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The bad patches of the Palakkad-Thrissur section is between Vadakkenchery and Mannuthy - so by going through Pollachi, you aren't really escaping the bad portions.

Works were going on in this section when I traveled about a month back, hope they repaired fair part of it.

Walayar-Trichur: think of the horrible traffic, almost 24 hrs. Though highway, bumper to bumper traffic make it unpleasant. Pollachi stretch is a relief, I don't think any loss in time, despite few extra kms.(I am not sure).

Thanks a ton Sunney and Pramod. I will try the Pollachi route if there is no plan to halt at a relative's place in CBE. I too enjoy village roads if they are in reasonably good condition.
Sunney, I am from Kochi :) But I have always driven to Calicut first before going to Kochi. Hope the monsoon clouds have opened their taps, looking forward to enjoy the rain.

Cheers

VW

Pollachi route will increase your travel time as it is longer and you have to pass through towns. You only avoid Walayar but cannot avoid Kuthiran which is the place where you will be slowed down the most.

Pollachi route is advised if there is a traffic jam at Walayar check post else stick on to regular NH itself. Its not that bad nor slow. Since you are traveling during sun light, no traffic jam expected at Walayar and you can easily negotiate the bad stretch.

No traffic jam in Walayar today, and not expected for next 2 days. Generally traffic increases by Thursday night, peaks by Friday night and gets over by Saturday morning

If you want to go to Pollachi, then you dont even need to go to Avinashi.
Get into Perundurai town take the Kangeyam road. At Kangeyam take right at the main circle to Palldam. At Palldam take the road to Pollachi.

This is much much smoother and hardly any traffic in these towns.

And by the way Monsoon has hit Kerala.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/13844336.cms

Route Update

Just completed Blr-Kochi-Blr via Salem & Coimbatore

Section 1: Blr - Krishnagiri
2.5/5 stars on the condition

Roads have become patchy, plus the widening work is going on so the road has also become narrower.

Section 2: Krishnagiri - Salem
4/5 stars on the condition

Really good road and worth the toll that you will pay. I have deducted 1 star because on the Thoppur ghats the upper tar layer has wrinkled and you will have to be wary of some bad ones. This is only while going towards Krishnagiri

Section 3: Salem - Avinashi (Velur)
5/5 stars on the condition

This 80 odd km section is the best with smooth roads and less traffic.

Section 4: Avinashi (Velur) - Coimbatore Bypass - Walayar
2/5 stars on the condition

Even though the Coimbatore Bypass is a good 2 lane, the roads before and after are really bad.

Avinashi Bypass has been 70% complete and traffic is allowed in some sections but watch out for the joints in the bridges as they have a gap and can be nasty

At the end of Coimbatore Bypass to Walayar there isnt any development with the roads in diversion and broken.

Section 5: Walayar - Thrissur
3/5 stars on the condition

Roads till Palakkad are good but after that it is broken at places and patched badly, since the monsoons are on their I dont see any improvement on this section

Please be wary of the buses as they will overtake at break neck speeds without a heed to oncoming traffic.

Section 6: Thrissur - Kochi
3.5/5 stars on the condition

From Thrissur you will find good 4 lane road up untill just before Kochi. Though the roads are good, traffic is quite a lot during peak timings and hence, you need to be careful at the intersections.

I thinking of driving to Palghat, from Navallur on OMR Chennai. I intend to leave office around 6:00pm. What would be the best route to take? Normally when driving from home, I used to take the Bangalore highway to Krishnagiri, Salem, Avinashi and into Kerala. Checking google maps, it suggested taking the Ullundurpet , kallakuruchi, attur, Salem Route. There was also another option of perambalur, neyveli, karur, dharapuram, pollachi route. The third option is reach sriperambathur from Vandalur and take the normal route of Krishnagiri.

Given that I would be driving a small car and night driving, which of the 3 routes is recommended?

Thanks in advance...

- You can omit the route via Krishnagiri. (Its getting 6-laned)
- You can also omit the route via Karur. (As at night not sure how would the access to Karur would from Chennai-Trichy GQ.

That leaves two otions:

- Ulundurpet/Salem/CBE/Palakkad
- Trichy/Dindigul/Udumalpet/Pollachi/Palakkad.

Ideally I would have preferred the second option. But due to night drive, please stick to the route via Salem.
Also please take precaution on last 40-50km access to Salem (from Attur). 4-lane work in progress.

Other than that I think its very good option. Gives you 4-lane for most part.

@Ampere: Thanks, what is the issue with the last 50 kms to Salem from Attur?

The issue is that there are no diversions marked. You may keep going on the four and will end up in a dead-end.
Some members faced this issue.

Check these last few posts in the following thread:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2783262

The construction is happening between Hosur & Krishnagiri. Is there any work started on Chennai route?

The construction is happening between Hosur & Krishnagiri as well as Krishnagiri & Vellore. On the other route, work happening between Salem & Ulundurpet as well, not sure of the exact stretches in this route though.

Even Krishnagiri to Vellore you will see diversions at many places.
They are trying a 6 lane of the full route I think.