[GurulovesFord]

I did my Bangalore to chennai trip via chitoor on 9th Jul. Roads were good till Chittor and became worst afterwards for about 15-20 kms due to rain. Low GC vehicles will definitely take a hit as there are no proper roads, also pits became deeper in many spots with water logging. Many surprise merging of double roads to single road. Should be careful while overtaking. From TN border, roads were good even though its a single lane road.

No one bothered to check for inter state travel epass in Serkadu TN. But, to my surprise I was stopped by few policemen somewhere before chitoor and asked if I carry any liquor bottles and even checked my bags and car boot area will attach a pic. Other than that no other checks. Even Walajah to Chennai highway is not in good condition as Bangalore - Chitoor highway as there are many excavations happening. Started at 6 40 AM from Battrahalli, reached Velachery at 1215 PM with just one bio break in between. Chennai traffic is back to Normal.
Total 6 Toll gate collection centers which costed 250 rupees (Mahasamudram and Mulbagal tolls being highest collected 85 and 70 rupees respectively)

[tharian]

I did this route to and fro last week and it was good that the dips on flyovers on the concrete stretch have been levelled out and some are in the process of being done.

I think it was just one dip that I hit which I do everytime since it is not at the exit or entry nor in the middle of the flyover. Even the 25 kms of work in progress stretch wasn't that bad.
There is some bridge work going on at Ranipet, so need to take the cut off at St.Mary's Church which will touch the Vellore highway just after the Palar bridge. This was the route I take normally otherwise too to avoid going through Walajapet.

Roads are good all the way except for the road work deviations before and after Chittoor.

[nagarjun]

Originally Posted by GurulovesFord

No one bothered to check for inter state travel epass in Serkadu TN. But, to my surprise I was stopped by few policemen somewhere before chitoor and asked if I carry any liquor bottles and even checked my bags and car boot area will attach a pic. Other than that no other checks.

This is due to the restrictions on liquor sale in Andhra Pradesh which is controlled by the state government through its outlets and they are high priced than the neighboring states. This is done as step wise plan towards a prohibition promised by the current government of AP.

The same checks are there in all borders towards AP and they check for sure if the occupants are only male, otherwise its random.

[nagarjun]

I recently did a Bangalore - Pondy trip via chittoor and a brief review of the roads is available at : https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post5132109 (Bangalore - Pondicherry : Route Queries)

This holds true for the Bangalore - Chennai route up to Ranipet.

[professor.march]

I plan to go to Anantapur from Chennai and the best option that appears for me is Chittoor, Kolar, H Cross, Chikkaballapur, and then Hyderabad highway.

What should I expect on the Chennai to Bangalore highway?
Is it 4 lane throughout? Any diversions? Any tips for the route?

[nagarjun]

Originally Posted by professor.march

I plan to go to Anantapur from Chennai and the best option that appears for me is Chittoor, Kolar, H Cross, Chikkaballapur, and then Hyderabad highway.

What should I expect on the Chennai to Bangalore highway?
Is it 4 lane throughout? Any diversions? Any tips for the route?

Ranipet to Chittoor is not 4 laned. Its mostly is 2 lane while in TN and once you enter AP, its a work in progress to covert to 4 lanes.

From Chittoor to Kolar, its all 4 lanes.

[concorde24]

Hi All,
I have just completed a roundtrip to Bangalore Mahadevpura from Chennai on Wed-Thursday and wanted to update on the journey. I took Chithoor route on both directions as my destination is very close to KR pura and I completely avoided traffic inside bangalore city.

Just to reiterate the road conditions,

1) 4- Lane from KR Pura to Karnataka-AP border is very good, no potholes and able to maintain uniform traffic. I did set 78kmph Cruise control as the speed limit was 80 and I did spot interceptors during both journeys.

2) Once entering AP, it is concrete road till Chithoor and as mentioned earlier in the thread, the road is bumpy especially near flyovers. There is work ongoing on the Chennai-Bangalore direction at many places and road gets shortened to 1 lane. It was a pain to drive towards Bangalore but not a problem in the return.

3) Once entering TN in Serkadu, single lane road is good, and there are some deviations in Ranipet due to flyover construction.

4) I had vaccination certificates for all passengers and TN entry epass and on my way back, while entering AP from Karnataka, I was stopped and asked where I am heading and then asked to proceed.

