[ampere]

Originally Posted by Tempelhof

Choose your time ! Choose your time, very carefully... in either direction, leave your home between 0500 and 0530.

That is true. For a regular vacation that is what we do. But for a leisure drive, I started a bit later and was just saved
before the queue started getting a long tail! But having said that, chaos is bad. As Vizay said, the guys were trying to their best.
But if the drivers unleash the illiterate behavior in them, what the poor toll guys can do ?

But surely using the Chitoor route may be a very-very effective option in these festive seasons. Just need to
adhere to a neutral timing zone. (Not too early and not too late, just to be on the safe side)

[babu.sundaram]

Did regular Blr-Chn-Blr for Diwali off through OMR.

Nov 9:
Route: Bangalore - Mulbagal - Palamner - Chittoor(bypass)- Ranipet - Walajah.
There was a bit of jam at Palamner (about 20 mins lost) and a bigger jam neat Sriperumpudur.

Nov 13: Went till Ranipet before diverting from GQ.

Both times, started in evening. Found light traffic and much less stress!

Except for a small stretch after Mulbagal, the drive is good even at night times (a good variety considering the boring 4 / 6 lane GQ)!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by babu.sundaram

(a good variety considering the boring 4 / 6 lane GQ)!

Not a variety, but now more of a necessity I would say.
Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore is really in tatters thanks conversions and chaos at the toll booths. This is a much better and stress busters compared to that.

Add to it, there are many many decent road side restaurants. I also saw many pure-veg restaurants as well! (And off course not to mention CCDs)
One at Chitoor Bypass, One about 15km before Palamaner and 2 at Kolar.

Just a bit of care to be taken on the 2-lane roads and a bad pothole ridden bypass at Mulbagal.

[sameer sultan]

I did Bangalore to Chennai on Diwali day. Took the OMR as I had driven on the Hosur road last Friday for my Chennai - Bangalore drive. Though I was driving very late in the night got stuck up in a massive traffic jam at the TN-KA border just before Attibele for 1 hour at 1 am in the night. Also got fed up with all the diversions after Ambur.

Hence decided to take OMR for the return trip yesterday.

November 13 2012

12:35 left from Adigas Trinity Metro MG Road

17:35 Arrived at my Home in PH Road.

A perfect 5 hour drive with 2 stops of 10mins each for BLR - CHN after a long time courtesy OMR. Agreed traffic is less on a holiday but still OMR was a pleasant surprise compared to the chaos on the GQ Krishnagiri - BETL stretch.

Coming to the road conditions of the old Madras Road NH 4, from just after KR Puram the toll road starts though the toll booths are yet to be commissioned, till Mulbagal it's a 4 lane highway. Just one diversion apart from that its a perfect 100KMS with sparse traffic. From Mulbagal it's the regular 2 lane highway. For about 25kms till the AP border the road is uneven. After that the tarmac is smooth. Lorry traffic is minimal which makes driving easier on a 2 lane. After Chittoor I took the Katpadi - Vellore road to join the GQ at GRT Regency Junction as I wanted to avoid the towns of Ranipet and Walajah as they don't have bye pass. The other option is to turn right from Palamner towards Gudiyatham and join GQ at Pallikonda. I did not take this route as there are too many villages and you need to pass the Gudiyatham and Pallikonda towns. But this road is very scenic and can be driven on if not in a hurry to reach destination. Over all a very good drive and I M going to stick to OMR for CHN - BLR - CHN for a while till the 6 laning gets completed on NH 7.

Thanks to the inputs from co BHPians in this thread which triggered my mind to get back to OMR which was the default road for Bangalore trips when I was a child till my teenage and brought back all the memories

[sbkumar]

Took the OMR for the onward trip (BLR-CHN) on Sunday.
Started 9.45 AM Indiranagar, Reached Nungambakkam by 3.30 PM.
Had to deal with some trucks holding up traffic between palamaner and chittor.
After that it was a pretty comfortable drive with a break in Ranipet for lunch.
Lots of potholes between Ranipet and Kancheepuram Tollbooths.
Felt they are more in number and depth in this direction ( towards chennai) compared to the reverse.

Return trip ( CHN-BLR) yesterday (14th Nov).
Took the GQ this time to see the progress made. Had lunch at Arya bhavan/Aryas( at the HPCL company owned outlet) just before the pallikonda toll. It was very average stuff, will never do it again.
Started 11.15 AM from Nungambakkam, Reached Indiranagar (5.15)
Broken road surface till Ranipet but not deep potholes at least.

Krishnagiri - Hosur stretch was better than expected with 3 lanes for a good percentage and also the sparse traffic due to the time of the drive.

[Marlon]

Did a Chennai - B'lore drive today morning via Chitoor

Started from Chennai 3.00 am reached Hennur , B'lore at 8.20 am. Took couple of short tea breaks. Around 60 - 75 km stretch between Chitoor and Mulbagal was completely covered in fog was not able to even touch 40/50 kmph speeds.
From Mulbagal to B'lore was a breeze in the butter smooth roads.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by sameer sultan

After Chittoor I took the Katpadi - Vellore road to join the GQ at GRT Regency Junction as I wanted to avoid the towns of Ranipet and Walajah as they don't have bye pass.

Not necessary to take the Katpadi route since Walajah is the bottleneck. Instead, continue towards Ranipet. Once you enter Ranipet you will see a big intersection and a right turn signage for Vellore - turn right here and in about less than 2Km it will merge onto the GQ.

