[mechaholic]

I did tirupati trip on 23rd march. I took kurnool- cuddapah - rajampet - renigunta - tirumala route.

Started from hyderabad (kothaguda x-road) at 4:00 AM reached Kurnool by 6:45 AM. took a turn from bangalore highway into cuddapah route. This route is full of unmarked speed breakers. After hitting 2 speed breakers at 100 kmph and occupants in car screaming at me came back to my senses, started driving slow.
Took a breakfast break at allagadda abhiruchi restaurant at 8:45. started afetr an hour break here reached cuddapah at 11:40 . A break at cuddaph harita ap tourism restaurant. reached tirumala by 3:00 PM.

Tips to avoid traffic in big towns on the way: google maps shows a good route to avoid going through kurnool town, My Nokia maps wasn't showing it so i went past kurnool town for it to do a recalculation.
cuddapah has a bypass to go to rajampet. You can not miss this as there is big circle with YSR statue on the cross road .
before Renigunta you will see a sign to take a U turn into a parallel road for tirpati dont miss it otherwise you endup going into renigunta.

Road condition: hyderabad - Kurnool is excellent . Kurnool cuddapah route 4 laning working is still going on. I believe it will take 2 to 3 years to complete.
Cuddapah - renigunta - tirumala is a 2 lane with good surface and very good shoulder ( so you can say it is a 3 lane).

prefered restaurants with toilets on the way:

Yegnesh Virat Regency And Restaurant,Jadcherla
Baba ramdev hotel : just after kurnool toll gate
Abhiruchi restaurant: Allagadda
Harita Ap tourism hotel : Near cuddapah YSR statue circle

I believe information of good highway restaurants is as important as info on road condition, Hence sharing. I would request team members to follow

And the last info i wanted to share, the trip meter showing 1200 km and mileage showing 21kmpl on my SUNNY.

Cheers Happy Motoring.

[vnabhi]

@mechaholic---can you please trace the bypass at Kurnool and the one before Renigunta on a map? It will help others.

Most of us are aware of the Kadapa bypass though.

And when you say 4-laning is in progress till Kadapa, how many diversions are there, and how is the traffic density and average speed, apart from road surface?

As regards Food-cum-restrooms, there is one more after Kadapa---its the Haritha Rock Gardens at Orvakkal. Nice place to unwind.

[srimath]

Venu Sir, I am not aware of Kurnool Bypass. As for Renigunta is concerned, 5KM before Renigunta you can see the Amara Raja factory to your right. This is known as Karakambadi. Take a right here and you will reach tirupati directly. Else you need to goto Renugunta and take the bypass. Karakambadi route is the most preferred route while coming from Kadapa-Rajampeta.

[mechaholic]

I don't this is official bypass to kurnool. But this route will go through less crowded kurnool city. take a left just before kattamanchi rama linga reddy school.


This is the U turn into parallel road i was talking about before Renigunta




There many diversions, I didn't count them. An avarage of 50 to 60 kmph can be maintained depending on the traffic. Problem on this road is the four laning road ends suddenly and a patchy road comes down to join the old road( there is considerable height difference between new and old roads). you can not see this change before 30 meters, till that time you will assuming that the road will continue. 4 to 5 villages on the way are still under road widening expect traffic in these villages. I strongly suggest avoiding this route at night.
We complete lord darshan at 3:00PM on sunday. I stayed overnight at tirumala and started at 5:00 AM next day.

One more thing I learnt on this trip. You can extend your stay in tirumala cottages for 1 day without informing any one. the extra amount can be payed while checking out.

Hope this helps.

[Night_Hawk]

Originally Posted by srimath

I am not aware of Kurnool Bypass. .

Originally Posted by mechaholic

I don't this is official bypass to kurnool. But this route will go through less crowded kurnool city. take a left just before kattamanchi rama linga reddy school.

There many diversions, I didn't count them. An avarage of 50 to 60 kmph can be maintained depending on the traffic. Problem on this road is the four laning road ends suddenly and a patchy road comes down to join the old road. I strongly suggest avoiding this route at night.

Hi,

Any updates on Hyderabad - Tirupati road conditions after the rains; especially the stretch between kurnool and kadapa where the 4 laning was in progress. Are the 4 laning works in this section complete? In the current conditions, is night driving OK on this stretch.

I am planning Hyderabad Rajampet trip in the first week of August.

Thanks in Advance.
Cheers!
NH

[DieselDon]

Originally Posted by Night_Hawk

Hi,

Any updates on Hyderabad - Tirupati road conditions after the rains; especially the stretch between kurnool and kadapa where the 4 laning was in progress. Are the 4 laning works in this section complete? In the current conditions, is night driving OK on this stretch.

