[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by ampere

One way to by-pass CBE-Palakkad-Trichur, sector may be to go via Valparai.
I tried this section over the weekend, and I must say, I was bowled over by the road conditions. Salem-Perundurai-Kangeyam-Palladam-Pollachi-Valparai-Chalakudy.

Though I did not go all the way till Chalakudy, but I can only imagine to road to be good and with less traffic. Ghat roads are in peach condition and very less crowded.

I did Chalakkudy-Valparai 2-3 years back and the road was narrow with lot of potholes and of course, wild. Did you notice the distance and time taken via Valparai?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

I did Chalakkudy-Valparai 2-3 years back and the road was narrow with lot of potholes and of course, wild. Did you notice the distance and time taken via Valparai?

As I mentioned, earlier, I did not go all the way till Chalakudy, but just went till Valparai. It takes about 6-7 hours to Pollachi, another 1-1.5 for Valaparai and another 1-2 hours for Chalakudy. The last part is my guess, as I did not go that far (from Valparai to Chalakudy).

There were no potholes till Valparai, and infact I felt its the best ghat road, I have driven till date. Though its narrow and one needs to be careful, but it was it was in pristine condition!

[jkrishnakj]

Thanks Jaggu and Jeev.
I did Bangalore - Coimbatore on the 2nd April. Took the 4 lane road till Avanashi ( the last 8-9 KM's are frustrating with work still going on). Ithen took a right turn after Avanashi town towards Annur and reached Ganapathy, my final destination at Coimbatore. Home to home (JP Nagar, Bangalore to Ganapathy, Coimbatore)timing was about 5 hours and 15 minutes, in my Safari. Barring the forced stops at Two places by the police in Tamilnadu, i had not taken a break anywhere. Roads across Tamilnadu are full of Policemen patrolling many cars and checking for Currency notes, with elections around the corner in this state.

[venkyhere]

i had done this stretch on feb24, and as somebody righfully pointed out, avinashi-cbe stretch after a 5.5 hr 4L breeze from chennai REALLY KILLED THE JOURNEY. Any latest updates ? is it still "under construction" ?

For return, I had taken the sathy-anthiyur-mettur-thoppur stretch - it was very less traffice, moderate roads & saved atleast 3 toll booths - all for for may be 30 mins extra time, compared to the regular avinashi-salem route...

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

For return, I had taken the sathy-anthiyur-mettur-thoppur stretch - it was very less traffice, moderate roads & saved atleast 3 toll booths - all for for may be 30 mins extra time, compared to the regular avinashi-salem route...

You can save two toll booths and few kms by taking Shankari-Omallur route.

[jazzyb]

Thanks hvk.

So i guess will have to get to Bangalore and then use NICE road to bypass it and get to Salem.Then decide whether to go through Avinashi or use the dindigul route.
Any idea on the road condition from Salem -Kumili-Alleppey.

Just a thought, is it a good idea to go from Mumbai - Tumkur - Kunigal - Chamarajnagar - Coimbatore - Thrissur - Alleppey. Are the roads along this stretch ok (NH209/NH47).

Cheers!!

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by jazzyb

Thanks hvk.

So i guess will have to get to Bangalore and then use NICE road to bypass it and get to Salem.Then decide whether to go through Avinashi or use the dindigul route.
Any idea on the road condition from Salem -Kumili-Alleppey.

Just a thought, is it a good idea to go from Mumbai - Tumkur - Kunigal - Chamarajnagar - Coimbatore - Thrissur - Alleppey. Are the roads along this stretch ok (NH209/NH47).

Cheers!!

Rad condition via Dindigul & Kumili is good, except for a few kms where you ascend up to Kumili.

