[Vrrooommm]

I'm planning to drive from muvattupuzha to Kodaikanal on 27th May. Planning to take neriyamangalam-kallarkutti- vellathooval - Rajakad- Poopara- Theni road. Any update on the current road condition? Any other better alternative?

[MinivanDriver]

Thanks for your updates and suggestions @Safety is Param, @prkiran and @deathwalkr. I ended up doing the journey by bus. On the return trip from Trivandrum, 7:00 PM start from Trivandrum saw the bus reaching Nagercoil at 9:45. There is a rather big detour at Marthandam for vehicles coming from Trivandrum side. The detour road had broken (some un-tarred) sections and narrow sections as well. This detour alone lasted 35 minutes. Other major block was traffic jam at Balaramapuram that perhaps delayed us by about 10 mins.

Originally Posted by Safety is Param

Nagercoil to Trivandrum bottleneck is expected to last some time as there is still the basic drilling work in progress in certain areas. My take is - due to TNSRTC and private buses plying on that route, traffic pile up is expected all the time, except night.

Originally Posted by prkiran

Apparently it is still bad and might continue so for some time. After you turn off from NH7 at Kavalkinaru take the Aralvaimozhi-Bhoothapandi-Vellarara-Kattakkada route.

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Avoid that stretch unless early morning or late night. Otherwise take the right at aralvaimozhi and get into kerala via vellarada-katakkada.

[pramodpk]

Drove Whitefield to Vaikom on April 29th. Started at 4:50 AM via Varthur, Bagalur - Hosur. Took 30 mins to cross Krishnagiri toll plaza as the line of vehicles exttended 500 mts. Used fastag. The fastag lane moved faster. A hand held scanner was used. Lost around 15 mins at Thoppur also. Took the Omalur, Edappadi route. Other toll booths were fine as we could use the dedicated fastag lane except at Coimbatore. Nothing major to update regarding road conditions. Excepth the first flyover, the Madukkarai - Walayar stretch is done. There was a congestion due to flyover construction near Vadakkencherry. The highway from Chandra Nagar to ALuva is a pain due to the large number of signals. Reached Vaikom at 3:20 PM, 1 hour late than my usual timings.

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

May have to make a week end trip towards Kozhikode side. Any updates on the above question? My plan was to take Kanakapura-Malavalli-Bannur-Mysore ORR-Bavali-Manathavadi early in the morning.

I ended up taking the Mysore road and struggled to get out of city in the morning 8am Bangalore traffic.

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Less hilly is very subjective as you have to cross western ghats to reach Calicut.

My pick is Virajpet - iritty - Mattannur - Thalassery - Calicut, but has good amount of winding roads until you reach Mattannur. An early morning or late evening start will help to reduce travel time.


Other option is Gonikoppal - Kutta - Mananthavady - kalpetta - Calicut. There were few patchy sections between Kutta and Mananthavady, but this route has better ghat section and comparatively less traffic.

Choose the option based your destination in Calicut and time of your travel.

Originally Posted by sandsun7

With an early morning start, the Iritty-Telicherry route would be the faster option. There is road widening work in full swing between Iritty and Mattannur which can slow you down once traffic builds up.

The Kutta Mananthavady route would have lesser traffic density but as I see on gmaps, it is around 30 km longer, so you may not get significant savings in time.
The Makutta ghat sees very less traffic and is much more predictable when compared to the Thamarashery ghats.

Thanks. I took the Iritty route. Virajpet - Iritty was nice. Iritty - Tellicherry was slow with construction work. Google maps took us through some smaller roads, so we avoided most of the slow part.

[bbhavan]

How is the road condition between Kottayam and Chengannur?

There was some road construction activity going on between Chengannur and Kottayam last year. So we were diverted near Perumthuruthy and went via Thengana, Manarcaud to reach Ettumanoor.

