[manojas]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

IMHO taking the NH47 between Palakkad and Thrissur till such time(read that as years) that the 4 laning work is completed should be a very bad idea.Why would anyone want to waste time negotiating such a lousy highway road when an excellent and wide Palakkad-Ottapalam-Shoranur-Wadakancheri-Thrissur is readily available.Also it would make sense to completely avoid Walayar till Onam gets over as truck traffic carrying goods for the festive season is going to be very high at the CP.

As you know, Vadakkenchery - Mannuthy is just 27 kms. And Kuthiran is the only problem in this stretch right? Or is the entire 27km stretch bad?

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by manojas

As you know, Vadakkenchery - Mannuthy is just 27 kms. And Kuthiran is the only problem in this stretch right? Or is the entire 27km stretch bad?

Other than Kuthiran, there were bad sections till Mannuthy. Still, I hope this can be done under 45 mins.

[manojas]

Just heard that some protests are going on in the Thrissur Paliakkara toll plaza. The alternate road has been closed today morning triggering the protest.

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by manojas

Just heard that some protests are going on in the Thrissur Paliakkara toll plaza. The alternate road has been closed today morning triggering the protest.

It is. Saw a huge police force blocking the alternate route at around 9am today. Looked like they were permanently blocking it using concrete. Forced to pay toll for the first time :(

[xtremeshock]

Have just come back from a Chennai - Krishnagiri - Thrissur road trip.

Points to note:

1. After taking left from Krishnagiri do not take the shortcut through SH20 towards Bhavani to reach Palakkad, the roads are bad, though you might save around 20kms. Go via Salem instead NH7.

2. Take the Shoranur State Highway road instead of the usual road, as the usual road is in bad shape, the Shoranur road is very nice well laid - winding roads. Recommended.

3. It took me 9 hours to reach Thrissur from my place in ECR, I took the SH20 to Bhavani 640kms. It took me 8.15 hours to reach back from Thrissur via Salem through NH7, 657kms.

4. The roads after Coimbature are pathetic as the highways is still under construction and there are a lot of mini-diversions on the way costing a lot of time.

5. On the return to Chennai, after taking a right from Krishnagiri the roads are under maintenance and there are a lot of mini-diversions as well, though not as bad as after Coimbature.

This was the longest I have ever driven and this was a solo drive. I really loved the drive overall, after taking a right from Krishnagiri it was just a blissful drive. Some good tunes and an open road, heaven.

[rajni]

I am on a slow datacard from my hometown right now and can't read all recent posts. So, please excuse me if someone has already posted this.

People traveling via palaghat bypass to Thrissur or Kochi (from Coimbatore or other parts) , please look for alternative routes. I traveled this stretch as I drove from Bangalore to my Vaikom just on Friday evening. The road starts getting bad after a few kilometers from Palaghat and gets worse as you near Kuthiran. It is at the worst situation near Kuthiran. I drove in the night and though traffic was relatively less had to slow down to 30 and 40 for quite a while. At one place I even ended up hitting the bottom. I could see signs of land slides on the sides. I heard the road is going to be repaired soon. But, I couldn't find any such progress. I will be looking for alternative routes for my return trip in next weekend.

[cooljai]

Does anyone have any updates on the condition of the alapuzha changanacherry road ( AC Road)?

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by rajni

...I will be looking for alternative routes for my return trip in next weekend.

Try Kunnamkulam - Nilambur - Mysore route back to Bangalore. Been thru Kunnamkulam & the route is good. I do expect Nilambur too to be in a good shape.

Edit::

Originally Posted by xtremeshock

...1. After taking left from Krishnagiri do not take the shortcut through SH20 towards Bhavani to reach Palakkad, the roads are bad, though you might save around 20kms. Go via Salem instead NH7...

Guess you are talking about the Thoppur deviation? Has it not been repaired yet? Been in that state for around 2 years now!

[rajni]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Try Kunnamkulam - Nilambur - Mysore route back to Bangalore. Been thru Kunnamkulam & the route is good. I do expect Nilambur too to be in a good shape.

