[shankar.balan]

having used both roads I still feel that using the Hosur-Krishnagiri highway is much better. Less tension filled, better surfacing throughout and certainly more enjoyable.
atleast till the Palamaner-Chittoor highway is widened and completed.

[Blue_V]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

having used both roads I still feel that using the Hosur-Krishnagiri highway is much better. Less tension filled, better surfacing throughout and certainly more enjoyable.
atleast till the Palamaner-Chittoor highway is widened and completed.

Definitely, chittoor highway, dont feel its a highway after travelling on krishnagiri route.

[hunt]

ones you touch krishnagiri you are 3 hours away from chennai central.
fantastic road , only the tolls are the hurdle

palamaner - chittor patch work is done but still you go through hustle of all the towns , especially i hate travelling through these towns in the evening where people jump on the road from one end to other .

[hrag]

NH4 update between Bangalore & Ranipettai:

Mini diversion in place at NH4 - Whitefield Road junction.

Flyover (?) work happening at junction of NH4 and Hosakote - Chintamani Road.

Mini diversons all along Kolara bypass - esp. the intersections with roads leading to Tekal & Bethmangala.

Be very very careful at the start of Mulbagilu bypass. Huge pothole just after the crest. Slow down to a crawl as you take the right into the bypass.

The entire stretch in AP from the end of Chittoor bypass until the TN border has been relaid including the small patch after Gudipala checkpost.

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by hunt

ones you touch krishnagiri you are 3 hours away from chennai central.
fantastic road , only the tolls are the hurdle

After Ponthamallae its depends on traffic to decide on the time taken. Let's also put a post script mentioning the "subjected to" - traffic conditions after 'ponthamallae' as its generally crowded

Overall intention is that we do not encourage any newbie to attain this timing based on what he/she reads from our forum.

[dskumar]

Originally Posted by Surprise

After Ponthamallae its depends on traffic to decide on the time taken. Let's also put a post script mentioning the "subjected to" - traffic conditions after 'ponthamallae' as its generally crowded

Overall intention is that we do not encourage any newbie to attain this timing based on what he/she reads from our forum.

As per my experience, the chaos starts at sriperumbudur itself.
I think the Govt / NHAI should widen the roads to 6 Lanes from Sriperumbudur to Koyembedu immediately.

Attebelle to Sriperumbudur took 3 and half hours for me many times, but Sriperumbudur to Thiruvanmiyur and Whitefield to Attebelle combined takes around 2 hours mostly, taking my full journey length to 5 and half hours.

[hrag]

NH4 update: Walajapet - Kanchipuram turn off

The road from the Walajapet toll plaza towards Chennai has been relaid almost until the Kanchipuram turn off (after the Arakkonam bridge). This means a great(er) road surface but the lane markers and cat's eyes are not up yet - please be very careful at night.

[akroy]

Went to Tirupati last weekend. Latest update on NH4 till chittoor is as follows:

1) 4 laned Work till Mulbagal (one lane working hence diversions)
2) Didnt encounter the pothole at the entry of Mulbagal BP, probably it is tarred now as the entry is 4 laned now. Infact if you dont watch carefully then you might miss the BP and enter the town.
3) NH4 is great till Chittoor except for 3 sudden uneven surfaces. basically there have dumped some tar on some concrete culvert which is put under highway at some places. At a high speed to tend to miss it. I missed it twice and jumped to that uneven surface at 120kmph.

Abhi

[hrag]

NH4 update: Madras - Bangalore

Roads getting better from Mulbagilu towards Bangalore.
Pothole at end of Mulbagilu bypass (from Palamner) is patched up quite nicely - explains why I went into it on 6th March and Abhi didn't one week later. Plus, there is a new 2-lane entry into the BP from Kolara side.
Patchy surfaces in AP between Chittoor & Palamner still exist - barely slowed down for them since I was in the Safari.

Now the mixed news:
Road relaid in both directions between Sriperumbudur & Walajapet toll plazas: starts from Kanchipuram turn off and lasts almost the Walajapet toll plaza. BUT lane markers / shoulders have not been painted. Great road during the day - please be careful during the night where idiots with headlamp wattage competing with tyre sizes can blind you.

