[Judemayne]

Originally Posted by NPV

In that case won't it be better to avoid the Nagercoil route and instead take Shengottai route via Tirunelveli bypass on NH 7 ? I don't have first hand experience driving in this route but just thinking if that would work better given the problem at Marthandam ?

Thank you for the update but Google mentions another route via Nedumangad, SH 3/47?? anyone been on this route. Google also mentions a route via NH 66 but bypassing Marthandam from the South by some rigmarole way.

Regards

Jude

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Thank you for the update but Google mentions another route via Nedumangad, SH 3/47?? anyone been on this route. Google also mentions a route via NH 66 but bypassing Marthandam from the South by some rigmarole way.

Sir - this was the route I had in mind, almost 50 Km more than the other routes but I'm not sure if this will save time and also not sure about current road conditions.
Map link

[deerhunter]

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Google also mentions a route via NH 66 but bypassing Marthandam from the South by some rigmarole way.

Just checked google maps. Looks like the highway authorities have made that construction stretch into a one-way route. Because Kanyakumari-Alleppey search shows the bypass, but Alleppey-Kanyakumari search shows the direct route.

It will be much better if this one-way thing is true.

[NPV]

For a Bangalore-Thrissur drive, with an early morning start, will Kuthiran work be a deterrent to avoid the NH47 route beyond Alathur ? In that case, will deviating from NH 47 via Alathur-Chelakara-Wadakkanchery-Thrissur make sense ?

[binand]

Originally Posted by NPV

For a Bangalore-Thrissur drive, with an early morning start, will Kuthiran work be a deterrent to avoid the NH47 route beyond Alathur ? In that case, will deviating from NH 47 via Alathur-Chelakara-Wadakkanchery-Thrissur make sense ?

I suppose you'll be crossing Kuthiran around 11 AM, then. I don't think the detour is worth the effort. For one, I understand the NH 47 route is a lot better now. All interior Kerala routes - especially the smaller ones - aren't wide enough for a peaceful drive; you'll have many morons driving all sorts of vehicles with scant respect for oncoming traffic. With Kuthiran you have a problem for only 15-20 km or so; with the other routes it is entirely a tense drive.

I take these detours if I have to cross Kuthiran before daybreak or after sunset.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by NPV

For a Bangalore-Thrissur drive, with an early morning start, will Kuthiran work be a deterrent to avoid the NH47 route beyond Alathur ? In that case, will deviating from NH 47 via Alathur-Chelakara-Wadakkanchery-Thrissur make sense ?

While driving from Chennai to Kochi, I crossed Kuthiran by 5 PM. Encountered heavy traffic.
On the return journey from Kochi to Bangalore, I crossed Kuthiran by 11 30 AM and very less traffic was what I encountered.

[Sree73]

Originally Posted by NPV

For a Bangalore-Thrissur drive, with an early morning start, will Kuthiran work be a deterrent to avoid the NH47 route beyond Alathur ? In that case, will deviating from NH 47 via Alathur-Chelakara-Wadakkanchery-Thrissur make sense ?

No need of a detour. Kuthiran will be perfectly OK. I'm a frequent traveller on this route. Always take the Kuthiran route. I start early morning 4AM from Whitefield and will be at home in Thrissur by 11:45/12 PM. (504 KM door to door). This includes a 30-45 minutes breakfast break at Sri Saravana bhavan

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Originally Posted by NPV

For a Bangalore-Thrissur drive, with an early morning start, will Kuthiran work be a deterrent to avoid the NH47 route beyond Alathur ? In that case, will deviating from NH 47 via Alathur-Chelakara-Wadakkanchery-Thrissur make sense ?

Not really. There is considerable progress and most of the narrow stretches have been replaced with partly opened new stretches.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by NPV

For a Bangalore-Thrissur drive, with an early morning start, will Kuthiran work be a deterrent to avoid the NH47 route beyond Alathur ? In that case, will deviating from NH 47 via Alathur-Chelakara-Wadakkanchery-Thrissur make sense ?

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

Not really. There is considerable progress and most of the narrow stretches have been replaced with partly opened new stretches.

Did this route 4 times last one week and apart from few kms of two lane and the ghat section rest is manageable. Not really worth taking alternative routes these days, just be patient on the bad stretches and don't loose cool even with the intimidating local bus guys.

[naveen.raju]

Here's the current state of Kuthiran tunnel.

[NPV]

@Ranjitp1, @deerhunter, @binand, @suresh_gs, @veryronsupersport, @Jaggu, @Sree73 - thanks for all the updates and tips, had a good trip to Thrissur
Left on Saturday morning at 4am, hardly any traffic all the way till Palakkad and FasTag lanes were mostly empty and we made great progress without any fuss. We were at Chandranagar junction around 10am, so decided to pay a quick visit to the Kaversseri Parakkat Bhagawathy temple en route near Alathur. Started from the temple at 10:45 and decided to take the Pazhayannur-Chelakara route and reached our destination at Punkunnam at 12:15. Traffic was less and luckily no problem with two wheelers and other local traffic.