The real problem on both directions was Sriperumbudur to T. Nagar. I faced extensive traffic in both times and it nearly took 2 hours. While exiting chennai, I took T-Nagar, Anna Arch, Poonamallee high road route and heavy lorry traffic all way.

On the return direction, I wanted to take the Kundrathur road but I could not take right from the signal and there was no U turn allowed in Rajiv memorial signal as well. So I ended up going further, taking a U turn and take another cross road just before Irungattukottai to reach Kundrathur road. This road is very good till the ORR junction, but after that it was completely bottlenecked till Porur. In the hindsight, it was not a good choice to take Kundrathur road.

Till now I have normally used Anna Arch, Poonamalee highway but looking at the traffic conditions, I would like to find alternate route as I have another travel coming next week. Need suggestion from Bhpians for transiting from T-Nagar to Sriperumbudur/Kanchi route !

[tilt]

Originally Posted by concorde24

*SNIP*

Need suggestion from Bhpians for transiting from T-Nagar to Sriperumbudur/Kanchi route !

Unfortunately I am in the same predicment as you. T. Nagar to somewhere near Bangalore Palace; and my only choices are Nelson Manicka Mudaliar Road/Poonamallee High Road (Anna arch); or Nandanam/Saidapet/Raj Bhavan/Guindy/Porur.

Both options suck.

I have on occasion tried the Saidapet/Alandur/Pallavaram/Mudichur route and that was no better; so I just grit my teeth and yell at everyone within the safe protection of my windows-rolled-up soundproof car

Cheers

[anandhsub]

Originally Posted by concorde24

On the return direction, I wanted to take the Kundrathur road but I could not take right from the signal and there was no U turn allowed in Rajiv memorial signal as well. So I ended up going further, taking a U turn and take another cross road just before Irungattukottai to reach Kundrathur road. This road is very good till the ORR junction, but after that it was completely bottlenecked till Porur. In the hindsight, it was not a good choice to take Kundrathur road.

If they don't allow the U turn at Rajiv Gandhi memorial(it keeps changing every week based on the whims of the traffic police) you need to take a left into Sri perumbudur town and then there is a U turn in about 100m and then come back and take a right to take the Kundrathur or Mudichur road. Weird but much better than going further down the highway. If I miss the U turn I would rather just proceed further and go via Poonamallee.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by concorde24

Hi All,
1) speed limit was 80 and I did spot interceptors during both journeys.


The real problem on both directions was Sriperumbudur to T. Nagar. I faced extensive traffic in both times and it nearly took 2 hours. While exiting chennai, I took T-Nagar, Anna Arch, Poonamallee high road route and heavy lorry traffic all way.

On the return direction, I wanted to take the Kundrathur road but I could not take right from the signal and there was no U turn allowed in Rajiv memorial signal as well. So I ended up going further, taking a U turn and take another cross road just before Irungattukottai to reach Kundrathur road. This road is very good till the ORR junction, but after that it was completely bottlenecked till Porur. In the hindsight, it was not a good choice to take Kundrathur road.

Can you please confirm where exactly you spotted interceptors?

Originally Posted by anandhsub

If they don't allow the U turn at Rajiv Gandhi memorial(it keeps changing every week based on the whims of the traffic police) you need to take a left into Sri perumbudur town and then there is a U turn in about 100m and then come back and take a right to take the Kundrathur or Mudichur road. Weird but much better than going further down the highway. If I miss the U turn I would rather just proceed further and go via Poonamallee.

+1

I drove Bangalore-Madras-Bangalore, in last 2 weekends continuously and took Chittoor route both the times.
Road conditions are pretty much as discussed in last few posts. Towards Ranipet, the road conditions are slowly getting deteriorated due to recent rains.

Back to the topic on Sriperumbudur to city driving....
My destination was Pallavaram in first trip and Vadapalani in 2nd trip. Given the pain to cross via Sriperumbudur-Nemili toll-Poonamalle-Maduravoyal-Koyambedu and further down, and also to go via Mudichur road, i would say in both my experiences, i felt going via Sriperumbudur-Chembarambakkam-Kundrathur is much much better comparatively. Especially it works better in return journey towards Bangalore.
Of course, Kundrathur to Porur (or reverse direction) is slow , but it is a slow moving traffic and is not getting stuck. Its much better than bumping into so many signals between and traffic and Hyundai buses in Sriperumbudur-Koyambedu.

So my recommendation is , among the choices we have, the least worst is Kundrathur road. The good part is, the traffic free divided 4L road from Sriperumbudur to OOR towards Kundrathur. We can make up the time lost between Vadapalani-Poruru-Kovur-Kundrathur. Thats my 2 cents.