Is it over now? Any update will be helpful as I am planning to go to Tvm on Monday from Ettumanoor.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by MSAneesh

Driving from Thalassery to Kochi(Paravur) this weekend. Which one of these routes would you suggest, given road conditions and traffic? Haven't driven in this area for a while. Planning a early(sigh) morning start

Kozhikode byepass - Kuttipuram - Ponnani - Chavakkad - Kodungallur - Paravur

Kozhikode byepass - Chelari - Chettipadi - Tirur - Chamravattom - Ponnani - Chavakkad - Kodungallur - Paravur

Kozhikode byepass - Kuttipuram - Edappal - Kunnamkulam - Guruvayoor - Kodungallur - Paravur

Originally Posted by arjithin

How early in the morning?? Suggest 4 AM, so that you enjoy the drive than traffic!!!

My suggestion is Kozhikode bypass - Kuttipuram - thrissur - irinjalakuda - kodungallur - Paravur.

Plan for breakfast after crossing thrissur town.

Drove from Kozhikode to chalakudy via NH17 this morning, hope this update helps everyone

I decided to give Thrissur route a miss since Thrissur Pooram fireworks was this early morning. So I took

Kozhikode - Chelari ( nothing to mention, good roads)
Chelari - Parappanagadi - Thirur - Ponnani ( average width mostly, rough surface with patchworks, got one railway gate )
Ponnani - Chavakad ( wide 2 lane with smooth surface)
Chavakad - Munnupidika ( wide 2 lane with rough surface)
Munnupidika - Irinjalakuda ( narrow road with good surface)
Irinjalakuda - Chalakdy ( average width with good surface)

I started at 5 AM and was at Chalakudy by 8 AM and drove without any breaks.

My take on this route is that it has no advantage for Eranakulam to Kozhikode travelers. It should take more time and offer less comfort for driver and passengers, during every time of the day, but it could save one toll if that helps

[kala]

Originally Posted by bbhavan

How is the road condition between Kottayam and Chengannur?

There was some road construction activity going on between Chengannur and Kottayam last year. So we were diverted near Perumthuruthy and went via Thengana, Manarcaud to reach Ettumanoor.

Is it over now? Any update will be helpful as I am planning to go to Tvm on Monday from Ettumanoor.

MC road stretches between Ettumanoor-Kottayam as well as Kottayam-Changanacherry are generally very congested and a pain to drive. Suggest bypassing Kottayam as well as Changanacherry by taking the bypass route via Ettumanoor-Peroor-Thiruvanchoor-Manarcad-Puthuppally-Thengana and join MC road just before Thiruvalla (Probably the same route you took last year). Road conditions are generally very good except in a few small stretches between Ettumanoor and Thiruvanchoor where the road is a bit narrow.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by bbhavan

How is the road condition between Kottayam and Chengannur?

There was some road construction activity going on between Chengannur and Kottayam last year. So we were diverted near Perumthuruthy and went via Thengana, Manarcaud to reach Ettumanoor.

Is it over now? Any update will be helpful as I am planning to go to Tvm on Monday from Ettumanoor.

Took this route to drive to Trivandrum and back on May 2nd. Kottayam - Changanassey is done. Changanassery to Chengannur is WIP but not an issue. The bigger isssue is the Enath bridge. As the bridge on MC road is weak, traffic is diverted through a temporary Bailey bridge which allows one way traffic. I lost around 5 mins at 7:40 AM but it could be an issue during peak hours. While returning, I took a parallel route from Mailam junction that joins after the bridge. There are enough sign boards while coming from Trivandrum.

[gopaneel]

Hi BHPians.

One of my friends is planning to travel from Mysore to Kochi at night. Can you guys please throw some light on which would be the routes open at night, if they are safe and current road conditions? My friend will be traveling with his family. Hence safety is very important.

Thanks in advance.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by gopaneel

Hi BHPians.

One of my friends is planning to travel from Mysore to Kochi at night. Can you guys please throw some light on which would be the routes open at night, if they are safe and current road conditions? My friend will be traveling with his family. Hence safety is very important.

Thanks in advance.

You said "Night", but what time is the start?

My suggestion is to start by 7:45 PM atleast and then drive via Gundlupet - Batheri -Kozhikode bypass - Thrissur - Kochi. Shortest and safest route.

