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Here you go

Though it may look complicated on map, it is very straightforward. You just need to go past Sarjapur bus stand till you reach a T- Junction. The right is a narrow bye-lane and left is the bye-pass.

Follow this road.

If you see the SH's in TN, the by pass roads are prominent in Google maps. In this case there is no sarjapur by pass road as such. I think we have to take the road as shown in the map to avoid passing though Sarjapur town.
It would be better if the authorities develop a by pass road.

I missed this in my previous update (of MC Road & KK Road). The toll collection at Walayar toll booth has begun. Rs.45/- is the toll. I don't know how the company managed to pull this one, without much fan fare. The last time they started toll collection, it was stopped in a day due to public protest.

The toll collection was put on hold by the district collector when the concessionaire did not have any provision of reduced toll/concessions for the local populace, and also the roads until Vadakkenchery were not in the minimum expected shape to start collecting toll. Now, those staying within a particular distance (don't remember if it was 5km or 8km) would get a monthly pass at a much lower rate. And you can cruise at a decent speed until Vadakkenchery once you are out of the Walayar check post zone.

The toll collection has been happening since the beginning of June.

Drove solo from Cochin to Bangalore last Sunday and of my past 6 years of travelling between Cochin - Bangalore, never seen roads in such good shape.
Started from home at 11:15, tanked up at BP Irumpanam. Reached Kalamessery at 12:15. Since it was Sunday, there was not much traffic.
Took at lunch break at Wadakkencherry at 1:45 and started at 2 from there.
I crossed Walayar by 2:45. I was surprised by the time taken. Earlier, It used to take 1hr plus to travel from Walayar to Palakkad. The only fly here is the vehicles coming in the wrong lane near the RTO check post as the lorries occupy the complete lane to the right (when leaving Kerala). Bit Dangerous as we never anticipate this due to the 4 lane and good roads.
The roads from where TN border starts till L&T bypass are in terrible condition. Pathetic would be an understatement. It has been in similar shape for quite sometime. Some patches of the road has work going on. This is more of a no mans land I guess :D
Wanted to try the Bhavani - mettur stretch but my cousin discouraged me telling the roads are in bad shape. So Salem - route it was.
Took the Hosur - Bagalur stretch; saw the toll booths getting crowded at Krishnagiri and I expected the same rush at Hosur. They have tarred the road at Sarjapur, the place where you need to go between a row of houses / shops - this is not required anymore. The road around has been tarred.
Reach home at Bellandur at 8:45. (Road was blocked at Sarjapur - fireworks and celebration of some sorts).
I was left with a little less than Half tank of diesel when I reached Bangalore. :)

Exactly. I don't know why KL government is still allowing this. The roads have widened, and ideally trucks should be parked closely to the left and the remaining lanes on the right (from CBE side) to be open for general traffic. Instead of that nothing is done. And nor is a board kept informing a driver that he can use the opposite lane, as trucks would occupy his correct lane. A new driver would for sure get stumped here. If any thing KL should learn to operate properly, it is these umpteen sets of check posts. I have never seen such a chaos any where else.

This week end I may have to drive down to Calicut side. The train tickets are still in waiting list, and with Bakr-Id falling this week end, I don't see much chances for my tickets getting confirmed.

1. I plan to take the Mysore->Hand post->Bavali->Kattikulam route on my on-ward journey. If I can make an early start at around 0400hrs, my gut feeling is that I should be able to cross the Bangalore-Mysore state highway without much hassles. Any recent updates on the road condition? Is there a map available marking this route?
2. The return part seems to be a bit dicey. Plan to start on Sunday. I may be able to leave Calicut only by around 1100-1200hrs. Which means that by the time I reach Mysore-Bangalore state highway, it would be the worst time (evening), when lots of vehicles make a dash towards Bangalore. So was trying to see if I can return via the Bavali->Kattikulam->Handpost route. But instead of going towards Mysore, change directions and proceed towards Malavalli side. With that I may be able to avoid the Mysore mad rush. But has any one tried out this route? Any advice, tips?

