[Bsimhan]

Originally Posted by csateesh

Dear BHPians

Has anyone done Chennai - BLR via Chithoor ?

If so pls. share the latest update

Cheers

I did this again both ways - 3rd Nov to Chennai and 29th Nov back. Nothing much has changed. While coming back though, we could not use the Ranipet road as work was going on at the level crossing and we were rerouted through Katpadi. Got caught in the heavy rains starting at Katpadi and it followed us all the way to Chittoor. The roads around the Chittoor-Tirupathi turnoff are not great. The new toll introduced near Chittoor is quite slow. We had to wait almost 10 mins to get though this. The average speed comes down considerably from Chittoor to the TN border. The single road on the Tamil Nadu side is great. Use this route if you are on the Eastern side of Bangalore. For people around the Jayanagar, Kormangala area, the Hosur road would be definitely quicker though you'll be paying a bit more toll.

[anandhsub]

Took the Chittoor route today after more than an year since I had a noon start.

I cannot recommend this route for anyone who stays west of KR Puram, atleast as long as traffic remains light within the city. The ~30kms of roads under construction are a big pain to drive. Even on the completed stretch, too many barriers have come up and not to mention the speedbreakers at pretty much every junction.

The tolls are also very slow compared to the ones on the Krishnagiri route despite the much lower traffic. Got extremely irritated after I was caught behind a lorry whose driver started a fight with the toll operator. Wasted 15mins before the attendents came and helped us reverse and enter into another lane. Has never happened on the Krishnagiri route.

[saisree]

Originally Posted by anandhsub

Took the Chittoor route today after more than an year since I had a noon start.

How is the route between Chittoor and Chennai?

[anandhsub]

Originally Posted by saisree

How is the route between Chittoor and Chennai?

It is bad up to the TN border ( or may be a little post). The single lane in TN is very good until Ranipet and the town traffic within Ranipet was also fairly manageable until it hits the main highway. Post Chennasamudram they have filled all the potholes so a decent drive even though the roads are rough.

[saisree]

Originally Posted by saisree

How is the route between Chittoor and Chennai?

Just drove from Tambaram to Chittoor. Took Tambaram-Vandalur-Oragadam-Sriperumbudur outer-Ranipet-Chittoor.

Most of the potholes between Sriperumbudur and Chennasamudram toll is filled. Expect a bumpy ride. And those short glimpses of six lane roads are really awesome.

[saisree]

Did the return leg from Chittoor to Tambaram yesterday. Some updates

There seems to be a very slow progress on the 4 lining between the Chittoor and the TN border. The road just after crossing the border and until Tiruvalam are the best in the entire stretch.
Most of the potholes are closed between the Chennasamudram and Sriperumbudur toll plazas were filled with some stretches re-laid fully. Road is little bumpy but can handle some decent speeds of 80-90 KMPH. Anything more than that is jarring.

[sameer sultan]

Hi

I am driving from Chennai to Madanapalle.

Per Google Maps the fastest route is via Vellore-Katpadi-Chittoor-Palamner-Madanapalle.

I am concerned about the route between TN border- Chittoor to Palamner. As still four laning works not complete and many diversions reported in the Bangalore-Chennai forum.

Any update on this would be nice.

There is another option which does not show up on Google maps but I am considering is through Bellore-Gudiyatham-Palamner.

Will this route will be a better option ? As the road from Pallilonda toll cut off through Gudiyatham to Palamner is a single road but well laid.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by sameer sultan

Hi

I am driving from Chennai to Madanapalle.

Per Google Maps the fastest route is via Vellore-Katpadi-Chittoor-Palamner-Madanapalle.

If you are traveling via Ranipet, then 25 kms of road construction has to be dealt with. If you take Vellore-Katpadi-Chittoor, then half of the route is well laid roads but very heavy traffic.

If you take Pallikonda toll-Gudiyattam-Palamaner, there are no under construction road, but you end up driving to more distance till Pallikonda and then taking right. Don't forget the spiking fuel cost and the additional time you are spending

Instead, i would suggest you are better off with Ranipet to Chittoor or Katpadi to Chittoor route, assuming you are going to do only day time drive.

