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I went through Mattoor-Malayattoor-Kuruppampady when I was in the area during the December vacation. It was quite OK to drive on.

An update from my recent drive.

Jan 5
Bangalore - Salem - Walayar - Kuthiran - Thrissur - Edappally (Regular NH route)
- Started at 5:30 AM, reached Edappally at 2 PM with 3 stops (1 hr in total)
- Some earlier threads mentioned fog in the Hosur-Krishnagiri stretch but I didn't encounter any
- Roads until Neelambur offer a good drive. Neelambur to Madukkarai as usual is a pain. Madukkarai to Vadakkenchery is also a pain due to the number of signals with short duration for green. Vadakkenchery to Mannuthy has made lot of progress in the 6-laning work. Only short stretches and a couple of fly overs remain to be completed. These could however become bottlenecks in peak traffic but I got lucky. Kuthiran surface is patched up and traffic was light.
- Paliakkara toll Fast Tag lane was exclusive (manned barrier). In earlier drives they used to allow all vehicles through this lane.
- Thrissur to Aluva finds the usual heavy traffic with a number of signals that keep traffic bunched up
- Aluva to Edappally is becoming a pain to drive now. The road has 2 lanes with left lane encroached by parked vehicles, bus stops et al and right lane encountering turning vehicles at regular intervals. So lane changes are forced if you want to keep a decent pace.

Jan 8
Edappally - Coimbatore (Regular NH route)
- Started at 1 PM, reached at 4 PM with 1 stop of around 15 mins
- Similar conditions as above

Jan 9
Coimbatore - Salem - Attur - Ulundurpet - Tindivanam - Chennai bypass - Maduravoyal - Anna Nagar
- Started at 7:30 AM, reached at 2:15 PM with 2 stops (40 mins total)
- Roads good all the way through
- Bypasses to towns between Salem and Ulundurpet are 2 way roads
- Tolls are Fast Tag enabled except at Paranur (Chengalpattu)
- Traffic was heavy and chaotic between Paranur and start of Chennai bypass (Tambaram)
- Poonamalee high road surface from Maduravoyal to Koyambedu continues to be bad. Some patchwork is seen but still offers a very rough drive.

Updates from the return drive from Chennai will be posted in the Bangalore - Chennai - Bangalore thread.

Sadly, there are no option to skip Muvattupuzha. In fact, Muvattupuzha also sees severe traffic blocks unlike earlier. IF, Kadathy-Murikkallu bypass road gets completed, there is a possibility to bypass most of Muvattupuzha town. The Murikkallu bridge is completed, though. There are proposals for an IRR (Inner Ring Road) in Muvattupuzha; But little progress so far. 9 highways and roads meet at Muvattupuzha and without any bypasses!. But, Muvattupuzha town facilitates comparably smoother traffic flow without much delay unlike neighbouring Perumbavoor.

In the case of Kalady and Perumbavoor, the traffic blocks are the direct result of junctions which needed flyovers not built even after the traffic density has multiplied. At Kalady junction, Oushadhi junction in Perumbavoor town, the traffic gets chalked. Since, no diversions are available, traffic piles up. In the case of Kalady town too, similar scenario.

Another option to reach Kottayam, is to take Perumbavoor-Kolenchery road or from Mannoor, take a right turn to go to Valakom (NH 85) and join Peruvammuzhy-Piravom-Kaduthurthy-Kottayam road. The road conditions are not comparable to MC road or NH.

During my holidays in last month, I drove in Kerala roads for more than 300 km spread across many districts (small trips). Almost all roads were in very good condition. The real problem is narrow roads and vehicle density - which I think there is no immediate solution.

One thing I failed to understand is, why people are very reluctant to get enrolled for the toll tag. I traveled through Paliekkara toll four times on taxi (obviously without toll tag) I found the toll tag lanes are always empty. When I asked the taxi guy why he has not bought a toll tag, he said he is not aware of such stuff.

Another funny thing is I came across one toll which charges Rs.3 up&down, which had a long queue.

+1. Even the car manufacturers do not pass the information (new cars come with FASTag). My uncle took delivery of an Honda WRV and they didn't even bother to mention about the tag. He thought it's just another sticker.

Yes, when I passed TCR toll during Xmas (all lanes were crowded) I did notice the reaction of others. It was like "Hey, how come they let this guy pass". Here's the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsAH-6P7Gdc

Sorry for the OT.

That is the standard rate for bridges built by Kerala Roads & Bridges Corporation. Rs. 3 return toll is for bridges across rivers.

http://www.rbdck.com/?q=tollbooths

The current government plans to get rid of even that.

http://www.thehindu.com/article18477706.ece

Good to know that government is planning to remove the bridge tolls. It is not about paying Rs.3, but the inconvenience created by it is too much.

Nice to see that they have barricaded the Fastag lane. Last time I passed through this place, it was sort of "open to all" and I had to fight my way forward through a crowd of cars merging from everywhere. I did complain to the authorities there, as to why they were allowing non-Fastag vehicles on that lane.

New A2B alert - between Coimbatore and Palakkad, about 12 km from the end of Coimbatore bypass and 2 km shy of the interstate border. On the south side of the road, so no U-turn access for people going towards Kerala. Addresses a void I think.

The road is E-W or rather NE-SW , so south side of the road would mean - it is on LHS for people coming to KL and RHS for people leaving KL. Did you mean north side of the road ?

Looks like this one which is about 3km from Walayar RTO

Can somebody help me out with the best route from Kodaikanal to Muvattupuzha in terms of quality of the road for a sedan?

Kodai - Theni - Pooppara - Rajakkad - Adimali is the shortest. The section between Pooppara and Adimali were a bit bumpy and with some potholes here and there about an year ago. Don't know if it is repaired/relaid now. The rest is ok.

Kodai - Palani - Pollachi - Nenmara - Mannuthy - Muvattupuzha is good all the way, but longer by some 50 kms but will see heavy traffic post Vadakkencherry.

Another option is Kodai - Udumalaipet - Munnar - Adimali - Muvattupuzha. Scenic route. Don't know the condition of road between Chinnar and Munnar, the rest is ok.

No, I did mean south side of the road. Why would there be any confusion? What you have written also doesn't contradict what I had said.

Few updates for above route.

Pooppara - Rajakkad - Vellathooval - Kallarkutty - Adimali is ok. Roads between Pooppara and Rajakkad (around 11Kms) is bit patchy. There are potholes. But, manageable with sedan. Took this route during last week of Dec 2017.