[furhan]

Any news on the latest road conditions from Nellore to Chennai....I am planning a Hyderabad Chennai trip today. Google Maps is suggesting taking the Kurnool Kadapa Tirupati Chennai route to avoid closures in NH16....Any updates on latest road conditions is appreciated

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by furhan

Any news on the latest road conditions from Nellore to Chennai.

Traffic is moving on both sides with diversions in place. So you may take the conventional ongole nam route.

[FlashMustang]

Hello fellow BHPians,
I'm planning to drive from Hyderabad to Chennai on December 25, 2020 and make the return journey on December 27, 2020.

Would like to hear anybody's recent experiences driving along this route.
Is NH65 - NAM Expressway - NH16 still the best route?

There seems to be a slightly alternate route that sticks to the National Highways on the maps. When driving from Hyderabad, after Piduguralla and Nekarikallu, sticking to NH167A via Narasaraopeta and joining NH16 at Chilakaluripet. Any reason this section is not preferred in favor of taking SH36 after Piduguralla and Nekarikallu and go via Addanki to join NH16 at Medaramatla? The distances seem to be similar between these two alternatives.

Also, should I expect a lot of traffic, given that it's a long weekend?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[gajadonga]

The option via Narasaraopet and Chilakaluripet was the option before the four laning was going on.
That's a state highway and lots of small towns to cross.
I used to take 11 to 12hrs to Chennai with that route.
Whereas Nam highway is four lane tolled road.
Can do Hyderabad to Chennai in 9 to 10hrs comfortably through the Nam highway.
Choice is yours

[FlashMustang]

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. It is very helpful.
I will stick to the route via Addanki to join NH16 at Medaramatla.
Looking forward to the drive!

[virgovencat]

GajaDonga - BANG ON !!

That's the best route - Too many villages & Speedbreakers via Narasaraopet , also traffic is much.

Stick to NAM !!

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by FlashMustang

Is NH65 - NAM Expressway - NH16 still the best route?

Yes, and the only bottleneck in the entire stretch is Pidugurrala town. Rest is a breeze.

We had taken the NAM route on the Friday leading into holidays (20-Dec-19) and it was breeze except for 3-5 mins at the SH tolls.

If you are in a mood for experimentation, you can take the Kurnool-Nandyal-Kadapa-Rajampeta-Renigunta-Tiruttani-Madras. This however will take an 1 hour more than the NAM route and Renigunta-Madras will be busy with 2-wheelers.

[FlashMustang]

Originally Posted by virgovencat

That's the best route - Too many villages & Speedbreakers via Narasaraopet , also traffic is much.
Stick to NAM !!

Thank you for the clarification. I'll avoid the Narasaraopet route and stick to the NAM route.

Originally Posted by narayans80

Yes, and the only bottleneck in the entire stretch is Pidugurrala town. Rest is a breeze.

We had taken the NAM route on the Friday leading into holidays (20-Dec-19) and it was breeze except for 3-5 mins at the SH tolls.

If you are in a mood for experimentation, you can take the Kurnool-Nandyal-Kadapa-Rajampeta-Renigunta-Tiruttani-Madras. This however will take an 1 hour more than the NAM route and Renigunta-Madras will be busy with 2-wheelers.

Thank you for the practical information. I will try to start early so that I can try and cross Piduguralla somewhere between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Hopefully, we will encounter less bottleneck around that time.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I intend to drive to Chennai on the 25th and return on the 27th, so, I intend to maximize our time at Chennai. I will avoid experimentation on this trip. Any time saved on the road equates more time with my in-laws at Chennai. I am a strict follower of the axiom "Happy wife = happy life"

[racer_ash]

Drove down to Chennai on the 13th. Started from Gachibowli around 4am and reached Chennai by 330pm with one single fuel break and one 'Stretching' break for 15 mins each.

Took the NAM route and faced absolutely no issues whatsoever. Just that thre was heavy fog starting from MLG onwards till Piduguralla.

Piduguralla town was busy even at 730am. Lots of people walking around and veggie carts in the middle of the roads. After that it was a breeze till the turn to the NH. In the whole of the NAM stretch, only 5-6 kms have bumpy roads which pass through the towns and villages. No fastags on the 3 toll booths on this stretch.

NH was 6 laned till Nellore with couple of well marked diversions, but the quality of the surface is not the best. Also trucks were hogging the fast amd the middle lanes which invariably makes cars and other fast moving vehicles to use the left most lane for over taking. Fasttags worked brilliantly.

Nellore till the Elavur border, 4 lane roads however surface quality was awesome. Traffic too was sparse with truckers more on less sticking to the left most lane.

Real pain starts after crossing into TN. Lots of bumpy diversions with space just for 1 truck to pass through. Cars zigzagging and getting rear ended in the process (saw 2 instances) and in addition to this 2 wheelers. This continues till the turn off into the GNT road.

Did not explore any toilet or eating options as we packed food but drank minimal water to save our bladders.

Edit: Had taken TN epass along with us...but there was no checking whatsoever

[FlashMustang]

I drove from Hyderabad to Chennai on December 25th and back on December 27th.

Exited ORR on NH65 around 4:00 a.m. and reached the Madhavaram Bypass road around 4:00 p.m. with a total of about 2 hours of breaks during the journey for breakfast, lunch, and other breaks. Similar timings on my return journey too.

The first 14 kilometers of NH65 from the ORR exit is quite bad (some broken surfaces, worn out road markings, etc.). Drove cautiously at around 60 kmph in the dark in the morning through this stretch. There's a point where there's a sign that says start of toll road. From this point till the point of joining the NAM Expressway is well maintained, with clear markings, reflectors, and excellent road surface. Was able to stay around 80 kmph easily in this stretch.