-Ravi

-Ravi

[Secretariat]

Need to go from Bangalore to north of Chennai - a place called Kattupalli, well north of Ennore.

Any advice from the route experts here on the Chitoor-Thiruttani-Thiruvallur route or even Chitoor-Nagari-Uthukottai-Periyapalayam route ? Or is it simply better to endure NH4 till the outskirts of Chennai and take the Outer Ring Road ?

[srvm]

Originally Posted by Secretariat

Need to go from Bangalore to north of Chennai - a place called Kattupalli, well north of Ennore.

Any advice from the route experts here on the Chitoor-Thiruttani-Thiruvallur route or even Chitoor-Nagari-Uthukottai-Periyapalayam route ? Or is it simply better to endure NH4 till the outskirts of Chennai and take the Outer Ring Road ?

I can share road conditions on some of the routes you mentioned.

Bangalore to Chittoor is very good, fully divided carriageway.

Last time, I travelled Chittoor-Ponnai-Sholighur-RK Pet-Tiruttani was 2 years ago. Roads were ok. Somewhat patchy up to Ponnai and better afterwards. But doable. Roads inside Sholighur, RK Pet & Tiruttani towns are narrow.

I did Thiruvallur-Poondi-Oothukottai-Nagalapuram-Puttur-Karveti Nagar-Pallipattu bypass - GD Nellore- Chittoor - Bangalore in November 2020. Good, wide 2-lane roads. Sparse traffic. Lengthier route but definitely very peaceful and stress free. No fancy/good eateries/restaurants on this route. Budget about 20 minutes to cross Chittoor town, during peak hours.

Hope this helps.

[Secretariat]

Originally Posted by srvm

I did Thiruvallur-Poondi-Oothukottai-Nagalapuram-Puttur-Karveti Nagar-Pallipattu bypass -GD Nellore- Chittoor - Bangalore in November 2020. Good, wide 2-lane roads. Sparse traffic. Lengthier route but definitely very peaceful and stress free. No fancy/good eateries/restaurants on this route. Budget about 20 minutes to cross Chittoor town, during peak hours.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for your guidance. Based on your feedback, I did take the Chitoor- GD Nellore-Nagari-Uthukottai-Periyapalayam-Minjur-Kattupalli route. As you mentioned, good 2 lane roads with light traffic. Peaceful ride. Of course going into towns and the ever present speedbreakers slow you down, such that the 30-40 kilometers saving does not translate to reduced travel time. However it is a "different" and therefore slightly more interesting, route rather than the boring Chitoor-Chennai highway.

This is an option for those travelling from Bangalore to the very north of Chennai - Red Hills/Madhavaram/Tiruvottiyur/Ennore. No savings in time, but a smooth ride. It is also the obvious route to go to Sri City.

[ravib]

Just completed a Bangalore-Madras-Bangalore trip, and both ways took Chittoor route as it is summer now and hoping not to have messy roads due to rains like it happened to me last November when i did a trip for Deepavali.

Trust me, we get 99.5% good/decent drivable and motorable roads for any car. For those who doubt it, I repeat, it is 99.5%

The remaining 0.5% or even less % is because of the below reasons:

1) Hardly 2 to 3 stretches which are less than a kilometer distance , the roads are "average" and not bad. They are between,

• Bangalore-Tirupati bypass junction till a kilometer in the right fork that go towards Madras.
• Less than a kilometer after taking right near Chittoor Collectorate office
• And then again less than a km further down.

All these distances can be covered in less than a minute or two.

2) 5 to 6 times we have to switch sides between concrete roads due to diversion. Nothing to really complain or worry about.

Here are my timings:
Onward Journey
Left Bangalore C.V.Raman Nagar on Thursday 11th Mar at 8.30 am - late start due to Shivratri day temple visit . Since it was a late start, was expecting heavy traffic, but surprisingly very less traffic.
Reached Sriperumbudur in 4 hours including a 15 minutes tea break at Bangaurpalayam Nandi Plaza + 15 minutes car checking by TN election squad. But after that it took little more than an hour to reach Vadapalani at 1.45 pm due to heavy traffic.
A little over 5 hours is a good timing IMO.