If you are going now, be warned that police checking on the highways in TN is very high and irritating, so you may want to avoid as much of TN as possible. That means taking the Chamarjanagar route may be a good choice. However, do not take Tumkur-Kunigal route. Go via Bangalore and take the excellent Mysore highway, which means you will enjoy 4-laned roads till Mysore. You will have t go on the same NICE Road to bypass Bangalore. From Mysore, roads are good via Nanjangud, Chamarajnagar, Hasanur, Dimbam, Bannari, Sathyamangalam & Anur to Coimbatore. To avoid Coimbatore city (no bypass if you are coming on the Sathy road), you can turn off at Anur and go to NH47 at Karumathampatti and take the NH47 bypass towards Palakkad.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Rad condition via Dindigul & Kumili is good, except for a few kms where you ascend up to Kumili.

If you are going now, be warned that police checking on the highways in TN is very high and irritating, so you may want to avoid as much of TN as possible. That means taking the Chamarjanagar route may be a good choice. However, do not take Tumkur-Kunigal route. Go via Bangalore and take the excellent Mysore highway, which means you will enjoy 4-laned roads till Mysore. You will have t go on the same NICE Road to bypass Bangalore. From Mysore, roads are good via Nanjangud, Chamarajnagar, Hasanur, Dimbam, Bannari, Sathyamangalam & Anur to Coimbatore. To avoid Coimbatore city (no bypass if you are coming on the Sathy road), you can turn off at Anur and go to NH47 at Karumathampatti and take the NH47 bypass towards Palakkad.

Maybe a better choice would be to take the Kanakapura Road exit out of NICE Road and proceed in the route Kanakapura->Malavalli->Kollegal->Chamarajanagar. This will save a few kms and avoid the pain of speed-breakers & traffic in Bangalore->Mysore->Nanjangud section. Also, the scenery is a bit better, esp. as you pass through Cauvery banks near Sivanasamudram area. However, the BIGGEST issue in this route is the scarcity of good places to break, both for food and toilets.

However, if you have a decent enough near/after Tumkur, say CCD at Dobbaspet, then it is just about 1 hour to Kanakapura Road exit of NICE Road and then another couple of hours to Chamarajanagar.

There are a few frequent travellers here in Bangalore->Kanakapura->Chamarajanagar route and they can provide more information if needed.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

Maybe a better choice would be to take the Kanakapura Road exit out of NICE Road and proceed in the route Kanakapura->Malavalli->Kollegal->Chamarajanagar. This will save a few kms and avoid the pain of speed-breakers & traffic in Bangalore->Mysore->Nanjangud section. Also, the scenery is a bit better, esp. as you pass through Cauvery banks near Sivanasamudram area. However, the BIGGEST issue in this route is the scarcity of good places to break, both for food and toilets.

However, if you have a decent enough near/after Tumkur, say CCD at Dobbaspet, then it is just about 1 hour to Kanakapura Road exit of NICE Road and then another couple of hours to Chamarajanagar.

For someone on a long trip in an area which he is not familiar with, I would always stick to the main highways and going via Kanakapura route is best suited for short-distance motorists starting off from Bangalore. Going on the main Bangalore-Mysore highway means 4-laned rads with good signages and hassle-free driving despite humps and traffic.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

For someone on a long trip in an area which he is not familiar with, I would always stick to the main highways and going via Kanakapura route is best suited for short-distance motorists starting off from Bangalore. Going on the main Bangalore-Mysore highway means 4-laned rads with good signages and hassle-free driving despite humps and traffic.

Agreed. This choice should not be the default one for the above reasons.
Heard from a few guys who are used to taking Kanakapura->Chamarajanagar->Gundlupet route now to go towards Ooty and Kerala that this route is good as far as driving conditions and signages are concerned. If driving from Mumbai, a break is taken in Bangalore, this could be a good option depending on the stay location. Of course, if someone is familiar with this route, it makes it all the better too.

BTW, If anyone is driving on the election result day through Channapatna, expect road blockages in and around the town. Once on a similar day, there was about 2-hours of crawling traffic to cross about 5 kms in that area.