MGM Virundu at Ranipet still has the best & cleanest toilets I have seen but that's about it - food is now pathetic.

[IronWolf]

Hrag,

Looks like the NH4 route is still unfinished and with its share of surprises. How come you dont stick to the GQ. You seem to alternate between the routes just for the driving pleasure and to avoid the monotony?

Just want to understand why I should take the NH4 other than for the Palamner Ghat section rather than the cleaner GQ.

[hrag]

NH4 is more fun to drive and not just the Palamner ghat section. Plus lots of places to stop if you feel like. The GQ is safer but remains a boring route.

[akroy]

Originally Posted by hrag

NH4 is more fun to drive and not just the Palamner ghat section. Plus lots of places to stop if you feel like. The GQ is safer but remains a boring route.

I totally agree with Hrag here Daniel.

Before 4 laning work, NH4 was actually very pleasure to drive and also we could do very high speeds. It is fun and you encounter nice food joints on the way, full of trees on either side etc.

GQ will take to your destination faster with monotonous speed driving but these 2 laners although brings down your speed but gives fun in appreciating nature.

Abhi

[pypkmsrikanth]

I actually tend to feel sleeply driving on 4 lane roads as compared to the 2 lane roads because you have to be constantly occupied on a 2 lane road. Also normally I stick to a maximum speed of around 85 / 90 kmph (around the 2500 RPM mark) irrespective of a 2 lane or 4 lane road so my travels times do not vary too much. I used to cover Chennai Bangalore (from Padi to my home at Cox Town) in about 5 and a half hours through the OMR, in my 800 about 5 years back, after switching to GQ I struggle to do consistently the same trip in similar times.

[csentil]

NH4 is actually shorter by 25 odd kms if I remember it right. So when there was no GQ, NH4 was the better option. Also the route via Krishnagiri-Vaniyambadi-Vellore had 7 railway crossings (Kanchipuram, Vellore, Pachakuppam, Vaniyambadi, two more between Vaniyambadi and Natrampalli and one after Natrampalli (bangalore track) if I remember correctly)

Kanchipuram and Vellore were Metre Gauge tracks and boy they could be highly irritating at times especially the Vellore one.

Pachakuppam and Vaniyambadi were S bend railway crossings, which meant stupid drivers tried to overtake each other there and caused traffic jams.

Sometimes you would get caught with the same train from Pachakuppam till Natramapalli.

However the route was lined with huge trees right from Poonamallee till Krishnagiri. Huge banyan and tamarind trees planted by the British. Imagine the Vellore - Ambur road with huge trees on either side. You would never feel the heat and can take rest under a tree even in the afternoon. Now if you have a puncture on the GQ during summer you would be toasted !!!

NH4 still retained that old charm.. however now that 4 laning is happening I'm sure all the trees from Hoskote to Mulbagal must have disappeared. How sad would that be.

NH4 also was never as crowded as the other route as it passes through Andhra and lorries/buses would generally not take this route.

[marlinspike]

Originally Posted by csentil

NH4 is actually shorter by 25 odd kms if I remember it right. So when there was no GQ, NH4 was the better option. Also the route via Krishnagiri-Vaniyambadi-Vellore had 7 railway crossings (Kanchipuram, Vellore, Pachakuppam, Vaniyambadi, two more between Vaniyambadi and Natrampalli and one after Natrampalli (bangalore track) if I remember correctly)
Kanchipuram and Vellore were Metre Gauge tracks and boy they could be highly irritating at times especially the Vellore one.
Pachakuppam and Vaniyambadi were S bend railway crossings, which meant stupid drivers tried to overtake each other there and caused traffic jams.
Sometimes you would get caught with the same train from Pachakuppam till Natramapalli.
.

You are correct. I used to take a bus from Chennai to Mettur via Krishnagiri- Dharmapuri during college days. It used to take 11 hours to travel 340 KMs.
Now poonamalle to Krishnagiri in 2 and a half hours.
I would still like all the small towns to have a couple of under passes each so that all the tempos and local two wheelers trying to avoid long U turns coming right into you out of nowhere. its tricky in twilight and they swerve just in front of you blissfully unaware that its the your heart skipping a beat and slamming on the brakes that keeps them alive.