I would still prefer going via Salem. I heard about a route via Ottappalam-Shoranur-Vadakancherry-Thrissur to bypass Kuthiran. That should be the best bet if it is in good shape.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Why would anyone want to waste time negotiating such a lousy highway road when an excellent and wide Palakkad-Ottapalam-Shoranur-Wadakancheri-Thrissur is readily available.Also it would make sense to completely avoid Walayar till Onam gets over as truck traffic carrying goods for the festive season is going to be very high at the CP.

Ranjit, can you share the map and how's this road by the way? I guess one won't drive more than more than ~20Km by taking this deviation.

I found this route in Google Maps by searching with (A) Palakkad -> (B) Ottapalam -> (C) Vadakkaancherry -> (D) Thrissur. It shows 84.3Km which is more or less the same as the conventional route. Hopefully the roads are broad in this route.

[cooljai]

Originally Posted by ampere

If you want to take the CBE side and still avoid Kuthiran/Walayar, the best option to Kottayam is :

Salem-Perundurai-Kangeyam-Palladam-Pollachi-Kollegode-Alathur-Pazhyannur-Vadakkaachary-Trichur (bypass) - Angamaly-Muvattupuzha-Kottayam

Route link via Pollachi

This would add about 50 km extra. But mostly hassle free drive.




.

Originally Posted by rajni

Ranjit, can you share the map and how's this road by the way? I guess one won't drive more than more than ~20Km by taking this deviation.

I found this route in Google Maps by searching with (A) Palakkad -> (B) Ottapalam -> (C) Vadakkaancherry -> (D) Thrissur. It shows 84.3Km which is more or less the same as the conventional route. Hopefully the roads are broad in this route.

Check the above route from Amperes post for a different route from manuthy to perundurai

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by rajni

Ranjit, can you share the map and how's this road by the way? I guess one won't drive more than more than ~20Km by taking this deviation.

I found this route in Google Maps by searching with (A) Palakkad -> (B) Ottapalam -> (C) Vadakkaancherry -> (D) Thrissur. It shows 84.3Km which is more or less the same as the conventional route. Hopefully the roads are broad in this route.

Yes the alternate routes are excellent and broad.All the interstate Volvos also take these routes now.

As you come from Chalakudy,after you pass the Thrissur Toll gate on NH47,keep to your left as you see a flyover immediately after the toll gate.Keep on the road and take the left under the flyover and go towards Thrissur.After a while you would cross Jubilee Mission Medical College to your right.Follow the road and you would reach a traffic circle(right is NH47 to Mannuthy,left takes you Thrissur town)go straight at the circle.You would cross Bishop House,St.Clare's school etc on your left,keep on the road and the road takes a natural left,you would then cross the Zoo on your left and reach another small junction with town hall on your left ahead.Take a right and follow the road till you see a big petrol pump on your left and a huge circle.At the circle take a right and it joins the Shoranur Ottapalam road.From there on follow the map below.

The route from NH47 Thrissur bypassing Walayar and Palakkad is as below:(TCR-Wadakancheri-Vazhacode Jn-Chelakara-Pazhyannur-Alathur-Kollengode-Pollachi-CBE)If you want you can take the Pollachi-Palladam road and rejoin NH47 via Sulur as well.

https://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr...4,6,7&t=m&z=15

Dont forget to pick up your banana chips from SNR at Alathur on this route.SNR Banana Chips

The other Route going from Thrissur via Ottapalam to Palakkad is as below:

https://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr...4,6,7&t=m&z=13

My reccomended route would the Option-1 as it bypasses Palakkad as well as Walayar Checkpost as well as the NH47 between Thrissur and Palakkad.Roads are excellent and traffic is less as well.

[naveen.raju]

Anybody driving back to Blore this Friday or looking for a lift? My friend needs company to drive back to Blore. Let me know.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Anybody driving back to Blore this Friday or looking for a lift? My friend needs company to drive back to Blore. Let me know.

I just missed it. I'm reaching Ernakulam on Wednesday but returning on same day by bus.

[pramodpk]

Completed my Bangalore - Vaikom drive.

