[abg]

Originally Posted by speedkrish

Route 4 is amazing. There is elephant activity near Hasanur. There was about 10km of unpaved roads Kollegal - Dhondenling in May this year. Is that complete ?

My last drive on Route 4 was on Aug 23rd. The stretch of approximate 10 km from Lokkenahalli towards Kollegal - Anthiyur Road is being paved now.



Work is in progress and once this is completed, the drive will be a bliss.



Despite the ongoing work, the whole stretch from Lokkenahalli to Kollegal - Anthiyur Road is doable in 20 minutes.

[Passatman]

Hi! Has anyone travelled Bangalore - Cbe via Germalam recently. I have a drive coming up in a day and may choose this route. Travelled in my passat in 2021 Jan and would like to do this again.
Thanks in advance

[abg]

Originally Posted by Passatman

Hi! Has anyone travelled Bangalore - Cbe via Germalam recently. I have a drive coming up in a day and may choose this route. Travelled in my passat in 2021 Jan and would like to do this again.
Thanks in advance

I drove from Coimbatore to Bangalore on this route on 5th September. Due to the recent heavy rains, there are minor landslides happened all along the section between Gedsel and Hasanurghat. There was one bridge submerged somewhere between the Solar farms and Channalinganahalli. However, these were not big concerns for my Verna, and I could cross them easily.

However, the surface conditions and worsening till Lokkenahalli.

I returned on 8th from Bangalore to Coimbatore, but took Kollegala - Moogooru road - Chamaraja Nagar - Dhimbam - Bhavanisagar - Othimalai - Annur - Coimbatore road, just to avoid the rough patches.

Please update after your drive, have a safe journey!

[Passatman]

Hi! Considering the heavy rains,decided to play it safe and drive via Salem since I was driving solo. Coped with heavy traffic, probably due to onam weekend. Sweet spot to cruise this highway was around the 80-100kph with occasional bursts on a rare clear stretch. Omalur has a flyover under construction and was a bottleneck. Eked out a mileage of well over 24 kpl thanks to the sedate speeds and a light foot.

[vedirah]

Hi Folks,

I'm planning a trip from Bangalore to Coimbatore soon. If someone has recently taken the Bidadi-Maddur-Malavalli-Tirumakudalu-Chamarajanagar-Sathy-Annur-Coimbatore route, could you please comment on the condition of the roads? I'm especially worried because of the rains.

Regards,
Haridev

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by vedirah

Hi Folks,

I'm planning a trip from Bangalore to Coimbatore soon. If someone has recently taken the Bidadi-Maddur-Malavalli-Tirumakudalu-Chamarajanagar-Sathy-Annur-Coimbatore route, could you please comment on the condition
Haridev

Why not consider the Krishnagiri- Thoppur- Mettur- Sathy- Anoor - Coimbatore route?
I drove this route from Ooty yesterday and it is in excellent condition.
I have described it in the Bangalore - Ooty thread.

[Ride_N_Drive]

Hi,

I am driving from Bangalore (Sarjapura Road) to Coimbatore tomorrow with Family (Includes a 6 year old and 70 year old). Any route recommendations based on road conditions from anyone who has done this in last week ?

Thank You in advance.

Mohit

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by Ride_N_Drive

Hi,

I am driving from Bangalore (Sarjapura Road) to Coimbatore tomorrow with Family (Includes a 6 year old and 70 year old). Any route recommendations based on road conditions from anyone who has done this in last week ?

Thank You in advance.

Mohit

The easiest and quickest route with good road conditions is via Salem.

[abg]

Originally Posted by vedirah

Hi Folks,

I'm planning a trip from Bangalore to Coimbatore soon. If someone has recently taken the Bidadi-Maddur-Malavalli-Tirumakudalu-Chamarajanagar-Sathy-Annur-Coimbatore route, could you please comment on the condition of the roads? I'm especially worried because of the rains.

Regards,
Haridev

I drove this route (closer to this) on the 29th Sep Thursday. I took Bangalore - Mysore Road - New express highway till Maddur - Malavalli - Kollegala - Chamaraja Nagar - Dhimbam - Bannari - Bhavani Sagar Dam - Othimalai Road - Coimbatore.