Return Journey
Left Vadapalani on Saturday 13th Mar at 3.15 pm. Heavy traffic all the way till Kanchipuram. After a 20 minutes tea break at Kanchipuram NH Saravana Bhavan, left at 4.45 pm and drove non-stop till C.V.Raman Nagar and reached home at 8.30 pm. Again just about 5 hours drive is pretty good.

So what we get in this route:
1) Bangalore-Chittoor => as usual divided 4 lane and can do good speeds although bumpy drive especially in bridges and road joints.
2) Bangalore-Tirupati Bypass junction till AP border near Railway track crossing/Zion Hill church =>
You get good drivable motorable concrete roads, but it is a 2L (i.e.) one side only. You have to switch sides for 5 times due to construction in other side of the road. Honestly, there is nothing much to complain in a big way in any means. You atleast get good tar roads in few sections. Compared to bangalore roads, these negligible "average roads" are literally nothing.
3) Once you enter TN, you get solid 2L tar roads with good shoulders till Ranipet. Ranipet traffic is still manageable compared to Bangalore traffic.
4) Chennasamudram toll plaza to Sriperumbudur => Too many diversions and road surface is not good in many places and is a mix of good & bad stretches But in the reverse direction from Madras to Bangalore, Sriperumbudur to Chennansamudram Toll road conditions are good.

For the frequent comment on food/bio break stops in Chittoor route, i noticed there are many big and new highway restaurants have come up (more in Chittoor-Bangalore direction side of highway), so this also is NOT a big/major problem hereafter. Also, usually you need a one break or max 2 breaks in 5 to 6 hour journey, so this is not really a big concern going forward.

I was able to do Palamaner to Joining NH near Ranipet in 1 hour or slightly more in both ways. The 2L section between Bangalore Tirupati bypass junction all the way till TN border can be done in 30 minutes or so.

So what's the recommendation?

• If you are driving in day time and starting from North/East Bangalore, you can definitely take Bangalore-Chittoor-Ranipet-Madras. Except for great road surface with 6L, there is no big advantage in taking Hosur route which is additional kms (meaning you spend more fuel which is spiking in price), end up driving through Bangalore city traffic via Indira Nagar, Ejipura, Koramangala, Silk board, EC, Hosur industry traffic taking more time and driving effort plus costly tolls.
• If you are driving in night time, stick to Hosur route considering the safety due to diversions/road constructions in Chittoor route

-Ravi

[loki]

Just got back from a Bangalore - Chennai (Sholinganallur) trip. Took the Chittoor route both ways.

Bangalore to AP border - Smooth divided 4 lane Tarmac
AP Border to Chittoor Byepass - Divided 4 lane Concrete (slightly bumpy in certain stretches Eg: Bridges)
Chittoor Byepass to Serkadu Checkpost (TN border) - 4 laning in progress (Concrete)
Serkadu Checkpost to Ranipet / Walajapet - Wide smooth 2 lane Tarmac
Walajapet to Sriperumbudur (usual NH 48)- 4 lane Divided Tarmac. although multiple sections being repaired and hence diversions to service road.

I stay close to Hebbal and the Chittoor Route is totally fine. I'd do anything to avoid Silk Board. Lesser tolls / traffic via Chittoor is a bonus.

[saisree]

Just back from Tambaram- Chittoor- Tambaram trip. Most of the road onward to Chittoor is topped and you can maintain decent speeds. Couple of diversions for flyover constructions.

Return journey, again lot of six laning works. There are 43 potholes between Chennasamudram toll plaza and the right towards Oragadam. Out of those 43 potholes 16 potholes will make your tyres go ooohlalaaa. Most of them on the right most lanes.
Drive carefully guys.

[ravib]

Cross posting my recent Bangalore-Madras-Bangalore trip via Chittoor.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post5095591 (Bangalore - Chennai - Bangalore : Route Queries)

Overall, still a good option to take this route for North & East Bangalore people.

-Ravi