[poised2drive]

To the people out there who are going to Tirupati from Hyderabad [ via Kurnool].
I traveled upto Kadapa which is about 140 Km short of Tirupati just 2 days ago. The route taken was Hyd-Kurnool-Nandyala-Kadapa [ -Rayachoti - Madanapalle]
Hyd-Kurnool was fine and it took me 2.5 hours to get to Kurnool [ 210 Km] in my Swift. but the real problem starts between Kurnoo-NAndyala stretch . There seems to be road widening and as soon as you start leaving Kurnool, road quality starts deteriorating and adding to that some heavy traffic with Buses and trucks continuously plying , you are bound to get frustrated. But on the brighter side, the landscape throughout was scenic. And there is a flyover under construction in Nandyala, so buckle-up for some 'non-existing' roads . And after Post Nandyala until Kadapa, the route is fine. Since I did this in the night, I just tagged along an XUV who acted as pilot for some 100 KM and this probably made him freak out and deliberately allowed to overtake him .

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by poised2drive

To the people out there who are going to Tirupati from Hyderabad [ via Kurnool].
I traveled upto Kadapa which is about 140 Km short of Tirupati just 2 days ago. The route taken was Hyd-Kurnool-Nandyala-Kadapa [ -Rayachoti - Madanapalle]
Hyd-Kurnool was fine and it took me 2.5 hours to get to Kurnool [ 210 Km] in my Swift. but the real problem starts between Kurnoo-NAndyala stretch . There seems to be road widening and as soon as you start leaving Kurnool, road quality starts deteriorating and adding to that some heavy traffic with Buses and trucks continuously plying , you are bound to get frustrated. But on the brighter side, the landscape throughout was scenic. And there is a flyover under construction in Nandyala, so buckle-up for some 'non-existing' roads . And after Post Nandyala until Kadapa, the route is fine. Since I did this in the night, I just tagged along an XUV who acted as pilot for some 100 KM and this probably made him freak out and deliberately allowed to overtake him .

Seems like you posted the update in the correct thread.

As per previous reports, 4 laning between Kurnool and Kadapa is incomplete. Any update on that?

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

Seems like you posted the update in the correct thread.

As per previous reports, 4 laning between Kurnool and Kadapa is incomplete. Any update on that?

Yeah, it is still going on and Kurnool-Nandyala,notwithstanding the road's scenic landscape setup, the stretch is quite cumbersome to travel and there are some huge stones and rocks along the shoulder of the road which will be a cause of concern. The driver needs to be careful while treading those or else one might end up with flat tyres. On the brighter side, there are abundant tyre puncture service shops on the roadside in this stretch . One could easily find one such for every 2-3 km and near villages, there might be a dozen such shops easily. So this bears the testimony of the quality of the road.
And Nandyala town will freak out us with some heavy dust due to a flyover construction and we might move at snail-pace given the amount of traffic.
From thereon, the road quality is very good with very few potholes, but the 4 laning is yet to be done at some stretches between Nandyala-Kadapa too and vehicles from both sides would be moving in the 2 lane [ without dividers] at some locations, but the quality of the surface won't be disappointing.
And there are decent eatery points between NANDYALA-Kadapa but nil in Kurnool-Nandyala stretch.

[arun_kun]

Hey Guyz,

I am planning to drive from Sri Kalahasti to Hyderabad. I am thinking of driving via below route:

Sri Kalahasti-->Nellore-->Ongole-->Nalgonda-->Hyderabad.

Can you please let me know how the road conditions are. I start my journey around 8 am and my ride will be ANHC. Do you guys think this is good route. Please suggest me other wise.

[ampere]

Looks like, this 4-lane work might make a case for one to look at : Kurnool-Ananpur-Kadiri-Madanapalle-Pileru-Tirupati option. This is at an expense of 100 extra km but with 4-lane till Anantpur. So which one weighs higher? The extra 100km or the pathetic roads around Nandyal?

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by ampere

Looks like, this 4-lane work might make a case for one to look at : Kurnool-Ananpur-Kadiri-Madanapalle-Pileru-Tirupati option. This is at an expense of 100 extra km but with 4-lane till Anantpur. So which one weighs higher? The extra 100km or the pathetic roads around Nandyal?

I do not think you really have to go 100 km extra for avoiding Kurnool-Kadapa stretch which is not too bad and it really depends on the type of vehicle and time when you might hit that stretch.
I did it easily in my Swift [ with 3 passengers and full luggage] with ease during dusk. So I guess it would not be really a pain considering too much distance to cover and tolls on NH4.

I suggest you to take this route notwithstanding the ongoing work !

IF your destination were around madanapalle/Ananthapuram, I'd have advised the Kurnool-Ananthapuram route, but since it is Tirupati , Kurnool-kadapa-Tpty is better !

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by arun_kun

Hey Guyz,

I am planning to drive from Sri Kalahasti to Hyderabad. I am thinking of driving via below route:

Sri Kalahasti-->Nellore-->Ongole-->Nalgonda-->Hyderabad.

Can you please let me know how the road conditions are. I start my journey around 8 am and my ride will be ANHC. Do you guys think this is good route. Please suggest me other wise.

Not sure of the route you want to take. I am apprehensive about the condition of the roads between Ongole - Piduguralla [ Piduguralla- Nalgonda is good] .
But the real pain might be too many tolls between Naidupeta-Ongole and NAlgonda-Hyderabad though the road quality is par excellent .

