[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

The construction is happening between Hosur & Krishnagiri as well as Krishnagiri & Vellore.

Originally Posted by ampere

Even Krishnagiri to Vellore you will see diversions at many places.

Thanks for the info.

Is the work is something similar to Hosur - Krishnagiri stretch (single lane at some stretches)? Why diversions if its widening? any new bypasses?

Do you advise Old Madras Road over GQ at present state? (I am driving to Chennai this weekend from Bommanahalli)

[ampere]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Is the work is something similar to Hosur - Krishnagiri stretch (single lane at some stretches)? Why diversions if its widening? any new bypasses?

Its definitely better than the Hosur-Krishnagiri section. If you stay in South Bangalore, its still better to take this route.
There are a few diversions at Vellore where are let on to the service road for about 2-3 km.
Its always better to start early morning from Bangalore.


Night travel? I would avoid both just for safety! (I guess I am too conservative)

[airguitar]

All,

Need some help with a bit of planning and road updates ( there were quite a few relevant threads, chose this one as it had the most recent update ) to Wayanad : just a weekend trip later this month.


Planning to stay around Lakkidi / Pookode or Kalpetta

Rough itinerary

Day 1 : Bangalore - Gundlupet - Bathery - Pookode lake - Lakkidi ( or Kalpetta )
Day 2 : Lakkidi (or Kalpetta ) - banasura dam - Thirunelly - HD Kote - Mysore - Bangalore

Questions

1. What's a better place to stay ? Rain country resort or Wayanad Silverwoods or Cybele in Kalpetta ? Are all the 3 reachable in my swift ( no 4WD'esque last mile connectivity hopefully?)
2. I fairly have an expectation on what the weather is going to be like, but are the roads safe enough ( landslides, treefalls etc ). Is it possible that some of the stretches might be blocked due to rain-effects ?
3. Are Banasura dam, Thirunelly temple reachable/open at this time of the year( doing it in my Swift ) ? If not what would be better replacements in Wayanad for this season ?

Just looking for some scenic drives with one or two usual tourist places in Wayanad.

Any other must-do's I missing ?

[vinucv]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Hi, pls give detailed direction - Avinashi - Wadakkancheri. Are there signages for Pollachi from Aninashi and from there to Wadakkancherry?

Just did Chennai-Palakkad-Kottayam-Chennai round trip

While going, I took the regular route which is Avinashi-CBE bypass- Walayar-Palakkad but did not find it very comfortable. It could be because I was driving in the night and was too tired to handle the diversions and heavy traffic coupled with bad patches on the road. On top of that there was a minor traffic block at walayar check post

While coming back from Kottayam, took the Wadakanchery-Nenmara-Pollachi- Palladam-Tiruppur Chengappalli route and found it to be more comfortable than the other route. Drive was bit slow but very pleasant except for some confusion in the Tiruppur town. Really enjoyed the scenic and descent village roads with very less traffic. If you are not in a hurry, it is worth taking this route.

Please note that Trichur- Wadakkanchery route is still in a bad shape

Originally Posted by coolclouds

The construction is happening between Hosur & Krishnagiri. Is there any work started on Chennai route?

Vellore - Krishnagiri road is also being widened and there are few diversions on that stretch. However, they are marked properly and temporary dividers are placed between lanes

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by vinucv

While coming back from Kottayam, took the Wadakanchery-Nenmara-Pollachi- Palladam-

Please note that Trichur- Wadakkanchery route is still in a bad shape

I assume you are referring to VadakkEnchery(Palakkad dist) which is on the NH47.

Wadakkanchery(Thrissur dist) is between Thrissur & Shoranur

[nfsfreak]

Friends,
I'm planning for a trip to Athirappilly waterfalls from Bangalore next weekend.


For Onward, I would take Salem-Pollachi-Valparai route (with 1 day stay @ Valparai)


For return,thought of taking below route:
Athirappilly-Shoranur-Nilambur-Nanjangud-Mysore-Blr (465 Kms)

I would start by 5 PM from Athirappilly. Car: i10.
So, How are the roads till Nanjangud? Any constraints while driving in night?


