[narayans80]

Originally Posted by binand

Can someone suggest a reliable (Coco preferred) fuel station on this route

There is only this COCO before Kolar. Apart from this there are couple around Chittoor (which is the expensive of the lot). After that there is a BPCL COCO at Vedal on the highway stretches.

[Makin Rulesz]

Originally Posted by binand

Given that Shell's fuel price is substantially higher than the highest PSU OMC prices in all three states along this route, this is a non-starter for me, sorry.

Oh! I am not aware of the current price. But when I filled 2 months back, it was on par with any PSU price in KA and 5Rs/Ltr cheaper than the lowest price in Chennai.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Makin Rulesz

Oh! I am not aware of the current price. But when I filled 2 months back, it was on par with any PSU price in KA and 5Rs/Ltr cheaper than the lowest price in Chennai.

Hmm. I was going by this:

https://www.shell.in/motorists/shell...-in-india.html

(This is the price the Shell pump on Bangalore ORR at Bellandur near Akme Harmony charges).

Maybe prices outside Bangalore city limits are at par with PSU OMC prices.

[srvm]

A new pure-veg restaurant has come up on the Chittoor-Bangalore side of the highway just after Nangali toll plaza. Its called 'Sri Srinivasa Grand'.
Restrooms were clean. Food, ambience and hospitality were very good.
Parking space is huge.

{This restaurant is very similar looking to the 'Sri Krishna Grand' which comes a little further from the toll plaza}

[hardilip]

Planning to do a trip with family from Bangalore to Thiruporur on 20th April. Has anyone used this route recently? Any caution that I should keep in mind? How is the road condition? Thanks in advance.

[ravib]

Just drove back from Madras to Bangalore 30 minutes ago !

Onward Journey
Left Bangalore on 10th Apr for an emergency - Started at 8 pm at C.V.Raman Nagar and Reached Maduravoyal at 1 am, which included 15 minutes tea break and about 20 minutes police check in atleast 4 places on the way. Drove all throughout between 90 to 110 kmph.

Road conditions are good all throughout about 98% of the places, barring the construction and deviations areas around Chittoor collectorate office, Ranipet and between Chennasamudram to Sriperumbudur.

Road conditions from Chennasamudram Toll to Sriperumbudur are 95% completed except the bridge and the surface is very good. Lanes are marked in many places, but not in many places too. Diversions are less towards inbound direction.

Sriperumbudur to Poonamalle is also roads are excellent. So overall able to cover the distance in 4.5 hours driving time in constant speed that makes up for good average kmph.

Return Journey.
Started today 16th Apr from Pallavaram at 6 am and reached Murugan Idli shop for breakfast break at 7.10 am. After an hour break, resumed driving and reached C.V.Raman Nagar at 12 noon, that makes up 5 hours drive plus 1 hour break.

Road conditions from Sriperumbudur to Kundrathur to Pammal to Pallavaram had deteriorated badly, so not a good drive.
Sriperumbudur to Chennasamuduram toll outbound direction has more diversions compared to madras inbound direction. The road conditions are also not that good as well, but not too bad either. Need to really slow down.

Other notable points
A) Overall drive from Bangalore to Madras via Chittoor route now has too many diversions.
A1) KA side => Before Hoskote toll bridge construction for whitefield road exit, Narasipura industrial estate bridge construction, Kolar to Mulbagal toll road widening work, Mulbagal bypass exit, Nangali junction.
A2) A.P side => The bridge joints that were patched earlier using tar has becoming little more bumpy now compared to when earlier due to heat, Tirupati bypass towards Chittoor collectorate, Chittoor collectorate to Chitoor CMC campus, road widening work before and after railway gate till Zion Hill church/TN border.
A3) After Chittoor Collectorate office till TN border, many places, the traffic is allowed in only one side toward TN, thus both ways people try to overtake thinking it is a 4L which is not, so need to be careful.
A4) The new roads that were laid just less than a year ago between Gudipala to Chittoor CMC campus to Chittoor collectorate office is now non-existent due to road widening work and active construction. So effectively the life of new roads were pretty short, which was infamous for its bad roads in the past.
A5) T.N side => Bridge construction at Ranipet fork towards the bridge/Little flower convent is mostly done, so no barricades. However, people can still get confused to exit Ranipet and join NH if they follow Google maps blindly. For the benefit of those traveling first time, while going towards madras after you cross the little flower convent which comes on to your right, take immediate left instead of going straight as suggested by Gmaps. Drive all the way till the T-junction, take right and drive through the bazaar road which is wide enough and a divided road till you see the huge bridge in NH. Take left in service road in the NH and join main carriage way.
A6) As mentioned earlier, there are not many diversions towards Madras, and drive is relatively smooth compared to last year.

