All Roads to Kerala

deepclutch · 13th October 2009, 16:23

@Edsel: I did a Ernakulam-Kottayam Trip last month.The Normal route is now from Thrippunithura-Thalayolaparamb-Ettumanoor. You take a Left from Poothotta(IIRC) to the Thalayolaparamb road. My Drive at a sedative speed(60-70) took 1.5 hours to Reach Kottayam.But ,Via NH47(Cherthala) ,It will be Sooner.But ,Don't know the condition of roads from cherthala to kumarkom.

mkuruvil · 16th October 2009, 15:08

For the Blr-Mettur-Cbe-Ekm road, can anybody give me a rough idea of the number and locations of diversions where road work is being done?

mkuruvil · 17th October 2009, 22:15

Finally did the long trip in my Spark. We started at 4:30am from Hennur Main Road. Filled petrol at Shell old Madras road. Apprx timings: Thoppur 8:15. Bhavani 9:47. Cbe bypass 10:47. Pght 12:47. Aluva 3:15. Thanks first to God for keeping us safe. Next thanks to bhpians for ALL the valuable heads up.

tortoise · 20th October 2009, 10:44

TBHPians,

I did a trip on Oct 18 from Kerala to Blr. Usually, I turn left at Bhavani and proceed to Mettur and Thoppur. This time, I decided to proceed on the beautiful Chengappalli- Kumaraplayam stretch towards Salem.

One of my relatives told me about a road that connects Omallur to Sangakiri bypassing Salem altogether. I wanted to try that route. This route is about 38 kms with some rough patches in between. Traffic was sparse. I am not sure if it was due to a Sunday. I had a forced break in between, so I am not sure of the time advantage

Anyone else used this road? And did they see an improvement in time/distance?

tortoise · 20th October 2009, 12:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by tortoise

TBHPians,

Anyone else used this road? And did they see an improvement in time/distance?

In fact Google maps tells me that there is a 15 minutes/10 km advantage on this route

bsanjayrao · 20th October 2009, 12:31

Hi All,

I had been to Vaikom(Kottayam) in the first week of October.
Route Taken:
Bangalore > Hosur > Dharmapuri > Thoppur > Mettur > Bhavani > Coimbatore Bypass > Walayar Checkpost (This is where one enter's Kerala) > Palakad > Trissur Bypass > Ernakulam Bypass > Aluva > Tripunithara( via Sea Port-Airport Road) > Vaikom (Kottayam)

Roads from Bangalore till we enter Tamilnadu are ok. Nothing much to talk about.

Hosur to Dharmapuri : 4 lane (Very good)
Dharmapuri to Thoppur : 4 lane (Very good )
Thoppur to Mettur : 2 lane (roads are good but has a lot of traffic on weekdays)
Mettur > Avinashi > Bhavani : 2 lane continues (Roads are little better, but again has a lot of traffic)
Bhavani > Coimbatore Bypass : 4 lane again (very good)
Once you enter Kerala its all 2 lane roads, but road condition is good till Kottayam. (This part of Kerala usually has good intensity of traffic except on weekends- Heard this from the locals).

Make sure while coming back from Coimbatore to Bangalore when you get closer to Bhavani do not take the flyover which goes to Salem, Take left diversion towards Avinashi.

Cheers guy...Have a safe drive...

mkuruvil · 21st October 2009, 09:52

Just now I logged in to find out how I missed the exit to Bhavani. Finally proceeded to Salem and came to Bangy. We liked the Thoppur route more because of the shorter distance. Of course the roads are better too!

ranjitp1 · 21st October 2009, 10:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by bsanjayrao

Make sure while coming back from Coimbatore to Bangalore when you get closer to Bhavani do not take the flyover which goes to Salem, Take left diversion towards Avinashi.

I guess,you meant take the left to Mettur?

and not Avinashi.

bsanjayrao · 21st October 2009, 11:46

Sorry Guys I meant take the diversion towards mettur when you are getting back from Coimbatore.

Thanks for the correction ranjitp1.