Thanks in advance.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

Friends,

For return,thought of taking below route:
Athirappilly-Shoranur-Nilambur-Nanjangud-Mysore-Blr (465 Kms)

I would start by 5 PM from Athirappilly. Car: i10.
So, How are the roads till Nanjangud? Any constraints while driving in night?


Thanks in advance.

The Bandipur forest road would be closed for traffic at night ( 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM). Hence this route would not be possible at the time you plan to travel.

[nfsfreak]

Thanks pramodpk. I will keep that in mind, while planning.
How is the condition of the roads on that stretch (Athirappilly-Shoranur-Nilambur-Nanjangud)?

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

Thanks pramodpk. I will keep that in mind, while planning.
How is the condition of the roads on that stretch (Athirappilly-Shoranur-Nilambur-Nanjangud)?

Last Friday night, I took this route by bus. I was awake for most of the time and the road surface was good except for very small stretch. Traffic, twisted roads and bumps inside Bandipur forest can increase the travel time considerably.

[vinucv]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

I assume you are referring to VadakkEnchery(Palakkad dist) which is on the NH47.

Wadakkanchery(Thrissur dist) is between Thrissur & Shoranur

Yes and thanks for correcting

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by vinucv

While coming back from Kottayam, took the Wadakanchery-Nenmara-Pollachi- Palladam-Tiruppur Chengappalli route and found it to be more comfortable than the other route. Drive was bit slow but very pleasant except for some confusion in the Tiruppur town. Really enjoyed the scenic and descent village roads with very less traffic. If you are not in a hurry, it is worth taking this route.

Please note that Trichur- Wadakkanchery route is still in a bad shape

I believe it is Vadakkenchery(Palakkad dist) on NH47 and not Wadakkanchery(Thrissur dist) near Shoranur & on Indian Railways

A slight variant to your route "Wadakanchery-Nenmara-Pollachi- Palladam-Tiruppur Chengappalli" by doing Palladam-Kangeyam-Perundurai(join back NH-47) would have been a lot straight-forward than crossing Tiruppur to avoid confusion as well as the town traffic.

On Vadakkenchery-Nenmara-Pollachi route, many people including yours truly is eager to know if there any diversions, even if it is minor. This is because a few months back, someone reported a diversion on this stretch while going to Kerala forcing the drive to be Pollachi-Palakkad-Vadakkenchery instead of via Kollengode-Nenmara. So, please let us know of any such things noted.

And can you please tell us where all you had food-breaks and how was the food & toilets there?

[hrman]

This weekend, I took the Hosur- Krishnagiri- Salem- Avinashi-Walayar-Palakkad.

The road condition from bangalore to Salem is good upto Avinashi by-pass.
The By pass is in pathetic condition. Like mentioned by most members on this thread, the bridge connectors are still exposed. We had a nasty scrape on the first bridge, then got the knack of how to handle it. Too many diversions Coupled with night time driving , blinding high beams from front made life difficult for driving.
The walayar road upto and after checkpost is also in not so good shape. The L&T by-pass with the 31Rs. toll is reasonably good. We left home at RT nagar bangalore at about 2.45 pm, we touched our destination in palakkad at 11.45 pm i.e. 9 hours with 1 hour stop in between. This is also partly because we left in the day so had to negotiate day time traffic in Bangalore upto BETL. I think in the daytime, its possible to complete in 7 hours, provided one leaves early in the morning form bangalore

[pariwar]

Once Avanashi bye-pass and the four (or is it six) laning works upto L & T Bye Pass get completed, crossing TN after the HOSUR congestion, would be a breeze. It should then be relatively easy to do BLR - Walayar in about 5 hours.

Does anybody have an idea on project completion dates for the section??

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by pariwar

Once Avanashi bye-pass and the four (or is it six) laning works upto L & T Bye Pass get completed, crossing TN after the HOSUR congestion, would be a breeze. It should then be relatively easy to do BLR - Walayar in about 5 hours.

Does anybody have an idea on project completion dates for the section??

Mid 2013 is the target date of completion. However, works seems to be on standstill in the Madukkarai-Walayar stretch. Given the pace of works, even 2013 might not be possible - hoping for the best though.

[raghu.t.k]

Given the roadworks creating a lot of diversions, I think, the safer option is to check the trains, and if not then take the car..