Good News
1) Finally saw excellent brisk progress of construction work in AP side for road widening and also the bridge construction for new Bangalore-Chennai express way. Loop construction is also in progress near to Chittoor CMC campus, which is why road widening and construction work happening.
See attached fotos - with time stamp around 9:05 to 9:10 am are new expressway bridge. Time stamp around 9:20 pm are between Chittoor collectorate to Tirupati byepass.
2) After Hoskote, the new expressway roads are ready in KA side and traffic is allowed towards Devanahalli and STRR which is great. See attached fotos with time stamp around 11:20 am.

Hope this helps

-Ravi

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ravib

Good News
1) Finally saw excellent brisk progress of construction work in AP side for road widening and also the bridge construction for new Bangalore-Chennai express way. Loop construction is also in progress near to Chittoor CMC campus, which is why road widening and construction work happening.
See attached fotos - with time stamp around 9:05 to 9:10 am are new expressway bridge. Time stamp around 9:20 pm are between Chittoor collectorate to Tirupati byepass.
2) After Hoskote, the new expressway roads are ready in KA side and traffic is allowed towards Devanahalli and STRR which is great. See attached fotos with time stamp around 11:20 am. i

Just to clarify you should have seen two 4-lanes go above the Chitoor-Ranipet Chennai road.

I think the exit to Bangalore-Chennai express way is not a full clover leaf. The exits on the old Madras road lead to the expressway

As to the other 4-lane road, it’s the Chitoor-Tatchoor expressway (CTE). It has a full-fledged clover leaf junction with Bangalore-Chennai expressway. It actually originates from this expressway. (Probably the road you saw near Chittor CMC is the Chitoor-Tatchoor Expressway and not the BCE).

[anandhsub]

Originally Posted by srvm

A new pure-veg restaurant has come up on the Chittoor-Bangalore side of the highway just after Nangali toll plaza. Its called 'Sri Srinivasa Grand'.
Restrooms were clean. Food, ambience and hospitality were very good.
Parking space is huge.

{This restaurant is very similar looking to the 'Sri Krishna Grand' which comes a little further from the toll plaza}

How is the access if you are going toards Chittoor? I like Sri Krishna Grand mainly because the access is quite easy. Barely adds some 1.5-2km for the U turns unlike the Nandi food plaza for which you need to go on the wrong side of the service road.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by anandhsub

How is the access if you are going toards Chittoor? I like Sri Krishna Grand mainly because the access is quite easy. Barely adds some 1.5-2km for the U turns unlike the Nandi food plaza for which you need to go on the wrong side of the service road.

Very easy to access. Just take U-turn at/just before Nangali toll plaza. But getting back to Chittoor side may require travel all the way back to Nangali town or using that kacha break in divider near Shri Krishna Grand.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by ampere

Just to clarify you should have seen two 4-lanes go above the Chitoor-Ranipet Chennai road.

Correct. There are two 4 lane over bridges being constructed in shorter distance. .

Originally Posted by anandhsub

How is the access if you are going toards Chittoor? I like Sri Krishna Grand mainly because the access is quite easy. Barely adds some 1.5-2km for the U turns unlike the Nandi food plaza for which you need to go on the wrong side of the service road.

Very true. That's exactly the problem.

Originally Posted by srvm

Very easy to access. Just take U-turn at/just before Nangali toll plaza. But getting back to Chittoor side may require travel all the way back to Nangali town or using that kacha break in divider near Shri Krishna Grand.

Based on srvm's recommendation, today i stopped in Srinivasa Grand hotel and it was pretty good. Please see attached fotos. For those heading towards chittoor, reaching the hotel with shorter U turn is easy, but again driving in opposite direction towards Bangalore and then taking U turn to head back to Chittoor direction is too much of a drive. So i just stopped right in front of the hotel as there was some safe space to park the car off the highway and just crossed the road.

Newer Updates
Traveled from Bangalore to Madras again today 19th Apr morning. Left C.V.Raman Nagar at 7.45 am and crossed Battrahalli at 8. Including 15 minutes break in Srinivasa Grand and also severe slow down at Narasapura diversion and also additional 20 kms drive via Katpadi/Vellore, still able to reach Pallavaram around 1:15 due to elections in TN and very less traffic on the road.

Two major changes and diversions introduced in last 2 days.

