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Just did the Kottarakkara->Punalur->Thenmala->Shenkottai->Rajapalayam->Madurai->Salem->Krishnagiri->BLR route. So thought I would give a short update on the route.

Roads from Kottarakara -> Punalur are in good condition. It is a kind of busy route, so I was barely able to maintain an average speed of around 30 kmph.

Punalur->Thenmala->Kerala Border: is of same quality as previous section, but the traffic is much less dense and i felt after thenmala dam, the roads get a bit wider too!. Lots of bends and beautiful sceneries in this section.

TN Border->Shenkottai->Rajapalayam->NH7 : No potholes, no surprise speed bumps. 2-laned road with some towns in between ( causing some narrowing of road along with slow traffic ). Mary-Brown outlet just after Rajapalayam provides a nice stopover and restroom break. My average speed in this section was just above 60 kmph.

NH7/NH208 -> Salem : "dream road". My speedo never crossed 120 and was still easily able to keep around 110 kmph average. Obviously the average took a hit around 10 kms from Salem, but apart from that its a very well laid road with less dense traffic.

Much have been talked about the Salem->BLR section via Krishnagiri, so I would not reiterate, but the 3-laning of the inclines in Mettur and the Krishnagiri sections really help avoid the bottle-necks caused by two trucks going at 20 & 21 kmph respectively. I have seen instances where a third truck joins the fray at 22 kmph, but those are rare ( once ). :-)

Oh man, the Walayar-Chavadi stretch is a big mess! There was a long queue piled up and we had to take a detour before Chavadi towards Velanthavalam and joined the NH-47 at Kanjikode. Due to the 4-lane road construction, the whole place has changed! For a moment, I couldn't recognise the road in front of the IL township and UB factory! :eek:

For folks who are heading towards Coimbatore from Palakkad, IMO it might be a good idea to take the Pollachi diversion at Kootupatha, take the left at the Athicode junction, cross Velanthavalam and join the NH-47 after Chavadi. Your car's suspension will thank you and so would the other passengers.



I just hope the 4-lane expansion is completed soon - this is taking longer than we thought. please:

Thats the problem. One instant its queueing up and the other instant its better. The best option is Avinashi-Palladam-Pollachi-Palakkad. Works out quite well and the Palladam-Pollachi road is awesome! This avoids CBE too. Most used to go via Pollachi default when Walayar was a bigger mess.

Even after the Walayar stretch widening is complete, it would make sense for us to use the Palladam-Pollachi stretch as traffic would be more when compared earlier. Vehicles that used to go via Ottapalam-Shoranur would prefer the widened Walayar stretch thus increasing the traffic density.

My family including two little children, are planning to drive around North Kerala next week. We arrive into Mysore from Madras on Sunday, and then start from there on Tuesday. I have a few concerns/queries as given below:

1) Mysore to Bekal – How is the Hunsur- Madikeri – Sulia section? Is it fully tarred? I believe the Irutty – Gonikoppal – Bekal route is good and another option to Bekal. How long would the drives be?

2) Bekal to Calicut – This section I read is high traffic and full of rash drivers. How is the road condition and how long would this drive take?

3) Bekal to Wayanad – This is another option we have and can take. Which route to take? How long would this drive be and road conditions?

Keeping in mind I have children and I would prefer the safest routes and roads which have less traffic. We regularly take driving holidays so the children are okay with long periods in the car.

The car is a Fiat Linea Tjet Emotion.

Hunsur-Madikeri is quite decent.
Madikeri-Sampjae : Super
Sampage-Sullia.. Still getting done. Hence expect it to be bad.
Sullia-Jalasoor-Cherkala-Bekal : Awesome roads.

Wow! Thats 150km of heavy traffic. (Payyanur-Kanur-Vadakara-Calicut). I think the roads are decent. Dont remember reading anything bad about it. Check @kala is a regular.

If you are not heading Calicut, then you can do : Taliparamaba-Iritty-Mananthvady.


