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Well maybe timing is a factor as well.Last month I left NH17 Kozhikode bypass at 715 and was at Pumpwell at 1310,at Marvanthe at 1700,at Karwar 2030.Yes the drive is stressful no doubt.But 6-7hours is decent timings IMO.

Not fully repaired but there are improvements to the extent of filling up the pot-holes with hard fillings and hence I could do Alathiyur-Tirunavaya-kuttipuram in about 25-30 minutes. And they have started major repair work from Kuttipuram side and when I drove last week-end, for a couple of kms, they were allowing vehicles in one direction only as one-half of the road was being patched up in a decent way. Looks like, the full stretch will be repaired in another 15 days if the same progress continues. Also heard that some inspection (by ministers and some senior officials) is going to happen about the progress of approach road works for the Chamravattom bridge and hence Kuttippuram->Tirunnavaya->Alathiyur->Chamravattom is getting patched up to a decent condition !

Totally agree about timings and stress factor.

A couple of months back, I did a trip for which the timings are:
Calicut (5 AM) -> Talipparamba (7.30 AM) : 2.5 hours which is very good.
Talipparamba (9 AM) -> Calicut (2 PM) : 5 hours which is very bad. Took 1 hour for Valapattanam->Chovva Jn (where Kannur->Iritty->Virajpet road forks) and again one hour for Dharmadam->Tellicherry->Mahe South Border. There was a small traffic block at Koyilandi which wasted about 15-20 minutes and then the perennial bottleneck of Korapuzha bridge near Elathur where there was a huge traffic pile-up (police allowing only one directional traffic and switching the directions in every 10 minutes) that wasted close to half an hour.

In short, morning onward trip was a 2.5 hours of non-stop driving while the return was close to 2 hours of driving and 3 hours of stopping/crawling.

For those who are travelling Mangalore->Kannur section of NH-17, the bad news is that Kanjangad->Kasargod stretch is reported to be in very bad condition and also Kasargod->Mangalore section has deteriorated again recently.

Thanks. Hope they do a good job this time. Normally they patch it and within 2 months it is back to its old shape. Wish they would relay it the same way as the Tirur-Edarikode stretch and other such stretches in Malappuram Dt. If I recall correctly, these stretches were done minimum 5-6 years ago and are still in very good condition

Couldnt agree more on this. Although it was long delayed and faced lot of issues, the end result is a wonderful road. Shows that we can make good roads.

But heard that the poor contractor who did the work committed suicide due to long delays in getting bills cleared.

Today's Mathrubhumi confirms the news about Chamravattom bridge to be inaugurated on January 30. This will reduce Calicut to Thrissur/Guruvayur/Ernakuam distance by about 25-30 kms and also will be a good alternative to the hilly stretches in NH-17 of interior Malappuram district. Just after Ramanattukara, you can take a right and move towards Kadalundi via Olipramkadavu and join the currently damaged Calicut->Feroke->Tirur road. From Kadalundi onwards till Chamravattom, the road is in good condition now and upto Tirur, it runs parallel to both the railway track and west coast.

Tirur-Edarikode stretch will always be good because of its special status as the connecting road from district head-quarters (Malappuram) to the main railway station of the district (Tirur). Also, from Tirur, this road is the popular one to Kottakkal/Manjeri/Nilambur apart from the status of being the most frequented road to Calicut Airport. Even most of the other roads (NH-17, NH-213, main roads around Nilambur/Manjeri etc.) are in great shape now, the only exception being the interior main roads between Perinthalmanna/Pattambi.

Thanks for this info. Can you please show this in a Google map?

Correct.
1. Now this route can be an escape route for Calicut-Ernakulam travelers. This is actually the OLD road before NH 17, running through sea-shores. Old and hence narrow and through densely populated areas, but more panoramic. Sticking to this route you can totally avoid NH 17, via Ponnani, chavakkad, Kodungallur, Paravur, Edappally.
But this time, after monsoon, do not expect fantastic roads anywhere in Kerala except Mannuthi-Trichur-angamaly-Ernakulam(currently the fast highway in Kerala).
2. Before that, from Payyannur you can avoid damaged NH by turning right, just before Pilathara(abt 5Kms from Payyannur) towards Payangadi-reaching Valapatnam bridge.
3. Also after Kannur, you can turn left to leave NH17 to parallel road to reach Dharmadam, just before Thalassery.

Route 3 may be taken after consulting local taxi drivers, which is best road.(no truck drivers, who will tell 'good road' for their heavy wheels, but pot-holed for cars:eek:).

