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-   -   The Bangalore - Chennai Expressway (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/287462-bangalore-chennai-expressway-10.html)

I drove to Chennai and back over the weekend via the expressway.

For the last 2-3 trips (pre-BCE days) I have been taking Chittoor-Thiruthani-Thiruvallur as a more peaceful alternative to the regular Ranipet-Sriperumbudur-Poonamallee NH 48 route. With the BCE in the mix my concern was how to connect to it. Looked like (from this thread) most everyone was going V. Kote-Palamneru-Chittoor-Ranipet or V. Kote-Gudiyattam-Vellore and onwards via the NH 48. After some Google-surfing I decided to take V. Kote-Gudiyattam-Katpadi-Vallimalai-Sholingur-Thiruthani.

Started the journey at 4 AM from Bangalore. Hoskote toll was crossed at 5 AM and at 7 AM I was at Katpadi and looking for possible breakfast places (hint: there are none). I set CC to 100 kmph on the BCE and it was a short, 45-minute drive. Everything felt perfect - expansion joints were smooth, the big L curve at Hoskote was well-designed, road signage and reflectors/cats-eyes were all in place and working, road lighting was ample, exits were marked and numbered.

During the return I again started from Chennai at 4 AM. This time I came via Pallikonda-Gudiyattam to see what I was missing - but it is a disaster. Eventually entered the BCE at 9.20 AM and exited it at 9.55 AM (I made a note of the times). 69 km in 35 minutes I thought was excellent - this time CC was set to 120 kmph.

In brief - already for the early morning start, the BCE seems to save about 1 hour in end-to-end travel. With the full thing in place - which in my mind is BCE connecting to Chittoor–Thatchur road connecting to one of Chennai PRR (for north Chennai) or to Chennai-Surat expressway (for south Chennai) - we can expect even more reduction in time.

Gudiyattam has a bypass from V. Kote side to Katpadi side, with junctions for the roads leading to Palamneru and Chittoor. Nothing for the road to Pallikonda though.

Entry to the expressway is open, though the good entry is on the Bangalore to Kolar side carriageway of Old Madras road. In the Kolar to Bangalore side, the entry ramp still has some muddy sections and even had a mound of soil dumped.
The expressway is ready upto somewhere near Palamaner, but one can’t take the last 20km yet since they’ve barricaded it off at the Sundarapalya exit (you can exit to Mulbagal or Venkatagirikota here).

Once you exit at Sundarapalya and drive towards Venkatagirikota, you will see an unfinished overbridge just before entering the town limits. This bridge must be completed before traffic can proceed any further. Unfortunately it looks several months away from opening.

Map location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/gDYrcmzuiD8WmoRW6

Thanks for this update :thumbs up. Very useful.
When I took BCE in mid-April, the Gudiyattam bypass was barricaded. Only 2-wheelers could squeeze in. I had to go inside the town which took 20 minutes to cross. Are you saying now it is now open for cars? (I guess it goes north of the town, cutting through roads to Palamner and Chittoor).

Is there any time limits for crossing the forest section near Bathalapalli? (Is it open 24 hours?)

I actually would have thought other way around. Sholinghur-Tiruttani is very narrow. I've taken it once and is one of the slowest 2-lane roads I've driven. Tiruttani-Thirumazhisai is also slow. From your timings, you should've been on Tiruttani-Thirumazhisai on busier times.

What exactly is wrong in your return route?

Yes. One flyover is incomplete, but the road underneath is fine.

Didn't notice any signage mentioning this.

I was at Katpadi at 7 AM and my breakfast payment UPI timestamp at a restaurant at the far end of Thiruthani (about 1 km after merging with NH 716 coming from Tirupati) is at 8.45 AM. That's about 1.5 hours for 75 km (taking out 15 mins for the time it took me to order and eat) - or 50 kmph average.