NAM Expressway was good too, and I was able to maintain speeds of around 80 kmph effortlessly for the most part. It's important to watch out for the orange barricades at town junctions, where we need to slow down and swerve around them and drive through. A couple of towns have huge speed breakers too. As reported previously, no Fastag on NAM Expressway.
And, as reported by others, Piduguralla took quite some time to cross. On the return journey, Addanki had quite some traffic too.

Lots of diversions on NH16 till Nellore, including one which was not well-marked, at least when I drove towards Chennai. A lot of vehicles, including a couple of government buses went into a lane and all of us had to turn back and return for a diversion through the opposite lane.

Everything was smooth from Nellore to TN border.

The diversions on NH16 in TN were quite bad, with broken roads and/or speed breakers in them. They are just about wide enough for a couple of vehicles to pass through them. It was a nightmare to cover this stretch in the dark early morning hours on my return journey. Had to be extremely cautious and had to drive cautiously at low speeds through these diversions.

I too carried the copy of e-registration, but, it was not checked at the TN border.


Tanked up fuel at the following places during the trip:
Onward: BPCL COCO Ongole: https://goo.gl/maps/kN4P7aRraVBPLJDs6
Rest rooms were well maintained here.

At destination: BPCL on GST Road in Chennai: https://goo.gl/maps/brdqqBKXQhWrhd4R6
The place had Nitrogen filling facility for tyres.

Return: BPCL COCO: https://goo.gl/maps/tmiRN6QkF5e8c8XX8
The rest-rooms attached to the dhaba were closed when we stopped around 8:00 a.m. on the return trip.

Other places where I bought just a little fuel to use their rest rooms:
1. Only a single common rest-room at Reliance petrol bunk in Piduguralla (less than ideal) on the onward trip:
https://goo.gl/maps/dqecNj8WtGy3jzyD8

2. Just about acceptable rest-rooms at HPCL COCO petrol pump in Gowravaram on the return trip: https://goo.gl/maps/p2SEs6e8PLHdfrkV8


Other places that I had researched before-hand and had identified as possible stop-over points, but did not stop (which might help others):

N Grill Restaurant, Nalgonda: https://g.page/n-grill-restaurant?share
Café Coffee Day - Narketpally: https://goo.gl/maps/mv8ndP7yFZ2tFLuC9
Sri Murugan Highway Restaurant, Piduguralla: https://g.page/Murugan-Eats?share
Highway Cafe, Medaramatla: https://goo.gl/maps/anZwwvGcNsRYeMFq6
Coffee Crush, Maddipadu: https://goo.gl/maps/dwcPwLpfGUFPahSD7
IOCL COCO, Ongole: https://goo.gl/maps/aUi8ewhgnTQasoMh6
Café Coffee Day, Gowravaram (was closed when we stopped around 7 a.m.): https://goo.gl/maps/p2SEs6e8PLHdfrkV8
Cafe Coffee Day, Gurivindapudi: https://goo.gl/maps/9pgrveBWS8vDJgM26
Cafe Coffee Day, Budanam:https://goo.gl/maps/PyUH1h2xMqg7wNRv7
BPCL COCO Tada: https://goo.gl/maps/AKtWcU1f3K512rvK8

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by FlashMustang

It was a nightmare to cover this stretch in the dark early morning hours on my return journey. Had to be extremely cautious and had to drive cautiously at low speeds through these diversions.

That's actually the best time cross. Every time we started early morning, we reach N5 in 4 hours Other times, it'll take you lot more time to travel this section.

[FlashMustang]

Originally Posted by narayans80

That's actually the best time cross. Every time we started early morning, we reach N5 in 4 hours Other times, it'll take you lot more time to travel this section.

Good to hear that! Thank you. Will plan accordingly for future journeys too.

And, thanks to everyone for your inputs on this thread. They helped us a lot with our trip!

[narayans80]

Did our 2nd overnight run between Hyderabad and Madras. Unlike the previous one, this was a journey starting from Shirdi earlier that day.

We exited ORR Exit 11 about 2015 hrs, stopped for dinner at Aadhya Grand at 2030 and left at 2100. Traffic till Pangthangi was a pain even though it was relatively free. NAM too is in very good shape, barring 2 diversions for resurfacing, each about 2-3 km long where you are forced to go slow because of trucks ahead. Remaining stretches were done at 80-100 kph. The only section in Pidugurrala where we were slightly delayed was an oversized truck trying to cross that bridge. We were out on NH5 at 1250 am.

From here the progress was much slower as the tiredness was taking a toll. After the string of petrol bunks near Tanguturu, there is virtually no coffee shop open till we crossed Nellore. There were few diversions that are WIP in Kavali-Nellore apart from the broken bridge diversion at Audi Shankara College that was taken toll by Nivar last month.

Since I took it slow, met a much busier Tada-Moolakadai sector crossing Tada at 5 am. Eventually reached home at 630 am.

[Quinn]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Did our 2nd overnight run between Hyderabad and Madras. Unlike the previous one, this was a journey starting from Shirdi earlier that day.

Is there any covid related checks or epass requirements due to new covid strain news? Heard rumours of mandatory checks. Got a travel plan into and out of Hyd so its good to know before hand.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Quinn

Is there any covid related checks or epass requirements due to new covid strain news? Heard rumours of mandatory checks. Got a travel plan into and out of Hyd so its good to know before hand.

No Covid check requirements. We were flagged down at TS-AP border on NAM with general questions about where we were coming from and where we were going. This had nothing to do with Covid, and used to exist even in 2019.