[mallumowgli]

Update on Walayar - Vadakkenchery 4 laning : The tender awarded to the contractor has been cancelled by NHAI, citing reasons of exceeding the estimates.

After 4 failed tendering processes, wherein no one came forward for the execution, finally Hyderabad based KN Reddy constructions had quoted for this. Now a few morons in the NHAI board have come to a conclusion that it is exceeding the estimates. The contractor has gone to court since it was cancelled after being awarded. Now it will be a long drawn legal battle. Another Highway project in cold storage!!

[RSUDARSANAN]

Originally Posted by vasoo

1. I would recommend going through alternate routes considering the current state of road between 4-lane end and L&T bye-pass.

2. I would recommend you go through Palakkad town towards Ottapalam road, and it is fairly straight forward with sufficient sign boards. Avoid NH 47 between Palakkad and Thrissur at any cost.

3. Multiple options. a) You can decide to join Mannuthy by turning left at Patturackal junction and go straight on Palakkad road till you meet NH 47 and then turn right into NH 47 and then left to the bye-pass. b) You can go into Thrissur town and join the bye-pass midway through Mannamangalam road, starting near Jubilee mission hospital. c) You can go all the way through Thrissur town and join NH 47 through Ollur.

Back from my Kochi trip. Followed your recommendations 1 & 2 and exited Thrissur via option c.

Drive was smooth as silk, esp. the Ottapalam route thanks to the Onam holidays (not quite so on my return on a Monday !).
Dep Silk Board 6 am and reached Chakarambal Jn Vennala (Holiday Inn) at 5 pm with a total 2.5 hrs of stops enroute.

On the way back started at 10 am and reached Silk Board at 10 pm.
Total stop time 3 hrs. Back via Ottapalam, chanced the Avanashi route -pleasantly surprised. Given that the road, except in a few places, is pretty good for a work-in-progress sector one need not avoid; must be prepared for 'convoy formationl' in peak hour traffic.
Palakkad - Walayar [potholed intermittently]; Walayar-L&T byepass sector worse.

End of update...ciao

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Update on Walayar - Vadakkenchery 4 laning : The tender awarded to the contractor has been cancelled by NHAI, citing reasons of exceeding the estimates.

After 4 failed tendering processes, wherein no one came forward for the execution, finally Hyderabad based KN Reddy constructions had quoted for this. Now a few morons in the NHAI board have come to a conclusion that it is exceeding the estimates. The contractor has gone to court since it was cancelled after being awarded. Now it will be a long drawn legal battle. Another Highway project in cold storage!!

Cant agree with you more!.NHAI should have been thankful that somebody came forward to take up the project considering how easy it is to 4lane roads in Kerala.

I did a short 1 week drive from Hyd to Thrissur and back over the Onam week and here are my observations:

HYD-BLRream Run as usual.600kms in 6.5hrs
BLR-Chengapalli:Another dream run.

Chengapalli-Avinashi-L&T Bypass:Contrary to what many have said,I found the road quite manageable and like what somebody said,around 40% is complete and the quality of the existing roads have also been improved.The only bad stretch is inside Avinashi town.Barring that it took exactly one hour for the 45kms to the l&t bypass start.

L&T bypass is in good condition,no complaints.There is a new eating place open after the Trichy Road signal called Mojo Cafe.Real nice place and good food.

Walayar roads are a mess and NH47 is a disgrace to the country.Alathur to Thrissur is definitely not to be taken for atleast the next 1 year as there is hardly any road there.One of the days when I was in Thrissur,there was a 10hour jam at kuthiran as an oil tanker couldnt negotiate the climb+craeter combo and it broke down!

Went via Palakkad-Olavakode-Mundur-Parli-Shoranur-Wadakancheri-Kumblangad-NSS Vyasa College-Parlikad-Kuranchery-(LT to join the main road/right turn would take you to Kecheri)Thrissur.I took this route from wadakanchery to avoid the railway gates at wadakanchery and at parlikad.with this route,the entire wadakancheri-thrissur becomes a railway gate-less route.

While coming back took the Wadakancheri-Chelakara-Pazhyannur-Alathur-NH47-Chandranagar(Stopped at Aryas for breakfast)-Walayar route.

