[binand]

Originally Posted by sandeepsc

the good and fastest route to reach Arookutty near Kochi from Bangalore or say Davanagere (Where I plan to halt for overnight).

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

You would need to take a call on how to bypass Bangalore.

The best way of bypassing Bangalore coming from Davanagere is the NICE Road, IMO.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by EV NXT

There are quite a few cameras on the Salem - Krishnagiri sector. They are not on the centre of the road but mounted on poles to the side of the road. Does anyone know if these are operational as yet or are they fixed for some other purpose such as traffic census etc?

KL is plagued with cameras, now TN too ? TN highway is one of the last few remaining respite for a south Indian to drive quickly. Now that too is gone ? How terrible.

[cooljai]

While travelling two days back from bangalore to kerala, noticed that all along the highway from walayar till right before kuthiran (the older four laned section), speed limit boards mentioning 50 as the limit have come up. Though the limit on four lane roads according to the mvd kerala website is 90, is there any notification modifying the limits on this stretch? Has anyone been fined yet for speeding over 50?

[rakesh.rvn]

Originally Posted by rakesh.rvn

Completed Whitefield-Tirur drive today.
Route taken was Whitefield-Silk Board-Hosur-Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Shoranur-Pattambi-Trithala-Kuttipuram-Tirur
Start time: 4:30 AM
End time: 3:15 PM
Breaks- 2 hours for breakfast and lunch.

Took the same route back yesterday.
Started at 1:15 PM from Tirur and reached Whitefield at 11:00 PM. One break at A2B Walayar. Truck traffic seemed to be on the higher side on TN highway. Bangalore section was peaceful considering that we entered after 10 PM.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by cooljai

While travelling two days back from bangalore to kerala, noticed that all along the highway from walayar till right before kuthiran (the older four laned section), speed limit boards mentioning 50 as the limit have come up. Though the limit on four lane roads according to the mvd kerala website is 90, is there any notification modifying the limits on this stretch? Has anyone been fined yet for speeding over 50?

50kmph is at intersections. The speed cams are not meant to detect these, as far as I know. They are calibrated for 90kmph

[sandeepsc]

Originally Posted by sandeepsc

I have put this query in Mumbai-Kerala route thread but since I know the route between Mumbai and Bangalore, I want to know the good and fastest route to reach Arookutty near Kochi from Bangalore or say Davanagere (Where I plan to halt for overnight).

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

You would need to take a call on how to bypass Bangalore. Depending on where you are halting and the time of day you start/pass Bangalore, you can decide which route to take.

Originally Posted by binand

The best way of bypassing Bangalore coming from Davanagere is the NICE Road, IMO.

I am planning to take a break at Davanagere for overnight before proceeding to Arookutty, Kochi. I will leave Davanagere around 7.00 AM in the morning. Considering this time which route should I follow to bypass the Bangalore. Being a holiday on Monday 16th May, can we expect less traffic while bypassing the Bangalore?

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by sandeepsc

I will leave Davanagere around 7.00 AM in the morning. Considering this time which route should I follow to bypass the Bangalore. Being a holiday on Monday 16th May, can we expect less traffic while bypassing the Bangalore?

You can take the NICE road from Tumkur road. It will connect you to Hosur road without entering the city. You may still have to face little city traffic till electronic city after hitting Hosur road.

[binand]

Originally Posted by sandeepsc

Considering this time which route should I follow to bypass the Bangalore.

Coming on NH4 from Hubli side and proceeding to NH44 Salem side - there is no reason to not take NICE Road to bypass Bangalore any time of the day or night.

[sandeepsc]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

You can take the NICE road from Tumkur road. It will connect you to Hosur road without entering the city. You may still have to face little city traffic till electronic city after hitting Hosur road.

Originally Posted by binand

Coming on NH4 from Hubli side and proceeding to NH44 Salem side - there is no reason to not take NICE Road to bypass Bangalore any time of the day or night.

So as per your suggestions I should follow following route to bypass Bangalore

Tumkuru-Dobbaspet-NICE road after Nelamangla-E City-Attibele-Hosur

After Hosur I have to take Krishnagiri-Salem-Erode-Coimbatore-Thrissur-Kochi(Arookutty).

So is this route the fastest and safe to reach Arookutty?

[binand]

Originally Posted by sandeepsc

Tumkuru-Dobbaspet-NICE road after Nelamangla-E City-Attibele-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Salem-Erode-Coimbatore-Thrissur-Kochi(Arookutty).

So is this route the fastest and safe to reach Arookutty?

Yes. It is basically just staying on the dual-carriageway road throughout your entire journey. You reach major intersections where you need to watch out, at these locations:

1. Northwest outskirts of Bangalore: Take care that you take the exit that takes you on to the NICE Road. If you miss this you will end up going inside Bangalore city and that could be excruciating.