Mostly safe stretches. But some high on traffic and some are bad (Sampaje-Sullia)

Thanks very much Ampere for your quick reply!

I spoke to the resort and a customer, who have both suggested this route from Madikeri:

Madikeri - Bhagmandala - Panathur - Kanhangad - Bekal. The first section is the road to Tala Cauvery from Madikeri.

Since the Sampaje - Sulia section is still getting done, I am planning to take the above route and give it a try.

To get to Kalpetta, I am going to take the route you suggested.

Yes this is I think better than Sullia. Since you are starting from Mysore Hassan option does not make sense . The route via Kanhagad should be better.

Hi Ampere,

Interesting alternate. Now, if we extend this for Trichur/Kochi travellers, would Avinashi-Palladam-Pollachi - Vadakkenchery work out (thereby bypassing Coimbatore, Walayar and Palghat bypasses and accompanying traffic ) ?
I am interested to know if the Pollachi- Vadakkenchery stretch is a good one ?

Venu

The problem with the Chavadi route is when some trailer/container truck decides to use this detour. Seeing one turning off at Chavadi, a few more would follow, and then the whole stretch gets jammed. Been at the receiving end a couple of times last year - I was just about 20km away from home, and got stuck royally on this rather narrow road.

I'm one of those who used to take Kangeyam-Palladam-Pollachi route until a few months ago.
Pollachi-Vadakkenchery is good tarmac. Traffic inside Kollengode and Vadakkenchery towns can slow you down a bit, else it's pretty much smooth flowing all along.

@coolclouds does this stretch often.

Yes many had been taking this option, when Walayar had all the queues and CBE bypass from Avinashi was getting done. The route to Pollachi either via Avinashi-Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi or Perundurai-Kangeyam-Palladam-Pollachi is very good. Beyond Pollachi the road via Kollengode to Vadakkenchery is narrow, but good tarmac nevertheless. Now that Kuthiran is also done up, I think the alternate is a good option even now.

More than the avinashi-palladam-pollachi route, the better option is perundurai-kangeyam-palladam-pollachi-meenakshipuram-kollengode route. Post pollachi the roads are narrow but continuous movement of vehicles.

Thanks agree: ! The Kangeyam route is presumably to bypass Tiruppur (which can slow you down ). I can see that there is no significant difference in Km too, between the two routes.

Kollengode to Vaddakkencherry, should be via Nemmara, right ? Or would you advise Kollengode-Alathur-Vaddakkencherry ?

Rgds,

Venu

Avinashi-Mangalam-Palladam is very good road and it does not go through Tiruppur. Take the second exit on the Avinashi bypass. For about a km or two roads are bad due to a flyover work. But there on its brilliant.



No need to go to Alathur. You can directly goto Vadakkencherry.

For Bekal, you can either take the Madikeri - Bhagamangadala - Panathur - Kanhangad - Pallikkere - Bekal
or
Hunsur - Gonikoppal - Iritty - Thalipparamba - Payyanur - Nileswar - Kanhangad Town - Bekal. In this, around 6-8km in the Hunsur - Gonikkoppal road tarring is not complete. But not an issue for any type of cars. Other than this, there is no issue about the roads.

For Bekal to Kalpetta, you can take Nileswaram - Payyanur - Thalipparamba - Iritty - Peravoor - Kottiyur Boys town - Manathawadi - Padinharethara - Kalpetta. The Kottiyur temple festival will be starting end of May till end of June (27days) so there could be traffic in this road and I am not aware of the road condition between Mananthawadi to Kalpetta.

Or
Since your destination is Kalpetta, you can take the Nileswaram - Payyanur - Thalipparamba -Kannur - Thalasseri - Nadapuram - Kuttyadi - Tharuvana - Padinharethara - Kalpetta. The advantage of the route is you will get some what plane and straighter road, but you have to deal with the mad traffic at Kannur and Thalasseri, so plan to travel early. Bekal to thalasseri you can cover in ~2hours if you are traveling starting around 6am.

Thanks
Rajesh