Overall I would reccomend the Pazhyannur route for amazing scenic beauty and nil traffic and wide roads.If one is coming via Kangeyam-Palladam-Pollachi,then this is the easiest route to take to go towards Thrissur-Kochi.Pollachi-Alathur-Pazhyannur.

Perundurai, Tamil Nadu to Thrissur, Kerala - Google Maps

Blr(jayanagar 9th blk)-Thrissur was done in 9hrs (bf break at shri krishna & lunch break at mojo cafe,cbe)
Thrissur-Blr(residency rd) was done in 8hrs(inclusive of a lunch break at A2B thoppur & bf break at Aryas Palakkad)

I think I would continue to stick to the NH7-NH47 combo simply for the fact that the roads are straight forward and there really isnt any much time gain going via the other roads.

For people planning to stopover at Bangalore,I discovered two places.One of them is a real gem called Seagrape Gardens on top of Pubworld on residency road,rooms priced around inr 2800-3000 for a night.Absolutely brilliant place and the rooms would put any 5* to shame.

the other place is a nice hotel called sfo hotel next to raghavendra mutt on the road to banashankari temple from silk board.hotel's nice,but too many hidden charges,imagine paying service charge on a cup of coffee that was atrocious and service charge on the entire tariff and their explanation is that it is for housekeeping!Just a plain rip off nothing else.rooms are good but small,but I wouldnt go back there.

[Digital Vampire]

Originally Posted by Digital Vampire

Is there a different route I should explore on the way back or is this route still the best bet yet?

Took a slightly modified route on the return trip.

Cochin - Angamali - Mannuthy - Smooth 4 lane roads mostly
Mannuthy Jn - Wadakkancherry - Some 5 kms of interior roads were bad; other than that the SH roads were excellent and almost zero traffic.
Wadakkancherry-Pazhayannoor-Alathur-Pollachi-Palladam-Kangeyam-Perundurai - Decent to Good roads mostly
Salem-Bangalore - Excellent 4-laned roads

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Digital Vampire

Took a slightly modified route on the return trip.

Cochin - Angamali - Mannuthy - Smooth 4 lane roads mostly
Mannuthy Jn - Wadakkancherry - Some 5 kms of interior roads were bad; other than that the SH roads were excellent and almost zero traffic.
Wadakkancherry-Pazhayannoor-Alathur-Pollachi-Palladam-Kangeyam-Perundurai - Decent to Good roads mostly
Salem-Bangalore - Excellent 4-laned roads

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions.

Yes pazhannur route is lovely with very less traffic and lovely wide roads.how long did it take from alathur to perundurai?and could please share directions between pollachi and kangeyam

[RSUDARSANAN]

Given Vasoo's n Ranjit's inputs, I would conclude, that currently, the ideal Bangalore - Kochi drive would be Bangalore - Perundurai - Kangayam - Palladam - Pollachi -Alathur - Pazhayannur - Wadakanchery - Thrissur - Kochi

[Digital Vampire]

Alathur to Perundurai - It could be done in 3-3.5 hrs max. I was travelling with my kid and hence took almost 5 hrs since it involved many stops and slow driving. Route directions below.

Vyttila, Ernakulam, Kerala, India to Bellandur, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India - Google Maps

[asifpm]

Originally Posted by Digital Vampire

Took a slightly modified route on the return trip.
Wadakkancherry-Pazhayannoor-Alathur-Pollachi-Palladam-Kangeyam-Perundurai - Decent to Good roads mostly
Salem-Bangalore - Excellent 4-laned roads

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions.

Is there any signboard which you could remember at the diverting point from NH47 to Perundurai

[Digital Vampire]

Originally Posted by asifpm

Is there any signboard which you could remember at the diverting point from NH47 to Perundurai

Yes...There is a small board on the side marking the direction to Perundurai. It could be easily missed if you are not careful.

