[damodar]

Left Hebbal around 8:30 am and stopped at Maiyas for breakfast and found that Starbucks had opened an outlet there.

After Nangali didn't know when I got on the new concrete stretch as it was seamless. But the joy was short-lived as I encountered the first flyover under construction and then the second one immediately. Got stuck in slow moving traffic in the single lane next to under construction flyover.

The worst section was at the border check post with no tar and it was really rough. I was lucky to have literally no truck traffic, else it would have been much worse in the evening or at night with dust flying around.

Near to Palmaner I made a mistake of taking the bypass as it looked complete only to encounter diversions which were incomplete and would be impossible for a low GC vehicle to pass without getting hit. Mogili bypass was complete with only a small stretch not finished but no problem. Bangarupalem by pass not complete but passed through because of thin traffic at this time of the day.

Overall this route is much better than earlier but I would stick to Punganur-Kallur route for another 6 months.

Some images of the state of roads

[prashkul]

Originally Posted by damodar

The Palamaner-Kanipakam-Tirupati route would be better for him. Leaving tommorow morning to Vijayawada will take the regular Chitoor route and update the route condition by tomorrow evening.

If one were to avoid the regular route (Bengaluru >> Kolar >> Chittoor>> Tirupati) because of road work, which is the best route as of now? It is a low GC car (Jazz), so the only and hard criteria is smooth roads.

TIA.

[damodar]

Originally Posted by prashkul

If one were to avoid the regular route (Bengaluru >> Kolar >> Chittoor>> Tirupati) because of road work, which is the best route as of now? It is a low GC car (Jazz), so the only and hard criteria is smooth roads.

TIA.

The Mulbagal-Punganur-Tirupati is smooth enough for a low GC car except for a 9km stretch before Punganur which is narrow with sharp shoulders on either side. Also as it passes through a lot of small villages and narrow roads, it could be a bit boring to drive and lacks amenities compared to the Bangarupalem-Kanipakem route.
I would suggest you to to stick to this route but try to plan your journey before dark as with numerous diversions and narrow single lanes next to the 4 under construction flyovers progress will be slow.
And don't go via the Chitoor bypass or the town itself as it's a big mess now.

[arun1100]

Thank you to the members here, we took the following route to Tirupati - Hebbal - Mulbagal - Palamaner - Kanipakam - Tirupati. I don't know how bad the Chittoor road is, but this route is very scenic especially for leisure drives. Our drive was Fiesta 1.6. Enjoyed driving along the country side curvy roads!

Beautiful roads with Mango gardens on either side of Palamaner and Kanipakam roads. Pics taken by my daughter.

[rajinibm]

Drove down from Yelahanka to Tirumala on March 01. While going took the route as suggested by Audioholic in post 1053.

Left Yelahanka at 6 AM , had a 35 mins stop at Maiyas for Breakfast and reached Tirupati at around 11: 20 AM. This route is relatively stress free and as mentioned the 8 kms stretch is certainly drivable and you just need to give way to oncoming vehicles by going off road and slow speeds in this stretch makes things easy.

While coming back started at around 6:15 PM from Tirupati and was in two minds on what route to take. Ended up taking the Chitoor- Blr route and the road was not as bad as I thought it would be . Work has progressed a lot since my last drive down this route a couple of months back and apart from a few diversions the road is drivable. It was raining through this stretch and the rains stopped after about half hr or so. Reached Yelahanka at around 11:25 PM with a short snack break of around 15 mins.

[ravib]

Completed a quick Tirumala & Kalahasti trip, this weekend along with my 3 other friends, our usual gang who visit Tirumala every year. This time we took one my friend's new Verna (P).

Left Bangalore Yesterday 02-Mar-2019 at 7 am and took Bangalore-Mulbagal-Palamaner-Bangarupalayam-Kanipakkam-Puttalapattu-Tirupati. After a quick 30 minutes breakfast break at Maiyas, we reached Tirupati at 11.30 am.
After a short break, had early lunch and 2 of us (me and another friend) went to Srivarimettu and 2 other drove up by Verna to Tirumala.

We climbed up the 2388 steps in 1 hour. Started at 2.15 pm and reached Tirumala at 3.15 pm. After short rest, tea and restroom breaks, all 4 of us entered Rs. 300/- queue at 4 pm and we were able to see darshan at 4.40 pm itself in about 40 minutes. Being a saturday and also Ekadashi day, we felt it was super quick and we were lucky to get darshan. Then came out and collected laddus after visiting Anjanyar temple in front of main gopuram and varahaswamy temple. Drove down back straight to AlameluMangapuram and finished darshan in 1 hour their too as usual.