May be, you should wait for the suggestion of someone who traversed that route.

You might like to consider the Srikalahasti-Rly Kodur- Kadapa- Nandyala-Kurnool-Hyderabad [ only 3 tolls in between hyd-Knl strech] route which is also fairly good and being only 20 Km excess than that of your route and less no. of tolls, this route might prove economically viable without the FE taking any dent.

One could easily maintain 70-90 kmph speeds in this route except in between Nandyala-Kurnool [ and a little part before you reach Nandyala].

Since you'd start in the morning itslef, you'll be crossing Kurnool by afternoon and thus that particular stretch would be effortless and picturesque to drive

[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by arun_kun

Hey Guyz,

I am planning to drive from Sri Kalahasti to Hyderabad. I am thinking of driving via below route:

Sri Kalahasti-->Nellore-->Ongole-->Nalgonda-->Hyderabad.

Can you please let me know how the road conditions are. I start my journey around 8 am and my ride will be ANHC. Do you guys think this is good route. Please suggest me other wise.

I don't think much would have changed since mid Dec when I did it (Post #195 of this thread). Absolutely enjoyable stress free drive with very minor irritants.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by poised2drive

And there are decent eatery points between NANDYALA-Kadapa but nil in Kurnool-Nandyala stretch.

Isn't there a Haritha Resort restaurant at Orvakkal? It used to be there earlier and their food was decent.

Originally Posted by arun_kun

Hey Guyz,

I am planning to drive from Sri Kalahasti to Hyderabad. I am thinking of driving via below route:

Sri Kalahasti-->Nellore-->Ongole-->Nalgonda-->Hyderabad.

Can you please let me know how the road conditions are. I start my journey around 8 am and my ride will be ANHC. Do you guys think this is good route. Please suggest me other wise.

This is a far better route than the one via Cudappah and Kurnool, though a bit longer. But even the Kurnool route can be done with a Honda City. My friend travelled on Jan 7th and said the driving time to Tirupati from Hyderabad on his new City was 8.5 hours. His only grouse was the Nandyal stretch, where one needs to be slow and vigilant.

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Isn't there a Haritha Resort restaurant at Orvakkal? It used to be there earlier and their food was decent.

I am not sure and possibly I could have missed it !

Originally Posted by vnabhi

This is a far better route than the one via Cudappah and Kurnool, though a bit longer.

actually, the route Arun chose is 20 km shorter than the Kadapa-Kurnool route.

Srikalahasti to Hyd via Ongole - Nalgonda is 550 Km
and
via Kadapa-Kurnool is 570 Km .

If the road condition is confirmed to be fine, then the former is the best option.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

My friend travelled on Jan 7th and said the driving time to Tirupati from Hyderabad on his new City was 8.5 hours. His only grouse was the Nandyal stretch, where one needs to be slow and vigilant.

Yeah, I did that in the last week and it is due to the road widening programme .

[srimath]

Kurnool to Panyam is also decent. Its the Panyam - Nandyal road that is a killer, specially the ghat section. Once you cross Nandyal, the road to Kadapa is 95% 4 laned with almost all villahes / towns like allagadda, mydukuru, khajipeta being bypassed.

[venuvedam]

Originally Posted by arun_kun

Hey Guyz,

I am planning to drive from Sri Kalahasti to Hyderabad. I am thinking of driving via below route:

Sri Kalahasti-->Nellore-->Ongole-->Nalgonda-->Hyderabad.

Can you please let me know how the road conditions are. I start my journey around 8 am and my ride will be ANHC. Do you guys think this is good route. Please suggest me other wise.

I do this route quite often from Nellore to Hyderabad. Absolutely amazing road throughout. The stretch from Ongole to Piduguralla is completely four lane now. You can easily do 100+ on this stretch.

The only bad stretches in this route are:

1. Crossing Addanki Town
2. Crossing Piduguralla Town
3. Crossing Brahmana palle
4. Miriyalaguda flyover construction stretch.

For 2 and 3 above, there is hope. I have read the master plan for this stretch and bypass roads are planned for both Piduguralla and Brahmana palle. Not sure when they would actually start the work though.

I last drove on Jan 20th. Took me about 6.5 hours from Nellore to Hyderabad without breaks.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by poised2drive

actually, the route Arun chose is 20 km shorter than the Kadapa-Kurnool route.

Srikalahasti to Hyd via Ongole - Nalgonda is 550 Km
and
via Kadapa-Kurnool is 570 Km .

If the road condition is confirmed to be fine, then the former is the best option.

I stand corrected. I had Tirupati in mind, not Srikalahasti, hence the confusion. For Tirupati, the Nandyal route is shorter.

[Night_Hawk]

Originally Posted by srimath

Kurnool to Panyam is also decent. Its the Panyam - Nandyal road that is a killer, specially the ghat section. Once you cross Nandyal, the road to Kadapa is 95% 4 laned with almost all villahes / towns like allagadda, mydukuru, khajipeta being bypassed.

Done Hyd - Kadapa on 06th February night.. I fully agree Nandyal road is a killer, specially the ghat section.

I returned Kadapa - Hyd on 07th Afternnoon; day time passing through Nandyal town was a nightmare especially the stretch adjacent to under-construction Flyover.

I saw a board indicating Nandyal by-pass but could not try as I was not sure where it connects to the existing road. ; any idea or info on this option???

Could somebody give an update on the latest road condition of the stretch Tirupati-Rajampet-Kadapa? I wish to try that route shortly.