[Aerobat]

Originally Posted by dass

What are some of the good restaurants along the hosur-krishnagiri-Mettur stretch?

There are several good eateries between Hosur and Thoppur, i.e. Saravana Bhavan, Ananda Bhavan et al. At Thoppur, you take a right turn towards Mettur, which is a State Highway. There are some small towns, but not sure about known eateries.

[Aerobat]

Correction : Thoppur to Mettur is National Highway i.e. NH544H (mostly single lane), and not a State Highway as I mentioned earlier.

[Madrasin_selvan]

Completed a Bangalore - Chennai Trip via Chittoor on Friday (28.07.2023)

Started from LBS Nagar at 4.45 AM with very less traffic exiting the city. Stopped briefly at the Highway Star after Kolar, only to find none of the shops open at around 6 in the morning. There is one new diversion after Mulbagal Bypass which has popped up recently. Driving after Ranipet was the real deal with lots of truck traffic piling up all the way up to ORR Junction at Poonamallee. Reached Korattur at around 11.30 with a 30 min breakfast stop at Murugan Idli.

The service roads close to Sriperumbudur are in a bad shape and can easily scrape low GC cars. Another point to note is starting at the early hours towards Chennai is the Sun is always in your face.

[mah45]

It's really sad to read that there's hardly any progress in the Poonamallee - Ranipet stretch in terms of diversions.

Had done 2 trips to Bangalore in Apr and May, and both times drove all the way to Kanchipuram on the Vandalur - Oragadam road, before joining the NH.
And after 3 months, the story seems to be the same.

[Turbohead]

Was hearing the status of this road from a regular commuter. Turns out there is no progress on the work here for the last 6-8 months. Any idea what's going on? This stretch has been in tatters (2012 - 2023) far longer than it was in good condition (2006 - 2012). So much for tolled roads.

[BlackMambaXX]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Was hearing the status of this road from a regular commuter. Turns out there is no progress on the work here for the last 6-8 months. Any idea what's going on? This stretch has been in tatters (2012 - 2023) far longer than it was in good condition (2006 - 2012). So much for tolled roads.

I guess it's ignored as the new expressway is coming up.

[anandtheleo]

Originally Posted by mah45

It's really sad to read that there's hardly any progress in the Poonamallee - Ranipet stretch in terms of diversions.

Had done 2 trips to Bangalore in Apr and May, and both times drove all the way to Kanchipuram on the Vandalur - Oragadam road, before joining the NH.
And after 3 months, the story seems to be the same.

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Was hearing the status of this road from a regular commuter. Turns out there is no progress on the work here for the last 6-8 months. Any idea what's going on? This stretch has been in tatters (2012 - 2023) far longer than it was in good condition (2006 - 2012). So much for tolled roads.

I had travelled this Thursday from Bangalore to Chennai and felt that the number of diversions has reduced by about 30%. My reference point is from May when I had travelled last on this road. A couple of under construction bridges had opened, albeit without any road markings.

I am returning to Bangalore today and will update on the road improvement, if any, on the other side of the road.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by mah45

It's really sad to read that there's hardly any progress in the Poonamallee - Ranipet stretch in terms of diversions.

Had done 2 trips to Bangalore in Apr and May, and both times drove all the way to Kanchipuram on the Vandalur - Oragadam road, before joining the NH.
And after 3 months, the story seems to be the same.

Originally Posted by anandtheleo

I had travelled this Thursday from Bangalore to Chennai and felt that the number of diversions has reduced by about 30%. My reference point is from May when I had travelled last on this road. A couple of under construction bridges had opened, albeit without any road markings.

I am returning to Bangalore today and will update on the road improvement, if any, on the other side of the road.

I was on this road 1st week of Aug and tend to agree with @anandtheleo. There is some progress though it is very slow. I am pretty sure the number of diversions has reduced compared to my April trip. Also, there is more sections of the wider road now open.

[anandtheleo]

Originally Posted by anandtheleo

I had travelled this Thursday from Bangalore to Chennai and felt that the number of diversions has reduced by about 30%. My reference point is from May when I had travelled last on this road. A couple of under construction bridges had opened, albeit without any road markings.

I am returning to Bangalore today and will update on the road improvement, if any, on the other side of the road.

Quoting myself, returned from Chennai yesterday noon via the Chitoor route. My observations on reduction of the diversions hold good for this side too. The road conditions of the diversions near the Samsung and Foxconn factory on this side of the road is much worse than the same road on the other side going towards Chennai.

[SBR]

Hi,
Request best route option suggestions from fellow bhpians.