Today morning after breakfast, drove from Tirupati to SriKahahasti. It took 1 hour due to heavy truck traffic to cover 40 kms and we were able to finish darshan in Rs. 200/- special entrance ticket. Overall it took 1 hour End-to-End and drove back to Tirupati for Lunch. Post lunch, started at 1.15 pm, took same route via Kanipakkam, Bangarupalayam, Palamner, Mulbalgal and reached Bangalore at 5.15 pm including 15 minutes break for Tea.

Road condition update:
1) As i mentioned in Bangalore-Chennai-Bangalore thread, road conditions are significantly improved between Bangalore-Palamaner, except for service roads below bridges.
2) Between Palamaner to Bangarupalayam, the road conditions are same and the concrete roads are excellent that goes through forest area/ghat section that starts immediately after Palamaner town exit.
3) Overall the road height is significantly increased, at least 15 to 20 feet above previous old 2L road. In the forest section that starts after Palamaner town towards Bangarupalayam (where there is a S curve and villagers used to sell tender coconuts and then Sithapal fruits - those who are regular in old NH4 know what i am referring to), with the new concrete roads, the road is elevated and the forest/trees are much below now. This lead to a brand new view/landscape in that forest section which is awesome.
4) There is a notorious S bend at the end of the ghat section which is prone to accidents in the past, but glad to see that stretch is made wider as part of 4L work with divider. Currently both sides of traffic shares same road and not divided, so have to drive carefully for now. When the road is opened both the sides, hopefully accidents will come down in that stretch. But i guess given the truck traffic density, truck drivers will struggle to climb the steep roads occupying both the 2Ls in each side, and situation may be similar to what happens in Thoppur ghat area towards Salem. We may end up sneaking into the gaps to pass through the trucks. Let's see.
5) Both Palamaner and Bangarupalayam by-passes are not ready as called out in previous posts by other bhpians. So have to go inside the towns for few more months.
6) Construction work is happening in very fast pace and given that summer is approaching and no chances of rain, so hopefully in next 6 months or by end of the year, i am guessing this route should be ready.
7) Google maps shows easily 1.5 hours delay for the route between Bangarupalayam-Tirupati via Chittoor which confirms the speed is very low due to bad road conditions. Once we enter Bangarupalayam town and take left towards village roads to Kanipakkam-Puttalapattu, its a stress free drive but narrow village roads. You have to get down to give way for oncoming traffic in most parts of the road, but not a big complain to call out.
8) There is extremely active construction happening and a very wide road is constructed (probably 6L or 4L with service roads) in portions of this village route cutting across Village road between Kanipakkam to Puttalapattu. I guess this could be a far-way and complete by-pass road to not go via chittoor for those who are heading from Bangalore to Tirupati apart from the NH4 construction happening towards Ranipet. Have attached one photo that i took.
9) Active and fast pace road construction is happening between Puttalapattu to Tirupati. All the land acquisitions seems to havecompleted and sand laying is almost complete for a broad 4L road work for the 50+ kms stretch. This is also a notorious accident prone stretch and glad to see it is being widened which was not the case when i went last time.

Overall, for those who are heading to Tirupati from Bangalore, here is my recommendation.
1) First best option is the above route (Palamaner-Bangarupalayam-Kanipakkam-Tirupati). Plus point is most of the work is completed barring bridges. Famiiar and safe route. The minus point is narrow village roads between Bangarupalayam-Puttalapattu, but manageable and not a deserted route.
2) Second option is to go via Mulbagal-Punganur-Kallur-Tirupati, if needed. Not a bad option, but given that Bangarupalayam route is ready, not necessarily be the preferred choice given that it is deserted in most of the route and the 9 kms stretch before Punganur is little tricky to drive.

Most important is, in both the routes, I strongly recommend NOT to drive post sunset/dark due to high risk to very high risk. Because of very active road constructions and deserted roads, please stick to driving in day time only.

-Ravi

[Rajesh K R]

We made a trip to Tirupati and Tirumala on 18th & 19th March. The route which we took was as recommended by @ravib. Thank you @ravib for the the nice route.

It was quick driving till Bangarupalyam turn off and then on, it was sedate driving till we reached the Kanipakkam Arch on the Pileru highway.

Returned via the same route, but during late evening hours in darkness. The navi system of my car helped me big time in the dark. The route is in good shape, but for a few meters at one spot where a big road project cuts through this road. Sorry, no photos could be taken and i do not have a Dash cam.