Cheers, Drive safe

mkuruvil · 22nd October 2009, 06:19

But in my onward journey, I went through Bhavani, went under a flyover, and took a right at/after the flyover. Then got on the NH, bypassed Perundurai, Avinashi and so on. While coming back, after bypassing Perundurai, I was looking for the non-existent exit sign for Bhavani.

wmanu · 22nd October 2009, 16:06

Guys, what are savings in Km if we skip Salem and drive through Mettur to reach Bhavani?
As per my previous trip calculation, the difference is only 10km (as per the sign board). Is it correct?

coolclouds · 24th October 2009, 09:24

Just reached Kochi.
Coimbatore-Palghat-Kuthiran is completely patched without a single pothole but down Kuthiran, for next 2-3 kms, there are few small potholes/rough surfaces. Again, Mannuthy byepass starting point, there is a huge pothole. Mannuthy-Angamaly, construction is going on thus here and there some bad roads. Otherwise, Bangalore-Kochi, nothing to worry.

KappaPower · 26th October 2009, 17:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmanu

Guys, what are savings in Km if we skip Salem and drive through Mettur to reach Bhavani?
As per my previous trip calculation, the difference is only 10km (as per the sign board). Is it correct?

Taking the route via Thoppur - Mettur - Bhavani will save around 25kms compared to going through Salem bypass. I have verified this with my car. But the thing is that time taken is the same in both routes as we can hit easily 100-120 in the four lane NH47 compared to two lane Mettur - Mecheri -Thoppur road where we pass through a number of villages and speed breakers.

- KP

KappaPower · 26th October 2009, 17:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkuruvil

But in my onward journey, I went through Bhavani, went under a flyover, and took a right at/after the flyover. Then got on the NH, bypassed Perundurai, Avinashi and so on. While coming back, after bypassing Perundurai, I was looking for the non-existent exit sign for Bhavani.

After Perundurai, in about 20kms you will see the Institute of Road and Transport Technology campus on your left. Just after this you need to take the service road to the left which will take you to Bhavani town. From there the road takes you directly to Mettur and Thoppur.

- KP

gadadhar · 27th October 2009, 09:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Just reached Kochi.
Coimbatore-Palghat-Kuthiran is completely patched without a single pothole but down Kuthiran, for next 2-3 kms, there are few small potholes/rough surfaces. Again, Mannuthy byepass starting point, there is a huge pothole. Mannuthy-Angamaly, construction is going on thus here and there some bad roads. Otherwise, Bangalore-Kochi, nothing to worry.

Small addtion coolclouds.. I have driven to Kerala during the Diwali w/e during night. There are few huge potholes around 10 kms before Kuthiran (not sure about the place name, it is at the blind curve where road used to be bad always) . I had hit one at high speed (could not avoid during the night) and damaged my Lenso alloy

13th October 2009, 16:23	#841
deepclutch Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Muvattupuzha Posts: 1,165 Thanked: 162 Times	@Edsel: I did a Ernakulam-Kottayam Trip last month.The Normal route is now from Thrippunithura-Thalayolaparamb-Ettumanoor. You take a Left from Poothotta(IIRC) to the Thalayolaparamb road. My Drive at a sedative speed(60-70) took 1.5 hours to Reach Kottayam.But ,Via NH47(Cherthala) ,It will be Sooner.But ,Don't know the condition of roads from cherthala to kumarkom.
	() Thanks

16th October 2009, 15:08	#842
mkuruvil BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: bangalore Posts: 38 Thanked: 0 Times	For the Blr-Mettur-Cbe-Ekm road, can anybody give me a rough idea of the number and locations of diversions where road work is being done?
	() Thanks

17th October 2009, 22:15	#843
mkuruvil BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: bangalore Posts: 38 Thanked: 0 Times	Finally did the long trip in my Spark. We started at 4:30am from Hennur Main Road. Filled petrol at Shell old Madras road. Apprx timings: Thoppur 8:15. Bhavani 9:47. Cbe bypass 10:47. Pght 12:47. Aluva 3:15. Thanks first to God for keeping us safe. Next thanks to bhpians for ALL the valuable heads up.
	() Thanks