[coolclouds]

What is the best route to avoid Avinashi stretch during early morning? We will be leaving Bangalore on Wednesday night (Long weekend) towards Cochin and heard of following route which is being taken by few of night service buses to Kerala.

Chengapalli-Uthukuli-Tiruppur-Palladam-NH67-Coimbatore bypass (about 10kms extra)

How is the road condition? Is there enough sign boards in this stretch? (I can read little bit of Tamil)

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

What is the best route to avoid Avinashi stretch during early morning? We will be leaving Bangalore on Wednesday night (Long weekend) towards Cochin and heard of following route which is being taken by few of night service buses to Kerala.

Chengapalli-Uthukuli-Tiruppur-Palladam-NH67-Coimbatore bypass (about 10kms extra)

How is the road condition? Is there enough sign boards in this stretch? (I can read little bit of Tamil)

you can actually try Perundurai - kangeyam - palladam - sulur -LT Bye pass. Roads are great with no much traffic.I had taken this route 4 weeks back.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by joecherian

you can actually try Perundurai - kangeyam - palladam - sulur -LT Bye pass. Roads are great with no much traffic.I had taken this route 4 weeks back.

The REAL alternative to mess around Avinashi these days !!!

I would strongly recommend avoid crossing Tiruppur "anyday, anytime" since the town is a big maze with people/rush all around the place all the time, mostly in mopeds driven mostly on wrong side if not walking in groups. For information sake, Salem->Palakkad is about 210 kms through regular NH-47 and about 230 kms in the above mentioned route. Beyond Kangeyam, till you hit L&T bye-pass, it is NH-67 (Trichy->Karur->Kovai highway) which is mostly in good shape and lesser traffic too. For extra 20 kms, you may most probably gain 20 minutes as well and save some toll fees as well. Right, experienced Joe?

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

The REAL alternative to mess around Avinashi these days !!!

I would strongly recommend avoid crossing Tiruppur "anyday, anytime" since the town is a big maze with people/rush all around the place all the time, mostly in mopeds driven mostly on wrong side if not walking in groups. For information sake, Salem->Palakkad is about 210 kms through regular NH-47 and about 230 kms in the above mentioned route. Beyond Kangeyam, till you hit L&T bye-pass, it is NH-67 (Trichy->Karur->Kovai highway) which is mostly in good shape and lesser traffic too. For extra 20 kms, you may most probably gain 20 minutes as well and save some toll fees as well. Right, experienced Joe?

Well said. You will have much peaceful drive.Roads are wide enough and more over they have separate lane for two wheelers and hence they wont come to mess with you. I too think Tiruppur town should be avoided at any cost.

Another option is to try Thoppur - Mettur - Ammappetai - Anthiyur - Athani-Sathyamangalam - Annur. From Annur, you can either go through coimbatore city or else connect to NH 47 at Karumatham patty. Since your travel will be at night, I think crossing coimbatore city shouldn't be an issue.
If you decide to hit Karumatham patty, there is some more 2 laned NH47 that you need to cross til you meet LT bye pass.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by joecherian

Well said. You will have much peaceful drive.Roads are wide enough and more over they have separate lane for two wheelers and hence they wont come to mess with you. I too think Tiruppur town should be avoided at any cost.

Another option is to try Thoppur - Mettur - Ammappetai - Anthiyur - Athani-Sathyamangalam - Annur. From Annur, you can either go through coimbatore city or else connect to NH 47 at Karumatham patty. Since your travel will be at night, I think crossing coimbatore city shouldn't be an issue.
If you decide to hit Karumatham patty, there is some more 2 laned NH47 that you need to cross til you meet LT bye pass.

How about Palladam-Pollachi-Palghat? Is that a better solution to the mess, or adds quite some distance?

@Ajit Kangeyam-Palladam NH67 was rocking, Thanks for that help to avoid Avinashi/Tiruppur. The drive to Pollachi was peaceful and totally fatigue free!