[sameer sultan]

Originally Posted by NPV

Not necessary to take the Katpadi route since Walajah is the bottleneck. Instead, continue towards Ranipet. Once you enter Ranipet you will see a big intersection and a right turn signage for Vellore - turn right here and in about less than 2Km it will merge onto the GQ.

Yes you are right that is another option to join the GQ from Chittoor road. I did not opt for that as there is a probability of factory traffic just before Ranipet.

[sameer sultan]

Originally Posted by NPV

Not necessary to take the Katpadi route since Walajah is the bottleneck. Instead, continue towards Ranipet. Once you enter Ranipet you will see a big intersection and a right turn signage for Vellore - turn right here and in about less than 2Km it will merge onto the GQ.

Yes you are right. I did not take that route in order to avoid the pedestrian traffic near Sipcot before Ranipet.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by Marlon

Did a Chennai - B'lore drive today morning via Chitoor

Started from Chennai 3.00 am reached Hennur , B'lore at 8.20 am. Took couple of short tea breaks. Around 60 - 75 km stretch between Chitoor and Mulbagal was completely covered in fog was not able to even touch 40/50 kmph speeds.
From Mulbagal to B'lore was a breeze in the butter smooth roads.

This stretch would be foggy quite often during winter days all the way from Hoskote to Bangarupalem. Starting early morning around both ends would mean ending up driving through fog for some stretch. Keep this in mind the next time around while planning your timelines.

Originally Posted by sameer sultan

Yes you are right that is another option to join the GQ from Chittoor road. I did not opt for that as there is a probability of factory traffic just before Ranipet.

The issue is, the traffic becomes chaotic right after the Palar bridge at Thiruvalam all the way upto Walajah. Except for early mornings and late nights this stretch would slow you down quite drastically. But the biggest advantage is missing out on those chaotic toll booths on the GQ which seem to take anywhere around 5 minutes at almost all the places.

[gopikb]

Originally Posted by ampere

Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore is really in tatters thanks conversions and chaos at the toll booths. This is a much better and stress busters compared to that.

Ampere, I am driving to Melmaruvathur on Saturday and was looking forward to drive this route to and fro

Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Melmaruvathur.

Been close to a year since I drove the route and hence was checking on the road conditions with the 6-laning work between Hosur and Vellore. You scared me with the above post. Is the condition so bad that we should completely avoid this route?

I will look at Chittor route option if the condition is really bad. Only issue is that I stay in RRNagar and hence it is much easier to latch on to Hosur road (Courtesy: NICE) than the Old Madras road for which I have to completely drive through the city to reach KR Puram at the opposite end of the city. The onward journey should not be an issue as I plan a early morning 5.30AM start and should be able to beat city traffic. I dread to think about the return if I have to drive through city traffic on a Sunday evening. Given the current road conditions let me know your take.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by gopikb

Ampere, I am driving to Melmaruvathur on Saturday and was looking forward to drive this route to and fro

Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Melmaruvathur.

Been close to a year since I drove the route and hence was checking on the road conditions with the 6-laning work between Hosur and Vellore.
You scared me with the above post. Is the condition so bad that we should completely avoid this route?

Gopi,

What I experienced was on a Diwali weekend. That also may be the reason, it was such chaotic at the Attibele toll both at 6:30 in the morning.
But other wise drive was OK (BLR-Krishnagiri). No issues as such. You have to endure the construction anway, which on a morning time should be OK.

Krishnagiri onwards situation is much better. And again I faced problems only at the last toll booth toward Chennai. That would not be the case with you.

So I think you should take that route. May not be that big a problem per se.

But yes, return you should time correctly. Else a sunday evening/late evening return results in long queues at the toll booths.

[gopikb]

Originally Posted by ampere

Gopi,

What I experienced was on a Diwali weekend. That also may be the reason, it was such chaotic at the Attibele toll both at 6:30 in the morning.

Ah!!! Diwali weekend and a drive into Tamilnadu on NH7. That is suicide!!!. Now I get it. That gives me the comfort I need to drive the planned route. Thanks for your help buddy.

[luvurride]

Did a BLR-MAA-BLR early this week. Took the Chittoor route both ways. Onwards took exactly 5 hours from Whitefield to Guindy starting at 7am with a 15min break. Return took 6 hours starting 3pm from Perungalathur with a 30min break. There were rains from Chittoor to Kolar. The good part though is the bad stretch in Mulbagal by-pass and forward has been patched up. So no slowing down necessary! Another compelling reason to use the NH4 now! Also saw a new Adigas near Kolar, looking upscale and shining!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by luvurride

Did a BLR-MAA-BLR early this week. Took the Chittoor route both ways. Onwards took exactly 5 hours from Whitefield to Guindy starting at 7am with a 15min break. Return took 6 hours starting 3pm from Perungalathur with a 30min break. There were rains from Chittoor to Kolar. The good part though is the bad stretch in Mulbagal by-pass and forward has been patched up. So no slowing down necessary! Another compelling reason to use the NH4 now! Also saw a new Adigas near Kolar, looking upscale and shining!

This is good that Mulbagal bypass is patched up. When I was there in Nov, it was pretty rough with pot hotels.

About Adigas and food options on NH4:

You are very true. Its not just Adigas, I spotted many many pure-veg restaurants too ! I also saw a Nandi Plaza around Chitoor and MGM Grand near Ranipet.
And not to mention CCDs. Two in Kolar, one about 15 km after Palamaner (while going to Chennai), 2 at Chitoor (one of them is at the Bypass).

So definitely food options are much much better than NH46 and more importantly they are evenly distributed along the length of the road.
This is what I realised when I came back last time via NH4 in Nov.