20th October 2009, 10:44	#844
tortoise BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 170 Thanked: 69 Times	TBHPians, I did a trip on Oct 18 from Kerala to Blr. Usually, I turn left at Bhavani and proceed to Mettur and Thoppur. This time, I decided to proceed on the beautiful Chengappalli- Kumaraplayam stretch towards Salem. One of my relatives told me about a road that connects Omallur to Sangakiri bypassing Salem altogether. I wanted to try that route. This route is about 38 kms with some rough patches in between. Traffic was sparse. I am not sure if it was due to a Sunday. I had a forced break in between, so I am not sure of the time advantage Anyone else used this road? And did they see an improvement in time/distance?
	() Thanks

20th October 2009, 12:31	#846
bsanjayrao BHPian Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 26 Thanked: 0 Times	Hi All, I had been to Vaikom(Kottayam) in the first week of October. Route Taken: Bangalore > Hosur > Dharmapuri > Thoppur > Mettur > Bhavani > Coimbatore Bypass > Walayar Checkpost (This is where one enter's Kerala) > Palakad > Trissur Bypass > Ernakulam Bypass > Aluva > Tripunithara( via Sea Port-Airport Road) > Vaikom (Kottayam) Roads from Bangalore till we enter Tamilnadu are ok. Nothing much to talk about. Hosur to Dharmapuri : 4 lane (Very good) Dharmapuri to Thoppur : 4 lane (Very good ) Thoppur to Mettur : 2 lane (roads are good but has a lot of traffic on weekdays) Mettur > Avinashi > Bhavani : 2 lane continues (Roads are little better, but again has a lot of traffic) Bhavani > Coimbatore Bypass : 4 lane again (very good) Once you enter Kerala its all 2 lane roads, but road condition is good till Kottayam. (This part of Kerala usually has good intensity of traffic except on weekends- Heard this from the locals). Make sure while coming back from Coimbatore to Bangalore when you get closer to Bhavani do not take the flyover which goes to Salem, Take left diversion towards Avinashi. Cheers guy...Have a safe drive...
	() Thanks

21st October 2009, 09:52	#847
mkuruvil BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: bangalore Posts: 38 Thanked: 0 Times	Just now I logged in to find out how I missed the exit to Bhavani. Finally proceeded to Salem and came to Bangy. We liked the Thoppur route more because of the shorter distance. Of course the roads are better too!
	() Thanks

21st October 2009, 11:46	#849
bsanjayrao BHPian Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 26 Thanked: 0 Times	Sorry Guys I meant take the diversion towards mettur when you are getting back from Coimbatore. Thanks for the correction ranjitp1. Cheers, Drive safe
	() Thanks

22nd October 2009, 06:19	#850
mkuruvil BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: bangalore Posts: 38 Thanked: 0 Times	But in my onward journey, I went through Bhavani, went under a flyover, and took a right at/after the flyover. Then got on the NH, bypassed Perundurai, Avinashi and so on. While coming back, after bypassing Perundurai, I was looking for the non-existent exit sign for Bhavani.
	() Thanks

22nd October 2009, 16:06	#851
wmanu BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 140 Thanked: 28 Times View My Garage	Guys, what are savings in Km if we skip Salem and drive through Mettur to reach Bhavani? As per my previous trip calculation, the difference is only 10km (as per the sign board). Is it correct?
	() Thanks

24th October 2009, 09:24	#852
coolclouds Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Garden City Posts: 1,798 Thanked: 519 Times	Just reached Kochi. Coimbatore-Palghat-Kuthiran is completely patched without a single pothole but down Kuthiran, for next 2-3 kms, there are few small potholes/rough surfaces. Again, Mannuthy byepass starting point, there is a huge pothole. Mannuthy-Angamaly, construction is going on thus here and there some bad roads. Otherwise, Bangalore-Kochi, nothing to worry.
	() Thanks