It’s been almost 12 years since I last travelled to Chennai.

Dates: Aug 23 (Wed) to Aug 27 (Sun)
Ride: Celerio ZXI
Travelling with 2 kids (8,4 year olds).
Start point: East Bangalore near Banaswadi.
Destination: East Coast Road, VGP.

Plan to start by 5:30 am.
Kindly suggest best route to be taken with pit stops.

On return date, start point will be from RK Salai - Exit option from chennai requested considering it is a Sunday and weekend traffic.

[Venkatr]

I just completed a trip to Chennai and back from BLR
Dates : 11-Aug 2023
Start Time : 6:30 AM from KR Puram
Ride : Honda City ZX CVT with 5 people and full luggage
Destination : Tambaram, Chennai
Route : Attibele, Hosur,Krishnagiri,Vellore,Sriperumbudur

This route made me CRY.. Literally from Krishnagiri till Walajabad , there are road diversions every KM slowing and tiring the drivers. At one point, I prayed literally to god to take me out of this highway ASAP.. Took the first diversion at Sunguvarchatram - Sipcot - Oragadam - Vandalur and reached my destination at 1:45 PM (with a break of 1 hr)
Highly avoidable route to Chennai at present .

Dates : 15-Aug 2023
Start Time :9:15 AM from Tambaram, Chennai
Ride : Honda City ZX CVT with 5 people and full luggage
Destination : KR Puram
Route : Chennai bypass, Sriperumbudur, Ranipet, Chittor, kolar

Excellent roads.. Much better than I thought with just few diversions slowing down . Reached KR Puram by 3 PM

[CArspeed]

Originally Posted by SBR

Hi,
Request best route option suggestions from fellow bhpians.

On return date, start point will be from RK Salai - Exit option from chennai requested considering it is a Sunday and weekend traffic.

Take the Chittoor route both ways. Exit via Nelson Manikkam Road from Chennai on the return

[ravib]

I drove yesterday from Chittoor to Bangalore while returning from Vijayawada. But thought its worth mentioning here in this thread.

Finally some one thought about the pathetic bridge joints in AP concrete roads between Chittoor to Nangli toll. All those bridge joints , particularly in Palamaner, Bangarupalayam area, which sends a shockwave to spine and bad jerk/bumps to rear seat passengers in high speeds can take a breath sigh of relief.

Though a patchy solution and not perfect, it solves the problem. They have tarred before and after and covered the bridge joints completely, so it is much better and kinda smooth and doesn't cause bad jerks and bumps. Few more places can be improved and missed out, but i appreciate and thank that person's thought to solve this problem

In KA side, a new bridge is going to be constructed in Nangli village junction, so traffic is diverted in service road, slowing down everyone. Same with Narasapura industrial area too. Also on Mulbagal bypass towards Bangalore side, also work is in progress , so traffic is slowing down.

However, on a good note, the newly tarred roads in KA side all the way till kolar is butter smooth and excellent. But the lane marking is missing on this newly laid roads, so great in day time, but dangerous in night time after dark as people drive crazily without knowing their lanes, even in day time too.



-Ravi

[haribalram]

Originally Posted by Venkatr

Route : Attibele, Hosur,Krishnagiri,Vellore,Sriperumbudur

This route made me CRY.. Literally from Krishnagiri till Walajabad , there are road diversions every KM slowing and tiring the drivers. At one point, I prayed literally to god to take me out of this highway ASAP.. Took the first diversion at Sunguvarchatram - Sipcot - Oragadam - Vandalur and reached my destination at 1:45 PM (with a break of 1 hr)
Highly avoidable route to Chennai at present .

I am driving to Chennai tomorrow (Sun - drive back to BLR) & planning to start by 5 AM. Were the diversions in the Krishnagiri-Walajabad stretch due to the undergoing road work? Are they really bad? Google still shows this as faster than the Chittoor route.

To avoid the Sriperumbudur stretch, I plan to take the Neeravalur - Kattavaakkam-Padappai-Vandalur-Tambaram route. The roads were good in this stretch when I drove in Jan.

Will post my route update after my travel. Thanks.

[Venkatr]

Originally Posted by haribalram

Were the diversions in the Krishnagiri-Walajabad stretch due to the undergoing road work? Are they really bad? Google still shows this as faster than the Chittoor route.

Yes, they are bad because of too many and frequent diversions. You hit 70 kmph and you have to slow down to 20 kmph. Chittoor is way better both ways. But night drive in Chittoor route to be avoided as lane markings are missing at may places as they were newly laid.