An easier landmark you could use is the location of Hotel Aaryas (on the right side). You'll keep getting distance marker sign boards to this hotel quite early. Also there is another new hotel on the left side just before the Perundurai turn.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by asifpm

Is there any signboard which you could remember at the diverting point from NH47 to Perundurai

Keep looking for Hotel Chennis to your left(it is just off NH47).Take the exit pointing to this hotel and it would take you straight into Perundurai town from where you would see the road to Kangeyam.But IMHO,the road via Avinashi is in good condition(not excellent)and is easily driveable now.It wouldnt take more than 45-60mins to cover the 43kms from the 4laning end point after chengapalli toll till the L&T bypass start on nh47.barring avinashi town road,there are no other major bottlenecks on the nh47 on this section now.also the quality of the road has been greatly improved now.

[asifpm]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Keep looking for Hotel Chennis to your left(it is just off NH47).Take the exit pointing to this hotel and it would take you straight into Perundurai town from where you would see the road to Kangeyam.But IMHO,the road via Avinashi is in good condition(not excellent)and is easily driveable now.It wouldnt take more than 45-60mins to cover the 43kms from the 4laning end point after chengapalli toll till the L&T bypass start on nh47.barring avinashi town road,there are no other major bottlenecks on the nh47 on this section now.also the quality of the road has been greatly improved now.

@ranjitp1, @Digital Vampire : Thanks for the updates.
@ranjitp1: But the road towards Walayar area are pretty bad, thats the reason I thought of taking the alternate route for my drive to Muvattapuzha on 1st Oct

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by asifpm

@ranjitp1, @Digital Vampire : Thanks for the updates.
@ranjitp1: But the road towards Walayar area are pretty bad, thats the reason I thought of taking the alternate route for my drive to Muvattapuzha on 1st Oct

Asif,agree with you on the road condition between Madukkarai & Walayar being bad,but thats just a small section,if you can negotiate that,then it would be a better option for you to drive via Palakkad-Bypass-Olavakkode-Mundur-Parli-Shoranur-Ottapalam-Wadakancheri Court-Right Turn-Kumbalangad-NSS Vyasa College-Parlikad-Right Turn-Kurancheri Junction-Left Turn-Rejoin Wadakancher Thrissur road-Right Turn towards Thrissur-Join NH47 after Kuttanellur and onwards.This route would help you avoid the railway gate at wadakancheri as well which is closed most of the time as trains have been asked to follow a speed limit of only 20kph as the flyover work is close to completion there.

[asifpm]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Asif,agree with you on the road condition between Madukkarai & Walayar being bad,but thats just a small section,if you can negotiate that

Thanks Ranjit. This is manageable.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Palakkad-Bypass-Olavakkode-Mundur-Parli-Shoranur

I wouldnt recommend this route. I traveled many times upto Mundoor en-route to Manarkkad. I would suggest to go thru Palakkad town to get into to Ottappalam route - and its pretty straight forward without having much confusion. Via Mundoor is a longer stretch also, but I do agree road is in condition.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Wadakancheri Court-Right Turn-Kumbalangad-NSS Vyasa College-Parlikad-Right Turn-Kurancheri Junction-Left Turn-Rejoin Wadakancher Thrissur road-Right Turn towards Thrissur-Join NH47 after Kuttanellur and onwards.

Few times I traveled thru this route and all time I am stuck at railway gate. I would try this definitely. Do you have any idea on how long is this by-pass stretch.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by asifpm

I wouldnt recommend this route. I traveled many times upto Mundoor en-route to Manarkkad. I would suggest to go thru Palakkad town to get into to Ottappalam route - and its pretty straight forward without having much confusion. Via Mundoor is a longer stretch also, but I do agree road is in condition.

You are right. Palakkad by-pass is a horrible mess. If getting through Palakkad market is a problem, then you can take a detour via the KSRTC busstand (left at the Y junction just as you enter Palakkad town at Kalmandapam) and rejoin the road at Melamuri

[k_nitin_r]

I have not been to the Palakkad by-pass yet, but if you do happen to travel on National Highway 7, going from Hyderabad to Nagpur, the road is simply terrible near Kamareddy. With the construction of the new highway in progress, vehicles now have to go through makeshift roads with pot holes, unpaved roads, and roads with unmarked speed breakers. All it took was one drive on those roads to knock off my hydraulic transmission belt and my air conditioning belt, both of which were replaced after I finished my trip.