

I had reported about a 70kmph speed limit being enforced by the police on on NH212 in Wayanad. A relative of mine asked the cops for a clarification about why they aren't the standard 85kmph that is applicable for National highways as per the MVD circular, and the response he received was that ALL roads in Wayanad district are classified as Ghat roads, and hence the limit is actually only 45kmph - and they are doing everyone a favour by using a more liberal limit of 70kmph instead !!