Started from Bangalore (Brookefields ) at 5:10 PM on Aug 14th and reached Hotel Saravna Bhavan, Sankari, Salem at 8:45 PM without any breaks. There was heay rain after Krishnagiri. Halted at Saravana Bhavan for the night. Rooms are really worth the money ( Rs 990/- for A/C double including tax).

Started at 5:10 AM on August 15th and stopped for breakfast at Ottupura Hotel at Walayar at 7:30 AM covering almost 160 KMs. There was no traffic jam at Walayar.

From Walayar, took the Palakkad - Mundur - Parali - Lakkidi -Thiruvillamala - Pazhayannor - Chelakkara - Wadakkancherry - Thrissur - Mannuthy - Aluva - Vaikom route. The roads were good but the average speed was 44 KM/h. Reached home at 1:00 PM. The approach road to the Wadakkancherry overbidge is completely broken. This route was 43 KMs longer than the regular route. Total distance was 613 KMs.



Drove from Vaikom to Bangalore yesterday. Started at 8:10 AM and reached Bangalore (Brookefields) only at 10:20 PM (inludes breaks of 2 hours and 15 mins for Lunch, Tea, Dinner and fuel) . This was the longest that I have taken. Route - Vaikom - Aluva - Thrissur (turn off at Paliyekkara) - Wadakkancherry - Chelakkara - Pazhayannoor - Alathur - Puthu Nagaram - Pollachi - Palladam - Kangeyam -Perudurai - Salem - Silkboard - Brookefield.

Once you turn off NH 47 to Thrissur, you can barely managae 40 KM/h almost till Wadakkanchery. Also, Alathur to Puthunagaram is not great. Puthu Nagaram to Perdundurai is great. I could do 120 KM/h in many places. It's not tough to find the way. It took around 10 mins to cross Pollachi. Stopped for lunch at 2:25 PM between Palladam and Kangeyam.

I also saw a relatively new underpass just before Pollachi. Not sure whether this is the bridge consruction discussed in this thread. Also, the Pollachi route joined NH 7 just before Hotel Aryaas. Saw couple of Hotels in Pollachi but could not stop for lunch as my daughter was sleeping.

Had to spend lot of time at toll booths - Thoppur - around 10 mins, Krishnagiri around 15 mins and Attibele around 20 mins. The line of Vehicles stretched to almost a KM at around 9:30 PM. Luckily nobody jumped the queue anywhere.

Stopped for Tea at Saravana Bhavan, Shankari, Fuelled at ATB Thoppur and had dinner at Kamat Upachar after Krishnagiri.

Total distance was 633 KMs. 53 KMs more than regular route.


Lesson Learnt - NH 7 - NH 47 route will be the fastest even if there are no road blocks. I covered Vaikom - Bangalore in 10.5 hours in May.

The 4 laning of Coimbatore bypass to Walayar seems to have stopped. I have not seen any progress for more than a year. Any update on this?

Last but not least - Many thanks to Ranjitp1 for the detailed route info.

[binaiks]

Did a Kodungallur (Thrissur) - Bangalore (Arakere, off Bannerghatta Road) drive yesterday.

Started off from Kodungallur at 1330hrs, and the usual route to Thrissur (via Irinjalakuda, Urakam, Perumbillissery, Koorkanchery). Then went through Wadakkanchery, Shoranur, Ottapalam, Palakkad. We reached Ettimadai (tea break) at around 1700hrs. There was heavy traffic from Thrissur until Shoranur, and again from Palakkad until Walayar, with around 10minutes of stand-still at KG Chavadi!

Left Ettimadai around 1740hrs, and stopped for Dinner at Hotel Sree Krishna Inn, Shoolagiri at 2200hrs. There was very heavy traffic from Salem until Krishnagiri - we spent 10-15 minutes at every toll gate. Left from Shoolagiri at 2230hrs, and reached home at 2345hrs. It took 10:15hrs end-to-end - it is among the longest durations I took to cover this distance.

Attibelle toll gate is turning out to be a royal pain - I think its the location of the toll gate that is worsening things - its located right after the checkpost, and hence a lot of trucks accumulate near the toll gate, blocking the approach. Plus, the guys at the gate are awfully slow at times.