I am planning Hyderabad Rajampet trip in the first week of August.

Thanks in Advance.
Cheers!
NH

@Night_Hawk - recently came through Kadapa to Kurnool on the way back from Tiruvallur (Chennai) to Hyderabad.
My quick observations :
- Absolutely not ok for Night Drives(I came during night as I love night drives). Good for day drives. Road is almost done, with the customary 'diversions'.
- Plan for being below 80kmph. I had to brake hard quite a few times due to visibility issues.
- There was one place where the Road was replaced by a sludge river. Some good samartian guided us into a bye lane to get across. Else rest was ok.

Cheers,

[Night_Hawk]

Originally Posted by DieselDon

- There was one place where the Road was replaced by a sludge river. Some good samartian guided us into a bye lane to get across. Else rest was ok.
Cheers,

Don,
Thank you for the prompt update. I will take note of the advise on speed; and will try to avoid night drive.

Btw, which section of the route should i expect this sludge river (i want to be alert beforehand)

Cheers !
NH

[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by DieselDon

recently came through Kadapa to Kurnool on the way back from Tiruvallur (Chennai) to Hyderabad.

While DD was doing Tiruvallur-Hyderabad, I was doing Vellore-Hyderabad on the same day and more or less same time.

I avoided the Vellore-Chittoor-Kadapa-Kurnool route and opted for Vellore-Hosur-Atibelle-Whitefields-Davanahalli-Kurnool route simply because of the road conditions.

The target for completion is October 2013 but I expect the road to be ready only after April 2014.

[DieselDon]

Originally Posted by Night_Hawk

Btw, which section of the route should i expect this sludge river (i want to be alert beforehand)

It was rather late when I was coming back so I do not remember the exact location. You should expect it in the first 30 mins after Nandhyal.

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

While DD was doing Tiruvallur-Hyderabad, I was doing Vellore-Hyderabad on the same day and more or less same time.

I avoided the Vellore-Chittoor-Kadapa-Kurnool route and opted for Vellore-Hosur-Atibelle-Whitefields-Davanahalli-Kurnool route simply because of the road conditions.

The target for completion is October 2013 but I expect the road to be ready only after April 2014.

@hyd_traveller : I was supposed to meet/catch up with you at Kurnool.
Unfortunately because of the road conditions, I was lagging very badly & you reached Hyderabad by the time I reached Kurnool

Cheers,

[punto_]

I'm planning to drive to Tirupathi this Friday morning. The kurnool, nandyal, kadapa route is what I've taken in 2011. Are the roads good enough for driving in the morning?

If yes how long could it take for the drive? Going with family, so won't be rushing.

[srimath]

Originally Posted by punto_

I'm planning to drive to Tirupathi this Friday morning. The kurnool, nandyal, kadapa route is what I've taken in 2011. Are the roads good enough for driving in the morning?

If yes how long could it take for the drive? Going with family, so won't be rushing.

The route is very much doable in the day time. You can reach TPTY in 10 hours of gentle driving.

[Night_Hawk]

Originally Posted by punto_

I'm planning to drive to Tirupathi this Friday morning. The kurnool, nandyal, kadapa route ... Going with family, so won't be rushing.

Please update the latest road conditions, driving time and eateries etc. available on this stretch.
Thanks
NH

[punto_]

I've started at 8am from Hyderabad yesterday and reached Tirupati by 6pm. The roads are not in good shape from kurnool to nandyal and post that its okaish. We stopped for about 1.5hrs in between. Day time driving is recommended.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by punto_

I've started at 8am from Hyderabad yesterday and reached Tirupati by 6pm. The roads are not in good shape from kurnool to nandyal and post that its okaish. We stopped for about 1.5hrs in between. Day time driving is recommended.

Maybe hyd vja ongole naidupeta tirupati would be a better route?extra kms but time taken would be more or less the same and excellent roads

[punto_]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Maybe hyd vja ongole naidupeta tirupati would be a better route?extra kms but time taken would be more or less the same and excellent roads

I'm not sure of the road conditions from Vijayawada to Tirupati. We went to the Vellore temple from Tirupati and took the route via Kadapa bypass which lead to madanapalle, Anantapur and B'lore highway. In this route the roads are in good condition. I felt its better to take this route if you don't want to take the potholes in nandyal route.

We started at about 9am from kanipakam temple and reached Hyderabad 7pm. Took about 1.5 hrs break.