This is the link to G-Maps for the route which i took.

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=MD...3D%3D&dirflg=d

[srvm]

I did Bangalore-Sholinghur trip last weekend (23-24 March).
I live near C V Raman Nagar in Bangalore and hence my route was Bangalore-Mulbagal bypass-Palamner-Chittoor-Ponnai-Sholinghur. This distance is about 232kms one-way. My car is Zest-Petrol.

Good friend BHPian ravib had gone to Sholinghur in February. His route was Bangalore-Palamaner-Gudiyattam-Katpadi-Vellore-Sholinghur. His full post can be found here (Bangalore - Chennai - Bangalore : Route Queries).

This post is to inform people about the current status of NH75 between KA-AP border and Chittoor.

Overall - this route this ok for Bangalore-Tirupati trips during daytime on any car. Night journeys is better avoided as of now. If unavoidable, it is still possible if the driver is careful around diversions and with lower cruising speeds.

We started on 23rd March around 7am from our home. Had a breakfast stop at Hotel Nandi Grand just after Hoskote. Started after break around 8.30am.
Nangali Toll plaza: 9.45am
Palamner town: 10.15am
Mogili town: 10.30am
Time spent at Mogileeswara swamy temple: 10.30-11.25 am
Bangarupalayam town: 11.40am
Chittoor town: 12.10pm
Ponnai: 1.00pm
Sholinghur: 1.30pm


Some pictures to give an idea about current status of NH75 between Nangali (near KA-AP border) to Bangarupalayam.

Just entering AP



Border checkpost busy with elections nearing
We were told to open glovebox and show. Since I was travelling with parents and kid, they wave us away pretty quickly. Other cars were told to open boot, luggage etc.



Welcome to AP



A nearly completed bridge just after entering AP



Thathireddipalle (Punganur cross): 1st incomplete bridge
Regulars/ old timers will know how narrow and tricky this part was earlier. With trucks, village traffic, speed-breakers etc.



Decent service road at Thathireddipalle



Overbridge is getting constructed at a fast pace



A diversion before Palamner



A diversion at the place where road from Kuppam- V Kota Road joins NH75, just before Palamner town



Some places have decent service road



Service road is bad at some other places



Just before Palamner town. Region is parched. Rains would be welcome.



DON'T TAKE Palamner bypass even though it is enticing!
It is incomplete and has some horrible sections. I went through town during onward journey on Saturday. Was forced to take bypass due to election campaign inside town on Sunday. Mixture of good, bad and very ugly sections.




Exiting Palamner town and joining NH75 bypass




Good roads before Mogili town



Marked diversions before Mogili






Remember that narrow, steep bend in the ghats before Mogili in the past? Loaded trucks used to really struggle going uphill

It now looks like this! Pale shadow of the past!





Mogili bypass is nearly ready



We went into Mogili town. Unplanned visit to Mogileeswara temple. Remember this town had lot of traffic passing through it earlier. Now with the bypass motorable, there was zero traffic inside the town. Not sure whether villagers are happy about less traffic or unhappy over loss to local economy.


Mogileeswara Temple timings and other details







Some bad service road sections between Mogili and Bangarupalayam town



Bangarupalayam bypass is not ready yet. Traffic is diverted inside town.



Roads near and inside Bangarupalayam town have lots of bad patches. Earlier, I used to like road in this town over Palamner. Now road inside Palamner is comparatively better.

My wife who was shooting pics till Bangarupalayam, dozed-off after this. So I don't have pics of the section between Bangarupalayam and Chittoor. But its mostly similar. The entry to bypass road towards Tirupati can be easily missed due to construction activity around here. Since I was heading to Sholinghur, I went through Chittoor town. Chittoor has lot of small but unmarked speed-breakers. Better to drive around cautiously, at the max in 3rd gear.


Off-topic:
Status of Roads between Chittoor-Ponnai-Sholinghur
Approx. time needed to cover this distance of about 43 kms is 80 minutes.
It is easy to miss the place where road forks in two: left towards GDNellore; right towards Ponnai.
Roads are ok to good inside AP. Roads once you enter TN are very good. Overall, no problems for any car. No restaurants or places for bio-break. Even petrol stations are minimal.

Ponnai-Sholingur section





Epilogue:
Even though the widening of NH75 through AP is a welcome move (particularly for truckers), I am going to miss driving in 2-laned ghat section near Palamner, where one had to overtake big-trucks carefully. Also, I am going to miss those big trees providing green canopy such as this one near Sholinghur.....


The environmental price we pay for infrastructure and development.....