-Ravi

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by concorde24

The real problem on both directions was Sriperumbudur to T. Nagar. I faced extensive traffic in both times and it nearly took 2 hours.

2 hours seems overboard. What time did you enter or leave? This dictates the time it takes to get out of the city.

I did T.Nagar-Hosur on 3rd starting at 1500, took me 45 min to join the far end of Poonamalee bypass and 1:10 hours to Nemili toll. What I took on that day was Doraisamy Subway-Lakshman Sruthi-Ring Road-Vadapalani-Koyambedu-Maduravoyal-Poonamalee bypass.

I sometimes take the Tambaram-Mudichur-Manimangalam-Sriperumbudur or Vandalur-Oragadam-Vallakottai-Sriperumbudur. The former is par or sometimes faster than the conventional Porur or Maduravoyal road and the latter I take for piece of mind, not really for time.

When joining at Sriperumbudur, it takes easily 10 min to join the main highway.

Vandalur-Oragadam-Walajabad-Military Road-76th km milestone is another choice. But there is no real value add from this route in terms or time or peace of mind (Walajabad-Military Road is 2 lane road with traffic). In December 2020, Walajabad-Military Road was in bad condition.

[concorde24]

Originally Posted by ravib

Can you please confirm where exactly you spotted interceptors?

-----

So my recommendation is , among the choices we have, the least worst is Kundrathur road. The good part is, the traffic free divided 4L road from Sriperumbudur to OOR towards Kundrathur.
-Ravi

I did spot the cops near Kolar.

Agree with you on the Kundrathur road condition from ORR till the NH - it is newly laid tarmac with divider/reflectors and night driving was comfortable. Once we cross ORR and reach Kundrathur Bus stand/Market area it was a mess all the way upto Porur signal. Incidentally, Gmaps was routing me to take ORR to Thiruneermalai and go to T. Nagar via Pallavaram. I thought it was a very long comparing to reaching Porur signal straight, but I spent double time in traffic trying to reach Porur.
Kundrathur route will make sense definitely when doing Chennai->BLR and on return we can choose if we don't end up in evening peak hours.

Originally Posted by narayans80

2 hours seems overboard. What time did you enter or leave? This dictates the time it takes to get out of the city.

I did my Chennai - bangalore trip on 8/9, starting from home at 1:30pm and crossed Sriperumbudur toll at 2:53pm going via Anna Arch/Poonamallee high road. In the return direction I reached Sriperumbudur around 6:22pm, but reached home at 8:40pm. Return was the day before Vinayagar Chaturthi and probably that was one off day where it took so much time.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by concorde24

Return was the day before Vinayagar Chaturthi and probably that was one off day where it took so much time.

Well evening 6pm is pretty much the worst time to enter Madras. And that you did on the leadup to a 3 day weekend, you have a strong heart . Its either afternoons before 4 pm or after 10 pm for me. This applies to entering city from any direction. Dead of the night, it takes 40 minutes. 1-1:15 hours is par for T.Nagar-Nemili toll.

My favorite time is 9 pm start from Bangalore. You get ahead of the buses, avoid all shift bus nonsense, just truckers for company. You can get home 0200-0230 ish maintaining a sedate 90 odd all through.

[saikarthik]

Hi, I plan to travel to Chennai tomorrow from Whitefield, via Chithoor. Is there any Covid travel restriction between KA-AP-TN?

Also, will be stopping for lunch around 1:00 pm, can anyone recommend a hygienic restaurant? even if it's McD it's ok.

[Ananthang]

Originally Posted by concorde24

I did spot the cops near Kolar.

Agree with you on the Kundrathur road condition from ORR till the NH - it is newly laid tarmac with divider/reflectors and night driving was comfortable. Once we cross ORR and reach Kundrathur Bus stand/Market area it was a mess all the way upto Porur signal. Incidentally, Gmaps was routing me to take ORR to Thiruneermalai and go to T. Nagar via Pallavaram. I thought it was a very long comparing to reaching Porur signal straight, but I spent double time in traffic trying to reach Porur.
Kundrathur route will make sense definitely when doing Chennai->BLR and on return we can choose if we don't end up in evening peak hours.
.

Sir was there any RTPCR or E pass requirement. I am planning to travel this weekend for a small trip.

Plus any restrictions while returning back to Chennai.