Sunday morning we managed to visit Vadakumnathan, Thiruvambady and Parmekavu temples quickly and then attended the function. Started at 12:45pm from Punkunnam and took the Mannuthy route - traffic was not dense till we reached Vijayamangalam (Kumarapalayalm toll). Traffic was just beginning to pile up at the toll plaza and the FasTag lane was blocked as they had some system problem and the security guy asked us to take left most lane without paying cash.
Sensing that traffic could be very heavy at Sankari and Omalur tolls, decided to take the Edappady road and then turn off towards the SH 86 (Konganapuram), then go via Tharamangalam and Omalur. Took about an hour to reach Omalur, there was some slow moving truck traffic as well but managed to overtake most of them on the straight sections when there was no oncoming traffic.
Again, traffic was dense and it culminated with a 1.5Km long line at Thoppur. Took 20 minutes to reach the FasTag lane and exit.
At Krishnagiri toll plaza, it was even worse with traffic blocked from the beginning of the flyover before the toll plaza (1.5Km or more!) so took the service road and managed to exit the toll in 20 minutes.
Similar story at Attibele and took 15 minutes to enter and exit the FasTag lane, phew!
BETL was not bad, took about 4 minutes but because of a trucker who wasted time arguing with the toll attendants causing a delay. Traffic on BETL and Hosur Road was not bad and reached home via Residency Road around 10:15pm.

This was my first time at Kuthiran after the work on tunneling began. I found that it wasn't the tunneling that was causing the delay but rather the blasting of rocks before the tunnel. On the other side, it looks like the bridge that will lead to the tunnel will take a few months definitely and I don't think it will be ready by May this year.

Would recommend not driving on Mannuthy-Vadakkanchery stretch at night - too risky with diversions, huge level differences on either sides of the road, lack of lane markings, signs, reflectors, etc

[treadmark]

Originally Posted by NPV

For a Bangalore-Thrissur drive, with an early morning start, will Kuthiran work be a deterrent to avoid the NH47 route beyond Alathur ? In that case, will deviating from NH 47 via Alathur-Chelakara-Wadakkanchery-Thrissur make sense ?

Originally Posted by binand

I take these detours if I have to cross Kuthiran before daybreak or after sunset.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Did this route 4 times last one week and apart from few kms of two lane and the ghat section rest is manageable. Not really worth taking alternative routes these days.

Agree with these suggestions. Kuthiran will be relatively free by the time you reach.
Day time traffic between Vazhakode (Agamala) ~ Wadakkanchery ~ Viyyur is very dense nowadays and it is best avoided.

Cheers!

[NPV]

Originally Posted by treadmark

Day time traffic between Vazhakode (Agamala) ~ Wadakkanchery ~ Viyyur is very dense nowadays and it is best avoided.

Surprisingly, traffic was actually quite less on Saturday and we reached Punkunnam from Kavasseri (Alathur) in about 1.5 hours. See my update above in earlier post.
On the return journey, we took Mannuthy-Vadakkenchery route and it was quite manageable and easily about 30 minutes at least faster than our onward journey.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by NPV

@Ranjitp1, @deerhunter, @binand, @suresh_gs, @veryronsupersport, @Jaggu, @Sree73 - thanks for all the updates and tips, had a good trip to Thrissur

Would recommend not driving on Mannuthy-Vadakkanchery stretch at night - too risky with diversions, huge level differences on either sides of the road, lack of lane markings, signs, reflectors, etc

IMHO it is just not worth taking the Kuthiran route till the entire Mannuthy-Vadakkencheri stretch is completed.I stick to the diversion from Alathur every single time and go via Plazhi-Pazhayannur-Chelakara-Vazhakode-Agamala-Ottupara-Wadakancheri-Viyyur-Thrissur. One truck breakdown or a slow moving vehicle on Kuthiran route and it is a sure-shot delay of 2 hours and the added attraction of the dangerous no-shoulder roads.Alathur-thrissur takes me about 1hr15 mins to 1hr45mins at any time of the day,which is almost the same via Kuthiran as well,(when there are no blocks)( give or take 30 mins)

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by NPV

@Ranjitp1, @deerhunter, @binand, @suresh_gs, @veryronsupersport, @Jaggu, @Sree73 - thanks for all the updates and tips, had a good trip to Thrissur
till we reached Vijayamangalam (Kumarapalayalm toll). Traffic was just beginning to pile up at the toll plaza and the FasTag lane was blocked as they had some system problem and the security guy asked us to take left most lane without paying cash.
Sensing that traffic could be very heavy at Sankari and Omalur tolls, decided to take the Edappady road and then turn off towards the SH 86 (Konganapuram), then go via Tharamangalam and Omalur. Took about an hour to reach Omalur, there was some slow moving truck traffic as well but managed to overtake most of them on the straight sections when there was no oncoming traffic.

When I drove from Kochi To Bangalore on Jan 1st, I avoided Vijayamangalam toll by going via Surabhi Nursery. If my memory serves me correct, you will be coming down the flyover before bumping into the toll plaza
As you near the end of the flyover, there is a right turn before the toll plaza that takes you to Surabhi Nursery and the other side of the toll plaza.
I spotted quite a number of TN39, TN42 vehicles using the Surabhi Nursery route to avoid the toll plaza.