The new express highway was a delight to drive, from NICE road entry to Maddur exit from the highway it took just an hour.

From Maddur to Chamaraja Nagar roads remain good to excellent (can cruise at 90 - 100 kph most of the way) with occasional bad patches.

From Bannari Temple, took a deviation towards Bhavani Sagar Dam so as to bye pass Sathy and Puliampatti towns and reached Annur. This road till Othimalai road is excellent to drive. The rest of the stretch is OK.

Annur to Coimbatore is a pain, the traffic is so much I felt driving through Yeshwanthpur to Mekhri Circle is easier.

Overall I covered the whole trip in 5 hrs, with an early start from my Home near 8th Mile Tumkur Road at 6:00 AM and reached Ganapathy by 11:00 AM with one water break in between.

[NPV]

Folks, need some route help from those familiar with these areas around Coimbatore.

My destination is in Kallipalayam and the default gmaps route (when going from Bangalore) is via Arasur Road after turning off from the NH544 beyond the Kaniyur toll plaza.


I also see that another option would be to turn off towards Somanur Road and then go via Vagarayampalayam and then Pachapalayam as in previous route. This will avoid the Kaniyur toll, how are the roads and is it worth taking this over the Arasur route ?

[Aerobat]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Why not consider the Krishnagiri- Thoppur- Mettur- Sathy- Anoor - Coimbatore route?
I drove this route from Ooty yesterday and it is in excellent condition.
I have described it in the Bangalore - Ooty thread.

I drove this route on 5th Oct 2022, Bengaluru-Krishnagiri-Thoppur-Mettur-Anthiyur, and returned back the same day. Roads are in good condition and I was able to maintain good speed.

Between Mettur-Anthiyur, there were some culverts being built but half the carriage was kept open to pass through. Enjoyed the drive.

[Passatman]

Originally Posted by abg

I drove this route (closer to this) on the 29th Sep Thursday. I took Bangalore - Mysore Road - New express highway till Maddur - Malavalli - Kollegala - Chamaraja Nagar - Dhimbam - Bannari - Bhavani Sagar Dam - Othimalai Road - Coimbatore.

The new express highway was a delight to drive, from NICE road entry to Maddur exit from the highway it took just an hour.

Hi! Does Maddur to Chamrajnagar route pass via Malavalli & Kollegal, or is this a different route? Also how many kms total to Coimbatore?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Passatman

Hi! Does Maddur to Chamrajnagar route pass via Malavalli & Kollegal, or is this a different route? Also how many kms total to Coimbatore?

Yes this is the Maddur-Malavalli-Kollegal.

Once you go to Malavalli you get back onto Kanalkpura road BLR-Chamarajanagar-Dimbam-Coimbattore

[Passatman]

Thanks! I thought this route goes via T Narsipur and onwards to Chamrajnagar and beyond. I have a drive coming up next week and so was exploring options. Carrying my cycle on my VW passat and hence looking for good roads minus the mad traffic/toll scrambles on the Salem hiway.
Bonus is I also get to check out the Mys Bang expressway!

[kala]

Originally Posted by Passatman

Thanks! I thought this route goes via T Narsipur and onwards to Chamrajnagar and beyond. I have a drive coming up next week and so was exploring options. Carrying my cycle on my VW passat and hence looking for good roads minus the mad traffic/toll scrambles on the Salem hiway.
Bonus is I also get to check out the Mys Bang expressway!

The National Highway goes through Kollegala, but going through T.Narsipur is an option that allows you to bypass Kollegala town and the few narrow village stretches between Kollegala and Santhamarahalli. But in my experience both routes take almost the same time overall, and road conditions aren't too different either. I have been taking the Kollegala route during all my recent trips, but since Google maps has been advocating the Malavalli- Kiragavalu-T.Narsipur route these days I plan to try that option on my next trip this Sunday. But whichever be the slightly better option, I find both these routes to be a far more peaceful drive compared to the busy four lane highways.