1) Diversion before Kolar: in Narasapura industrial estate, we know bridge construction was going on and all were forced to drive in service road and join the main road before the lake on the left side. However, today, even that was not allowed an all vehicles were forced to take left and go inside towards the village/town roads where we see lake on the right side , and join back the NH closer to Cafe Coffee day/ Empire Restaurant at the end of the bridge.
This piles up the traffic and people end up occupying all the lanes in the village road thus blocking opposite side traffic creating mess and bumper to bumper traffic all throughout thus causing severe delays.

2) Diversion before Railway Gate: After crossing the under construction BCE and also the right exit towards vellore road, as we get closer to Railway gate, the road is closed for traffic due to major construction / expanding work happening near to Zion hill. Thus all vehicles are diverted to forcefully take the Katpadi / Vellore route, thus adding up additional 20 kms and also slow moving traffic all the way till we cross Katpadi Railway station bridge and join NH at vellore before Naruvi hospital. Thus atleast 20 to 30 mts time is wasted which we gain by driving via Thiruvalam/Ranipet.

-Ravi

[srvm]

Originally Posted by ravib

.......

Newer Updates
Traveled from Bangalore to Madras again today 19th Apr morning. Left C.V.Raman Nagar at 7.45 am and crossed Battrahalli at 8. Including 15 minutes break in Srinivasa Grand and also severe slow down at Narasapura diversion and also additional 20 kms drive via Katpadi/Vellore, still able to reach Pallavaram around 1:15 due to elections in TN and very less traffic on the road.

Two major changes and diversions introduced in last 2 days.

1) Diversion before Kolar: in Narasapura industrial estate, we know bridge construction was going on and all were forced to drive in service road and join the main road before the lake on the left side.....

2) Diversion before Railway Gate: After crossing the under construction BCE and also the right exit towards vellore road, as we get closer to Railway gate, .....

Drove on Saturday evening from Bangalore to Chennai.
Started at 5.15pm from CV Raman nagar and reached Medavakkam at 12.30am (21st April). 30 minutes food break at Sri Srinivasa Grand, Nangali. Took U-turn at toll plaza to reach restaurant. After dinner drove towards Nangali but took U-turn at break in divider near Sri Krishna grand. All good.

Ravi, last evening there was no traffic diversion into Narsapura town. Traffic was back to driving along service lane!!
Crossed CMC Chitoor campus around 9.40pm. Didn't want to go via Katpadi-Vellore. Took chance with Ranipet route since some trucks were going past barricades. Work going on at Bommasamudram railway gate. JCBs working even at night. They stop after 15-20 minutes to let piled up traffic pass through. Locals suggested us to go via Bommasamudram village, go below a railway underpass near Bommasamudram railway station and join near Zion Hill church. Had to drive on a very narrow, very bumpy, mud road for 10 nervous minutes. Not at all recommended even in daylight. Two cars cannot fit in this narrow mud road. Better to go via Katpadi - Vellore. I had a kind hearted local in a 2-wheeler acting like a pilot vehicle and showing me the way at 10pm in the night.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ravib

Correct. There are two 4 lane over bridges being constructed in shorter distance. .

Originally Posted by srvm

Crossed CMC Chitoor campus around 9.40pm. Didn't want to go via Katpadi-Vellore. Took chance with Ranipet route since some trucks were going past barricades. Work going on at Bommasamudram railway gate. JCBs working even at night. They stop after 15-20 minutes to let piled up traffic pass through. Locals suggested us to go via Bommasamudram village, go below a railway underpass near Bommasamudram railway station and join near Zion Hill church.

Did you guys notice any interchange on the old madras road onto to the CTE? (Chitoor Tatchoor Expressway) ? I dont see any clover leaf coming up. The only semi clover leaf is for Bangalore-Chennai Expressway.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by ampere

Did you guys notice any interchange on the old madras road onto to the CTE? (Chitoor Tatchoor Expressway) ? I dont see any clover leaf coming up. The only semi clover leaf is for Bangalore-Chennai Expressway.

Nope. I didn't see. Though I was driving by at night.
I do hope NHAI have plans to connect the present highway with Thatchoor expressway. Else how would trucks originating around Chittoor (some industries are there) would reach Thatchoor/ Kattupalli port?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by srvm

Nope. I didn't see. Though I was driving by at night.
I do hope NHAI have plans to connect the present highway with Thatchoor expressway. Else how would trucks originating around Chittoor (some industries are there) would reach Thatchoor/ Kattupalli port?

The only way is to first get on to the BLR-Chennai E-Way, drive towards BLR and exit on the clover leaf onto the Tatchoor E-Way.