[kavensri]

I am planning for a tirumala trip this coming friday. As suggested by many, I will be taking this route.
https://goo.gl/maps/VrBL6fkqDx52
Correct me, if I have not marked the route properly.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by srvm

I did Bangalore-Sholinghur trip last weekend (23-24 March).

This post is to inform people about the current status of NH75 between KA-AP border and Chittoor.

Thanks for this update. The pace of work looks very impressive. Can we assume that work will be done by the last quarter of this year? After this Bangalore-Tirupathi will be a breeze and we can easily do day trips. Can you mark the stretches which are complete? So that it will help to decide on alternate routes and at the same time making use of whichever stretch is already done.

[Rajesh K R]

Originally Posted by kavensri

I am planning for a tirumala trip this coming friday. As suggested by many, I will be taking this route.
https://goo.gl/maps/VrBL6fkqDx52
Correct me, if I have not marked the route properly.

Marked below is the route which i took.



This is the link to G-Maps for the route which i took. Map showing route from Bangarupalyam turnoff to the left towards Aragonda & Kanipakkam.

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=MD...3D%3D&dirflg=d


Roads are good, but very deserted in the night. Was a little apprehensive until i reached back to the safety of the 4 laner.



Even after Puthalpattu turnoff lot of road widening work in progress, overtaking is not very easy and again, night driving is to drive with caution and patience.


Regret, could not take any photographs of any stretches.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by kavensri

I am planning for a tirumala trip this coming friday. As suggested by many, I will be taking this route.
https://goo.gl/maps/VrBL6fkqDx52
Correct me, if I have not marked the route properly.

Originally Posted by audioholic

Thanks for this update. The pace of work looks very impressive. Can we assume that work will be done by the last quarter of this year? After this Bangalore-Tirupathi will be a breeze and we can easily do day trips. Can you mark the stretches which are complete? So that it will help to decide on alternate routes and at the same time making use of whichever stretch is already done.

If you are doing Bangalore-Tirupati in daytime, then as of today I'd recommend the straight-forward route. No need to take Mulbagal- N Vaddahalli-Byrakur-Punganur-Sadum-Kallur-Putalapattu-Tirupati route. Only keep the following things in mind:

1. Don't take bypass for Palamner and Bangarupalayam towns. Just go through the towns.
2. Even the broken sections (service roads) shown in my earlier post are very doable in any car, even low GC ones. Just slow down a bit.
3. Depending on your preference - go through Chittoor town or Bangarupalayam-Arakonda-Kanipakkam-Putalapattu-Tirupati (route).

[Rajesh K R]

We commute regularly from Banashankari, BLR South, to Kolar and Tirupati during daytime. Is there any way which i can avoid going through the dreaded Tin Factory-KR Puram stretch ?



Any good alternative routes ? I think one route is via Sarjapur - Bagalur- Malur etc, but do not know the condition of the road and also, is it proper to drive during night times on this route with family ?

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

Marked below is the route which i took.
This is the link to G-Maps for the route which i took. Map showing route from Bangarupalyam turnoff to the left towards Aragonda & Kanipakkam.

Yes, I did looked into the link from your earlier message. As that has partial route information, I got confused.

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

Roads are good, but very deserted in the night. Was a little apprehensive until i reached back to the safety of the 4 laner

I will be driving during day time only (both onward and back).

Originally Posted by srvm

If you are doing Bangalore-Tirupati in daytime, then as of today I'd recommend the straight-forward route. No need to take Mulbagal- N Vaddahalli-Byrakur-Punganur-Sadum-Kallur-Putalapattu-Tirupati route. Only keep the following things in mind:

1. Don't take bypass for Palamner and Bangarupalayam towns. Just go through the towns.
2. Even the broken sections (service roads) shown in my earlier post are very doable in any car, even low GC ones. Just slow down a bit.
3. Depending on your preference - go through Chittoor town or Bangarupalayam-Arakonda-Kanipakkam-Putalapattu-Tirupati (route).

Thanks for your inputs. I will follow the route suggested by you.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

We commute regularly from Banashankari, BLR South, to Kolar and Tirupati during daytime. Is there any way which i can avoid going through the dreaded Tin Factory-KR Puram stretch ?

Any good alternative routes ? I think one route is via Sarjapur - Bagalur- Malur etc, but do not know the condition of the road and also, is it proper to drive during night times on this route with family ?

I'm not sure how you presently approach Tin Factory from Banashankari. You can try this if you happen to come via Outer Ring Road (from Marathahalli side)(route).