Bridge near Kollegal is open

Had been to Hosur on Sunday morning. As soon as you pay the toll at Attibele and cross over to Tamil Nadu you will reach near the RTO check post. Earlier, there used to a perennial traffic jam/slow moving traffic here due to trucks, many of them double parked as well. Now, a flyover has been built but the situation is no different :Frustrati
Trucks are now parked in one lane beside (below) the flyover and also on 2 lanes on the flyover itself! So many trucks here that the check post personnel are seen wielding sticks to prevent truckers from zooming away without stopping or being checked. These guys station themselves at the junction/signal just after the check post. This slows down traffic and can take 5-15 minutes to escape the mess. On my return journey around 4pm, the scene was no different but luckily I was heading in the opposite direction :)

1. Yes, a 4 am start will enable you to comfortably pass Mysore without any hassles. I drove this route last on June 20th and road conditions are excellent. This is the route: Link

2. There is a route from Handpost (right turn a few km after handpost) that goes to Nanjangud-T Narsipura and onwards to Malavalli. But don't think anyone has tried it. I would suggest returning via Bathery-Gundlepet-Chamrajnagar-Kollegala. You will encounter the road work between forest exit and Gundlepet, but it should not be too much of a hassle.

Thanks. Two quick questions:-
1. I see that you have taken the Mysuru ring road. There is this first signal, which a person sees when driving down towards Mysuru (after crossing Srirangapatnam etc.). My understanding is that we take a right here, to enter the ring road. Taking left, also allows me to skip Mysuru but generally used when taking the regular route via Nanjangud. Am I right, here?
2. I see that you have also avoided the road through the forest leading to the town/village of Nisna. You have taken the road going via Magge etc. Any specific reason you avoided the route via the forest? Is it blocked?

With a 4AM start, there is no need to take the ring road, going straight through the city will save you quite some distance and time (about 8 to 10 kms I think).

Even when travelling during the day, I think it is shorter to take the ring road in the clockwise direction. i.e take a left turn at Columbia Asia signal, and go via Bannur Road, Mysore Race course, Nanjangud road to SH33.

Yes that section through the forest is blocked and there is a 15 kms diversion which passes through several villages. This used to be a horrible road till about a year back, but has now been completely tarred, and is in good condition (except for numerous speed breakers on the way). Even the road through the forest after this diversion has a lot of speed breakers and is quite narrow, but traffic is very low and hence it is quite an easy drive.

1. Yes you are correct. Since you will be crossing Mysore early, you can also get into SH 33 through the City itself. Can be faster. For this, the best route is to get on to the Nanjangud Road and at the first signal, take a right. Around 2 km down this road, you need to take a left to join SH 33.

2. Yes, the initial section is blocked/closed. The road shown on the map is a by-pass road that joins back inside the forest after the blocked section. This is a relatively new road. Only after this was completed did this route become a viable option.

I'm also going that way this weekend (Friday out, Sunday back). The return route you want to check out is Handpost-Hampapura-Nanjangud-T. Narasipura-Talakkadu-Malavally. I had asked about it a few months back on the Bangalore-Calicut thread but haven't been able to try it out yet.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3642845

I'll start from Calicut on the return much earlier than you (5 AM-ish), so if you PM me your number and if I end up taking this route I can give you a heads-up.

Though, I think taking the Mysore Ring Road in the clockwise direction (turn left at Columbia Asia junction) works out to be shorter.

Interesting - Just wanted to check what the difference in distance between taking the ring road clockwise and anticlockwise would be, and to my big surprise Google Maps says the anti-clockwise direction is shorter !!

From Columbia-Asia junction to SH33/Ring Road junction :

1) Anticlockwise via Ring road : 20.5 kms
2) Clockwise via Ring Road : 20.9 kms
3) Through City : via Hardinge Circle - Nanjangud Road - Ring Road : 14.9 kms
4) Through City : via Hardinge Circle - Sayyaji Rao Road - Madavachar Road - SH33 : 13.3 kms

(4) is the route I normally take during off-peak hours. Used to take (2) normally during day time, but looks like (1) is the better option !

While going I normally take 3. While returning, I tried 1 once and liked it. Totally bypasses the city (especially the stretch from SH 33-Ring Road Jn to the Nanjangud Road) and since it is mostly a 6 lane road now, you can make pretty quick progress (Only the signals are a bother)