[Yieldway17]

Originally Posted by narayans80

That's the route I've been doing the last 2 years, and its what Nimalan took too. That MDR has improved since my first run.

I usually SH9-MDR 736 from Panruti, this way you are straighaway on Villupuram bypass

Oh ok, got it. The Google Maps link posted by Nimalan was showing Bhuvanagiri route and thought he asked me about it. Or not sure if I loaded the link incorrectly or something, will check.

I was thinking of taking Madapattu or Arasur SH roads as as well but Google Maps insisted on going via Koliyanur X Road or another local alternative road. I realized later from my relative that their home is on the other side of the town(i.e. away from the Chennai-Trichy road) on the road to Pondicherry so it was good that I took the route via Koliyanur X Road as I could skip the entire in-town traffic in Villupuram.

[Nimalan]

Originally Posted by Yieldway17

Oh ok, got it. The Google Maps link posted by Nimalan was showing Bhuvanagiri route and thought he asked me about it. Or not sure if I loaded the link incorrectly or something, will check.

Originally Posted by Nimalan

This route avoids the pondy - cuddalore traffic completely. Here is the link

http://goo.gl/maps/r19oGBLqKxaPRgL87

There seems to be a problem with the link which has caused the confusion. The route link loads correctly in desktop, while it loads incorrectly in android phone. So please be wary of it guys.

[ramanan.skr]

Originally Posted by Yieldway17

Chengalpattu - Tiruporur - OMR or ECR is the best option even with bottlenecks in Tiruporur and Kelambakkam. ECR is better than OMR if it's a weekday evening but otherwise OMR should be good. The bottlenecks in both Tiruporur and Kelambakkam should go away in a year or two as work for bypass for both these towns has started as part of OMR expansion.

Couple of days back, came through this route from Down-South to Adyar. Incidently, Chenglepet to Adyar(Shastri Ngr) timing was just over 1.5 hrs, that too during peak hour (big delay happened only at Kelambakkam.)

TimeLine:
Chenglepet - 5:48PM
Tiruporur - 6:19PM
Kelambakkam Entry - 6:31PM
Kelambakkam Exit - 6:45PM
Kovalam ECR Toll (Exited at) - 6:58PM
Adyar - 7:30PM

Delayed Sections:
1. Chenglepet - Tiruporur SH due to 4 laning work(additional 10 mins)
2. Kelambakkam(Entrance) to Kovalam(huge pile up before Toll plaza) - Took more than 30 mins to cover this small section
3. Beyond Palavakkam

Alternate suggestions provided by Google:
1. Take Maduranthakam to Tiruporur skipping Chenglepet. Is it worth taking this route?
2. Take Tiruporur to Nemmeli through Tiruporur Temple. Last time when I took that route, the bridge was under construction. Any idea about this? This could save us from getting into Kelambakkam itself.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ramanan.skr

Down-South to Adyar

I've always taken Chengalpattu-Mahabs bypass-ECR-Tiruvanmiyur. It gives you slightly more room than the Thiruporur-OMR route. However for a 5:40 pm exit at Chengalpattu. 1:30 hrs is not a bad deal, at the most you might have saved like 15 mins doing the ECR route. The time you spent at Kovalam toll, you'd have partially spent at Mahabs and Kanathur toll.

Chengalpattu is not a hard town to cross, and you could do 80 even when GST is crowded. This you'll not be able to do in any of the detours, which makes them worthless to try.

[ramanan.skr]

Originally Posted by narayans80

I've always taken Chengalpattu-Mahabs bypass-ECR-Tiruvanmiyur.

How is the road condition b/w CGL & Mahabs Bypass?

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ramanan.skr

How is the road condition b/w CGL & Mahabs Bypass?

I've compared both routes, about 8 months back here (Chennai - Kumbakonam : Route Queries) on this very thread. The status quo hasn't changed since.