If the start is post 8 PM, the Mysore - Hunsur - Iritty - Thalassery- Kozhikode bypass - Thrissur - Kochi is the best option. Be aware that few robbery attempts were there near Hunsur last year, but those people were caught soon. I myself have driven this route during night few times, but nothing to scare about. I always tag along another vehicle in front from Mysore to Gonikoppal/Kutta stretch.

Next option is to take Mysore - Gundupet - Sathyamangalam - Coimbatore - Kochi, I dont recommend this route as the roads are totally deserted till Coimbatore.

Edit: You can refer Bangalore to Calicut and Bangalore to Kannur threads for more information.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by gopaneel

Hi BHPians.

One of my friends is planning to travel from Mysore to Kochi at night. Can you guys please throw some light on which would be the routes open at night, if they are safe and current road conditions? My friend will be traveling with his family. Hence safety is very important.

Thanks in advance.

No safety issues,but with family its always better and easier to travel during the day time as wayside help if there is a breakdown etc is easier to get.

Having said that if it is night travel,they would have to take the Hunsur-Gonikoppa-Kutta-Mananthavady route as that would be the only route open for night traffic afaik

Hunsur-Nagarhole-Kutta closes by 6pm and reopens at 6am.

All other routes(via Bandipur-Gudalur and Bandipur-Muthanga) would close by 830pm(9 officially) which is the time by which the vehicles would have to exit.

The best for them would be to time their entry into Kerala at Muthanga by 830pm(which means enter Bandipur latest by 7-730pm),dinner at Kozhikode or Batheri and a relatively quick drive from there to Kochi in the night as the daytime traffic would have gone off the roads by then.

[binand]

Originally Posted by gopaneel

One of my friends is planning to travel from Mysore to Kochi at night. Can you guys please throw some light on which would be the routes open at night, if they are safe and current road conditions? My friend will be traveling with his family. Hence safety is very important.

Depends on when they can start. The shortest route is Mysore-Gudalur-Nilambur-Perinthalmanna-Thrissur-Kochi. That requires them to start from Mysore I guess no later than 5 PM.

If that is not possible then it is a toss-up between Mysore-Gonikoppal-Mananthavady-Kozhikode-Kunnamkulam-Thrissur-Kochi, Mysore-Chamarajanagar-Annur-Coimbatore-Thrissur-Kochi and Mysore-Bangalore-Salem-Coimbatore-Thrissur-Kochi. Of the three, I'd prefer the last because it is well-traveled with ample round-the-clock amenities of all types (fuel stations, restaurants, repair shops, hotels...).

The other two go through some lonely stretches and have significant percentage of single-carriageway roads.

[MSAneesh]

Originally Posted by MSAneesh

Driving from Thalassery to Kochi(Paravur) this weekend. Which one of these routes would you suggest, given road conditions and traffic? Haven't driven in this area for a while. Planning a early(sigh) morning start

Kozhikode bypass - Kuttipuram - Ponnani - Chavakkad - Kodungallur - Paravur

Kozhikode bypass - Chelari - Chettipadi - Tirur - Chamravattom - Ponnani - Chavakkad - Kodungallur - Paravur

Kozhikode bypass - Kuttipuram - Edappal - Kunnamkulam - Guruvayoor - Kodungallur - Paravur

I drove onward and return on Route 2 (Chelari - Chamravattom - Ponnani).

Onward was on Sunday morning, 5:30 AM start at Kuthuparamba. Smooth drive with scarce traffic. Comparatively slower only in the last stretch: Chavakkad - Paravur

Return was on Thursday afternoon, 2 PM start at Guruvayoor. Chamravattom route was probably a wrong choice. Larger vehicles and narrow roads slowed down the progress considerably. In hindsignt, should have tried Ponnani - Kuttipuram - KKD. Ramanattukara(bypass) to Vadakara was its usual self with lots of traffic.

[sriturl]

Any restaurant recommendations on the Dindigul-Thekkady route?
Simple Veg food with clean toilets would do.

thanks in advance.