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-   -   Bangalore - Chennai - Bangalore : Route Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/22491-bangalore-chennai-bangalore-route-queries-210.html)

Well yes, G for General and P for Patters. Not one in ten people is going to remember that LB Road and Lattice Bridge Road are the same either.

If you got to the side of express avenue you have to take a right into a small lane that takes you back onto mount road and then turn from there, thanks to the one way on Whites Road.

I drove from Chennai to Bangalore on 26th Jan and there was heavy fog from Ponamallee after Motel Highway junction till just after Vellore when I started at 5AM Visibility wasnt 0 but quite bad

Woodlands IOC is recommended , they have been honest for 20+years while some of the BP pumps in the area have had issues some time back.

Thanks @hserus and @narayans80 for your timely responses, had a good trip.

Started at 2:50am and reached the wedding hall at 8:40am (no breaks en route), in good time to attend the 9:30-10:30 muhurtham :)

Encountered very light/negligible fog en route, traffic was sparse, almost no private car traffic till Kanchipuram bypass, it was just trucks mostly. From 7:30am, the factory & office traffic started from Kanchipuram bypass and continued via Sriperumbudur, Poomnamallee bypass, Porur, Mount Poonamallee road and Mount Road till our destination.

There was a HP petrol bunk right opposite Ethiraja Kalyana Nilayam on Mowbrays road, but was crowded. The car had enough fuel, so filled up while returning to Bangalore at the BP bunk on Kanchipuram bypass.

Reached Hosur only at 5pm, so went via NH 207 to reach near Banaswadi around 7:30pm, much better than crawling on Hosur Road and in Koramangala, Indiranagar.

Stopped at Murugan Idly Shop after Kanchipuram for a break. They have another outlet nearby on the opposite side of the road, tried this for the first time and was good.

Hello Narayan, Thank you. I haven't driven much on this route before. Can you please help me on what is 76th KM exit-Military road ? Is it the same what gmaps shows ? Will be driving this weekend.

(Mods, please feel free to remove this query below if you think is not relevant here)

Need some guidance on Chennai. We will be staying at Mahabalipuram and wifey wants to do some shopping around T-Nagar area. Any suggestions where can we park nearby ? Or would it be a better option to park in a mall nearby and hire a auto-rickshaw ? Please advice as I am not from Chennai.

Mahabalipuram is a resort and historical town some one and a half hours from south Chennai. After which you have another 40 minutes before you reach T Nagar. T Nagar doesn't have as much parking as you wish, but you can find some.

Yes, that's what GMaps shows. You first get out onto SH143 from the NH48, then onto Military Road. All this basically bypasses Kanchipuram.

If it is for Pondy Bazaar and if you get there by 1000-1030, you should find parking on the main road itself. Shops open only around that time.

Another spot is near Panagal Park. I've sometimes have to go around 1-2 times to find parking here.

These are the easiest spots I can think of that are of walkable distance.

I got to tell you, driving here in evening hours is suicidal :)

With the "smarter Chennai" initiative, the pondy bazaar road has effectively become a 1+1 carriage way. The sidewalk work isn't complete and is a mess.

If lucky, one may find parking spots on northern side roads of pondy bazaar

Thank you Narayan and Swissknife.

Is there any mall nearby so I can park there and hire a rickshaw for few kms ?

The stretch between Sivaprakasam Street and Sivagnanam Street (that is between Ambika Appalam Depot and TNagar head post office road) is untouched (for now). The rest of the road is a mess.

The key is timing, you have to visit when shops just open for the day, and the rest of Madras goes to office. I wouldn't even pass through this section anytime beyond 11 am.

By northern side roads, you mean those behind Holy Angels School? That's the only area I could think, where roads are wide enough and free, it also means additional walk.

'Malls' in this area are from the 80s without huge car parking in mind. Few big shops have their own parking areas like Saravana Stores, Pothys.

There aren't any on pondy bazaar. There are other shops such as Nalli, Kumaran, Pothys, Saravana etc that have parking (some with valet) around Panagal park. One point to note is that their parking is free if you make a purchase with them. The parking ticket is to be endorsed at the cash counter.

If you enter Venkatnarayana Road from Nandanam junction which is on Mount Road (as known as Anna Salai), you can park in the 3rd or 4th bylane off Venkatnarayana Road and hire an auto to Panagal Park in TNagar from there (< 1 km). Just ensure that you park in the bylanes and not on Venkatnarayana Road itself. There are no malls close enough to park. Nearest ones are at least 3-4 kms away and not worth it in traffic.

I was referring to Raja Bather street from Muthulaksmi road till Srinivasa road (the road parallel to pondy bazaar opposite the Andhra killi shop).

That is a bit narrow and also sees frequent Tata ace and load auto traffic from Rathna Fan House (which has massive parking by the way). Street parking there poses a risk of developing scratches.

Not near Ratna fan house. The place I mentioned is after the cross road, behind balaji bhavan etc.

I've had some horrendous traffic jams when entering Chennai via Poonamallee on the way to annanagar. Today I got stuck for about 30 minutes each in 2 placers. Is there any alternate route.