I am heard Payyannur-Calicut-Trichur highway is a nightmare now. Then better divert to interiors: normally low traffic, and panoramic, though slightly curved.

Thanks for the info. I am little skeptical on whether the 25-30km reduction in distance will translate into time saved. Parappanagadi, Tanur, Tirur-Thazepalam jn are all crowded places and the roads are not very wide. When the traffic increases on this stretch, I expect these areas would become serious bottlenecks. I used to always take this route from Calicut to Tirur (via Feroke-Kadalundi when that road was in good shape) to avoid the NH traffic and in most cases the time taken would be same as the time taken via the NH although distance was 10km less.

But the view from the Kadalundi bridge is breath taking and I used to still take this route just for stopping a few min there and enjoying the serene view

IMHO, it would be safer to stick to the main road itself. The roads are narrow, and there is heavy truck traffic. Since Dharmadom (Moidu) bridge is out of bounds for trucks, trucks take interior roads.

The traffic from Puthiyatheru to Chovva is usually horrible during day hours - if one is traveling during early hours, then there is no problem at all.

Interior roads are best avoided - Althouth they would have low traffic, the road surface is usually horrible, and would restrict your speed by a huge margin.

The road is awesome from Malaparamba (beginning of Calicut bypass) all they way to Kunnamkulam (not sure of the stretch from Kunnamkulam to Thrissur - I haven't been on that road for ages now). The only bad section is between Kuttipuram bridge to the point where the NH17 turns off from SH69.

I recently did Kozhikode (Eranhipalam) to Kodungallur in under 3 hours (started off from Kozhikode at 15:20 and was in Kodungallur by 18:00, including a 15 minute break at Kunnamkulam) - I did not speed more than 110kmph any where.

Kodungallur to Kozhikode was done in just a shade over 2 hours: started off at 05:50 and reached Kozhikode by 08:00.

We are driving down to Thirunelly temple starting from Bangalore on Sat morning. Can anyone please update the best route and raod conditions? Route with less potholes preferred, even though longer.

Thanks,
Venu.

Drove from Bangalore to Palakkad via the usual Hosur, Krishnagiri, Salem, Avinashi, Coimbatore route. Good roads till about Avinashi. From there to L&T, it is better than what it was 3 months ago. Not terrible like before - you just've to be able to get ahead of slow moving trucks. Lot more trucks on the road today than I've experienced before. I started at 12 noon from Silk Board. Reached Palakkad Junction (Chandranagar) at 5:15pm with a fuel stop in between.

To avoid Avinashi, I was planning to take Chengapally (take left at the end of 4 laned road before Avinashi), Tirupur, Palladam, Sulur, L&T. Since Avinashi road wasn't bad, no harm done!

From L&T exit to Walayar, roads are bad. From Walayar to Palakkad, roads are ok.

The Bangalore-Calicut road is absolutely horrible. I was in Wayanad this week and the road was hell. Right from Sulthan Bathery onwards, the road was absolutely hell. There is not a single decent stretch of road.

vsbabu,

5.15hrs from Bangalore to Palakkad which is around 400 km is awesome timing and that too during the day!

Which vehicle? And what speeds do you drive at? Any tips to share?

I've a 2007 Innova Diesel. I drive to Palakkad often since that is my hometown - I am very familiar with the roads. I generally don't go above 120kmph at all; usually stick to 100kmph or less - I had couple of KA registration cars with team-bhp stickers pass me - so my driving is definitely more sedate! Usually, I drive early in the morning - at 4:00am and reach Palakkad by 10:30am with a 45min break for breakfast. Today, I didn't take any break other than a 5min fuel stop. Guess that helped. Usually, I used to loose time around Salem traffic and then again Avinasi. Today, both towns were relatively empty. From my experience, both these should be avoided between 9-10am and 4-6pm.

Timings were like this (approximate):
12:00 silk board
12:30 HP fuelstation after Hosur
01:10 Krishnagiri tollgate
02:00 Thoppur tollgate
02:40 Exit Salem clover junction
03:30 Chengapalli; end of 4 lane road
03:45 Exit Avinasi
04:45 Walayar checkpost
05:15 Chandranagar jn (and a traffic jam!)

Thanks for your reply. 100-120kmph is a safe speed to do on the 4 lanes. Maybe I should cut down on breaks to better my timings. Most of my drives to Cochin had been in the nights and that comes with the inevitable 2-3 power naps + Fuel & Tea Breaks plus the long queue of trucks at the Toll booths. Maybe I should try an early morning start next time and see how to better the timings at a safe speed.