2. Southern end of Bangalore: This is easier, but make sure you exit the NICE Road onto Hosur/Salem side and not to Bangalore city side. Also while on NICE Road avoid all other exits.

3. Salem bypass: Entering Salem bypass coming from Bangalore side is natural, but to exit towards Coimbatore needs you to be careful to locate the correct ramp. If you miss this you will end up continuing along NH44 towards Madurai.

4. Coimbatore bypass: At the east end of the bypass avoid/ignore the exit ramp that goes into Coimbatore city. Note that this bypass of 28km is single carriageway and has 6 tollbooths.

[Waxeloquent]

Friends I have to make to & fro trips from Coimbatore to Kochin International airport to pick up and drop my son later this month and early June. As the arrival & departure times at Kochin are very early morning, we got to reach a day before both the ways. Any good hotels we can stay close to the airport/Nedumbaserry in ₹4k to 5K night range? Google maps throws up confusing range :( Also during afternoons normally how long does it take (without tickets on NH) from Walayar to the airport? Sorry for asking the basic stuff as this is is our first trip. Thanks in advance.

[Turbohead]

Originally Posted by Waxeloquent

Also during afternoons normally how long does it take (without tickets on NH) from Walayar to the airport? Sorry for asking the basic stuff as this is is our first trip. Thanks in advance.

Unlike, other areas in Kerala, Coimbatore to Kochi is a 4 lane highway with a speed limit of 90 kmph (if violated, challans will be mailed home.) . Traffic is relatively less in the afternoon but beyond 5 PM, this will get very busy. With all the signals and speed cameras, calculate an average speed of 40-50 kmph.

FYI, Google maps is pretty accurate with the time unless you get stuck in some block caused by an accident.

Any reason why you're not checking hotel rates on other websites apart from maps?

[binand]

Originally Posted by Waxeloquent

Any good hotels we can stay close to the airport/Nedumbaserry in ₹4k to 5K night range?

I'm surprised you can't find a hotel at that budget... I think even the Marriott at the airport would fall in that budget. There are several hotels in the immediate vicinity of Cochin Airport.

Originally Posted by Waxeloquent

Also during afternoons normally how long does it take (without tickets on NH) from Walayar to the airport?

I think you can drive this distance is about 3-3.5 hours. about 20 minutes from Walayar to Chandranagar, 1.5 hours from Chandranagar to Paliyekkara, 1 hour from Paliyekkara to Angamali and another 20 minutes from Angamali to the airport. Remember that you should exit NH 544 at Angamali and take MC Road (Kerala SH 1); the road to airport branches off MC Road in about 1.5 km (it is well-signposted). Traffic hotspots are Paliyekkara toll booth, a section closed-off for flyover construction at Chalakudy and the NH-SH junction at Angamali.

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Any reason why you're not checking hotel rates on other websites apart from maps?

Google Maps shows prices from several different websites (Cleartrip, Booking.com, Expedia, Ibibo...) - so facilitates comparison.

[adisan]

Originally Posted by binand

I think you can drive this distance is about 3-3.5 hours.

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Unlike, other areas in Kerala, Coimbatore to Kochi is a 4 lane highway with a speed limit of 90 kmph

About 25 years back, travel by private bus from the heart of Coimbatore to the heart of Cochin used to take a little over 4 hours, including a break near Palghat. It was on undivided, two-lane roads.

Out of curiosity, I checked the same route on Google Maps today and saw that it still takes more than 4 hours.

Why is it so, despite the improvement in roads and vehicles? Are there so many traffic signals on this route?

[Turbohead]

Originally Posted by adisan

Why is it so, despite the improvement in roads and vehicles? Are there so many traffic signals on this route?

Unlike Tamil Nadu, for example, the population is almost evenly distributed in the state. This means that every other cross road will have traffic joining into the main highway/ crossing it frequently. Since this highway was planned before implementing the new format of providing a flyover for every small road, a lot of signals ended up being installed in all of these missed junctions.

What's worse is that speed cameras are installed at sections where you tend to cross 90 kmph, especially at straight sections without any junctions. This brings down the average speed which are usually easy to achieve in the highways of Tamil Nadu. The speed cameras are installed only for the purpose of revenue generation and nothing else.

They are also installed in some of these junctions having next to zero traffic while being red for 60-90 seconds. This wastes a lot of time, fuel and brakes when you consider the fact that you have to accelerate and decelerate every 5-10 minutes on average.

And let's not forget the traffic, it's grown exponentially in 25 years. Thus average speed has not gone up at all. Honestly, not surprising.

Sorry for the rant, had to vent out. My stay in Kerala last year for 5 months almost made me forget my love for cars and driving. It was a pain there.