[ramanan.skr]

Originally Posted by ramanan.skr

2. Take Tiruporur to Nemmeli through Tiruporur Temple. Last time when I took that route, the bridge was under construction. Any idea about this? This could save us from getting into Kelambakkam itself.

Took this route a couple of days back. WOW! It is a great time saver and just took me 15 mins to reach Akkarai from Tiruporur, even at 5.30 PM.

Nevertheless, it comes with a couple of cons
1. V V Narrow not even 30ft wide on the Tiruporur side for a couple of kms. Whatever little traffic it has, it would pile up due to this.
2. V V Lonely and pitch dark. I was the only one to pass through, after few meters into the road, in complete darkness.

But the road is traffic free even during the peak hour. Plus with a good tarmac.

Lastly, to reach this OMR-ECR Link road from Tiruporur end, dont pass through the Temple rather any of the parallel streets.

[venki.bala]

Travelled to my native near Mannargudi over the weekend. I left Chennai on Friday afternoon around 2 PM and took Ulundurpet - Veppur - Jayamkondan - Palur - Kumbakonam. Andimadam - Jayamkondan stretch has few potholes and slows you down otherwise the entire stretch roads are in good condition inspite of heavy rains the ariyalur district had recieved last few months. The Fastag worked without any issues in all the Toll plazas. Next day I took SH to Mannargudi and then to Thiruthuraipoondi. Both the state highways are in very good condition. The stretch between alangudi and Needamangalam potholes are there but not that many slows down a little bit. Mannargudi - Thiruthuraipoondi SH has been relaid and is in excellent condition.

[Sridhar K]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

Travelled to my native near Mannargudi over the weekend. I left Chennai on Friday afternoon around 2 PM and took Ulundurpet - Veppur - Jayamkondan - Palur - Kumbakonam. Andimadam - Jayamkondan stretch has few potholes and slows you down otherwise the entire stretch roads are in good condition inspite of heavy rains the ariyalur district had recieved last few months.

Thanks. I will be travelling to K Konam this weekend. Is the extra kilometers travelling to Veppur worth it over travelling via Virudhachalam? How is the Veppur - Virudhachalam bypass these days?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Sridhar K

Thanks. I will be travelling to K Konam this weekend. Is the extra kilometers travelling to Veppur worth it over travelling via Virudhachalam? How is the Veppur - Virudhachalam bypass these days?

Any given day!

Best part about it; apart from the superb roads, you also get to directly bypass Vridhachalam town without a sweat!

[KPR]

Originally Posted by Sridhar K

Thanks. I will be travelling to K Konam this weekend. Is the extra kilometers travelling to Veppur worth it over travelling via Virudhachalam? How is the Veppur - Virudhachalam bypass these days?

Excellent roads. Takes just 15-20 mins to travel from Veppur Highway to Vridhachalam By pass. Three years back it was taking close to 45 mins owing to pathetic roads. Now with new roads it's a breeze.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by Sridhar K

Thanks. I will be travelling to K Konam this weekend. Is the extra kilometers travelling to Veppur worth it over travelling via Virudhachalam? How is the Veppur - Virudhachalam bypass these days?

Yes. It is totally worth it. As Ampere mentioned it only takes about 20 minutes from Veppur Koot road till Bypass where Andimadam road turns. Road is wide and traffic is less when compared to the U.Pet - Vridachalam road. I always take this road.

[venki.bala]

Quick Update on Road conditions near Kumbakonam:

Chennai - Veppur - Jayamkondam - T.Palur - Kumbakonam Bypass: Roads are in good condition. Kumbakonam bypass is a mess due to construction works. Hotel Madhanam Inn right on the bypass is a great stop for food and clean restrooms.



Kumbakonam - Thiruvisanallur - Suriyanarayanar Koil road is in decent condition is a good alternative to the Kumbakonam Aduthurai road.


Hotel Seetharama Vilas Aduthurai is an excellent choice for Veg food.