The SMS timestamp for Pattarai toll is 9.15 AM. My hotel check-in credit card charge timestamp is 11 AM. I had to wait for about 20 minutes while they made the room available ("sir, our check-in time is 2 PM..."). Again, 1.5 hours for 55 km which included PMH Road between Poonamallee and Annanagar interchanges.

1. It is a mix of 6-lane and 4-lane. The transition between the two is abrupt. If you are in the rightmost lane of a 6-lane section you risk an accident when half the lane vanishes as it switches to 4-lane mode.

2. Way too many detours. Some of them seem to be years old with no work happening. While a couple of the detours were well-maintained most of them were bumpy/potholed.

3. Way too much traffic, of course. A never-ending stream of trucks. I had the misfortune of being stuck behind a windmill-carrying multi-axler and its ODC escort during an excruciatingly long detour.

I've been keeping tab with the posts. The consensus is that the Madras bound direction is in much better condition than the Bangalore bound.

What you mentioned above is what I've experienced during 2024 drives. But the average speed was not below 60. I drive Tirupati twice a year, and its never been a faster road, I barely touch 80 only when I close in on Tiruttani. Till Tiruvallur it is 70 at the most. It is best done between midnight and 3 am.

The worst I've experienced is on Dec 2022 drive, when it took 5.5 hrs from Shoolagiri McDonalds to Vandalur. It can't be that bad rl: Anyway I'll find out 'How hard can it be?' this weekend.

There is one village road just before a small town called Virinchipuram which leads to the existing highway. Wouldn't advise it as it opens up at Pallikonda town - which eventually means you end up paying a toll if you're going towards Chennai.

The route is V Kota -> Forest -> Pernambut -> (right turn at) Vaduganthagal -> Virinchipuram -> Seduvalai. You join the highway at Seduvalai.

When is it expected to finish? I m postponing my trip to Pondicherry via ECR due to this.

Then you have to postpone your trip by atleast 1-2 years :D AP and TN sections are still in progress. Plus Madras Peripheral Ring Road has to be done to seamlessly connect to ECR.

Yes, this is a good alternative road and it bypasses the Pallikonda toll plaza.
I prefer this to the narrow lanes inside Pallikonda town. There was a railway overbridge under construction for the past few years (near Virinchipuram railway station) which is now complete and open for public.

I also found the route that just bypasses the Gudiyatham town and joins the Krishnagiri Chennai highway at Madhanur to be better.

Are the roads better via Vaduganthagal or is to bypass the toll?

Asking since I am heading to Chennai in couple of days and returning on Sunday. It’s been long since I drove and I normally take the Kolar-Chitoor-Ranipet route which I understand is not worth using with the expressway partly open and road works.

Purely to bypass the toll but roads are bigger than the ones inside Pallikonda town. Plus there's a bridge now at Vaduganthagal that's two-laned to take traffic.

Did Bangalore- Chennai today via the exoressway. What a lovely stretch of road it is especially in the early morning hours. Even saw a peahen waiting to cross the road! Lots of brids of different kinds were sun bathing on the road in the early hours due to low traffic.

Post the expressway, things got slow because of narrow roads , stuck behind a truck on the ghats and then morning rush hour when crossing towns.
Now the fun part which was Pallikonda - Chennai. It has been close to 20 months since I drove this stretch and I must give it to the authorities on still maintaining some of the pillars and half built flyovers that are build over nothing, for so many years. And some new ones now too between Pallikonda and Chennasamudram tolls. But the good part was the 6 lane which is quick apart from these relics in between.
Ended up loosing close to an hour in a jam which I am not sure what the cause was. It was again a flyover with the service road deviation, but none of the other ones had a block. I am guessing it was a broken down truck which I saw being moved to under the flyover later.

Hoskote toll to Chennai ring road took little more than 6hours with a 30 min break and the jam of 45 mins which is the longest it has taken me till date for a Blore - Chennai drive. Hoping the return will be better.