Took Kumbakonam - Nachiyar Koil - Thirucherai - Thiruvarur nextday. Road is a twisty and good traffic. Road condition is very good and can maintain decent speeds. It took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes.



Thiruvarur - Thiruthuraipoondi - Nagapattinam - Thiruvarur: Thiruvarur to Thiruthuraipoondi SH is in good shape with some construction activity 5 kms ahead of Thiruthuraipoondi town. Next section from Thiruthuraipoondi till Nagapattinam is part of ECR and is in great shape. Lots of resorts are available near Vailankanni. Nagapttinam to Thiruvarur through Sikkal, Keezhvelur is very bad. Lots of potholes and heavy truck,bus traffic.



Thiruvarur - Peralam - Mayiladuthurai - Cuddalore: Thiruvarur to Peralam particularly till poonthotam is bad with lot of potholes. After which road improves till Mayiladuthurai, after which worsens again till Vaitheeswaran Koil. Road improves after the Sirkazhi bypass and maintains till Cuddalore.

[ampere]

Great Update!

Originally Posted by venki.bala

Chennai - Veppur - Jayamkondam - T.Palur - Kumbakonam Bypass: Roads are in good condition. Kumbakonam bypass is a mess due to construction works. Hotel Madhanam Inn right on the bypass is a great stop for food and clean restrooms.

Looks like the bypass is taking more time to complete.

Kumbakonam - Thiruvisanallur - Suriyanarayanar Koil road is in decent condition is a good alternative to the Kumbakonam Aduthurai road.

This is the standard SH22. Did visit Thiruvisainallur temples ? There are two of them and both are nice! And one of them (I think the Shivayoginathar temple) has a sun dial based clock.

Took Kumbakonam - Nachiyar Koil - Thirucherai - Thiruvarur nextday. Road is a twisty and good traffic. Road condition is very good and can maintain decent speeds. It took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The road is a driver's paradise but for the traffic!

Thiruvarur - Thiruthuraipoondi - Nagapattinam - Thiruvarur: Thiruvarur to Thiruthuraipoondi SH is in good shape with some construction activity 5 kms ahead of Thiruthuraipoondi town. Next section from Thiruthuraipoondi till Nagapattinam is part of ECR and is in great shape. Lots of resorts are available near Vailankanni. Nagapttinam to Thiruvarur through Sikkal, Keezhvelur is very bad. Lots of potholes and heavy truck,bus traffic.

You can try the Ettukodi break to short circuit the Thirithuraipoondi circle. The road is by and large good (single lane only). Can be easily taken during day time.

Thiruvarur - Peralam - Mayiladuthurai - Cuddalore: Thiruvarur to Peralam particularly till poonthotam is bad with lot of potholes. After which road improves till Mayiladuthurai, after which worsens again till Vaitheeswaran Koil. Road improves after the Sirkazhi bypass and maintains till Cuddalore.

This road between Thiruvarur to Peralam used to be awesome! But I guess has not be been able to withstand the test of time especially weather and traffic. Some good temples on this route as well (esp Koothanur and Sri Vanjiyam).

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by ampere

Great Update!


Looks like the bypass is taking more time to complete.

Yes Ampere sir. There is a flyover construction happening at the junction where the road from Devanchery meets the bypass. This is creating a traffic snarl and road is horrible after this point for another 2 kms towards the 4 road junction. My mother wanted to visit the Thirumanthurai temple which is just a stone's throw from suriyanarayana koil. We clubbed Thirumangalakudi, Suriyanarayana koil, Thirumanthurai, Kanjanoor and returned back to Aduthurai for dinner at Hotel Seetharama Vilas.



Etukudi and Thirukollikadu are our family favourite deities. Our kuladeivam is in a village which is 5 kms from Thiruthuraipoondi and my father makes it a point to visit these temples every now and then. We also make it a point to visit ThiruRameshwaram, Mannarugudi Rajagopalaswamy temple.



Thiruvarur - Peralam is really bad. Very uneven surface and lots of potholes.