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Drove back to Chennai today from Thrissur. Started at 5.30AM and reached Chennai by 3PM. The traffic was very OK throughout, guess I was able to beat the holiday traffic with an early start. This stretch is becoming less enjoyable to drive, especially due to greenhorns during long weekends. My run from Chennai to Thrissur on Saturday, the 22nd was largely uneventful till Salem but lots of unruly drivers (most were from Bangalore with KA regd cars) from Salem till Thrissur.

Hi All,

I need your inputs on driving to Guruvayur.

1. Status of Coimbatore - Palakkad - Thrissur - Guruvayur.
Any major road surface/traffic concerns on this road? Also is there any alternative route?

2. Guruvayur to Karur
Google maps shows an alternative road via Thrissur - Vadakancherry - Kollengode - Pollachi. Can this road be preferred over Thrissur - Palakkad - Coimbatore bypass?

Thanks in advance

Probably too late to benefit you. I took the Salem -Palladam-udumalpet-chinnar-marayoor-munnar route. Very good roads all the way to marayoor. Marayoor -Munnar was patchy and potholed in parts, but still was ok.

Guys I will be driving from Bangalore to ottappalam on this Sunday. I will be taking Salem- erode- coimbatore- palakkad route.

Anything to look out for considering the new year weekend?

More importantly I plan to drive to Munnar as well in the days after new year. Any update on the roads to Munnar from Trissur eranakulam side? Is Munnar doable now after the rains?

Am driving to Cochin on Sunday too. I guess it won't be crowded as the Xmas weekend but will be heavy than normal weekends. An early start will be better.

Just did Munnar -Kozhikode yesterday. Roads are mostly good all the way. Only issue is that there are still 3-4 stretches in the ghats where work is still happening and hence road is single lane. So there can be small delays in these stretches. I got stuck for 20-30 min in total in the ghat stretch (after adimali).

Considering it was Christmas just a few days back and the upcoming New Year, there will definitely be checks for anyone carrying adult beverages, most probably on the Coimbatore bypass stretch.

Also, be careful when driving on the Coimbatore bypass. I've noticed the truckers and the local public are getting bolder when overtaking, literally making the oncoming vehicle go off the road. Play chicken at your peril.

There really is no need to go to Erode, unless you have a reason to go via Erode.The highway is straight from Salem to Coimbatore via Perundurai Avinashi.

He probably meant the Erode bypass through the Bhavani bridge. :)

IINM, he has driven down through this route from Pune before.

Thank You Guys.
Well wont be carrying any Adult Beverages :P

Yes Gannu is correct. I meant Erode Bypass. Have driven this route before.

Intention was to leave Pune today and halt at Blore for a day. But had to shift this to Tomorrow. So accordingly Blore-Kerala drive is now postponed by one day as well. So instead of Sunday will now be driving down on Monday.

Just drove to Thekkady & Kumarakom from Chennai. Good roads all around.

There seem to be some roadwork going around Idukki district (may be the flood damage is being repaired). Specifically: Peermade - Kuttikanam - Mundakayam is having lots of bottlenecks as the two lane is converted to a single lane for road work.

The other side: Kulamavu - Idukki - Narakkanam - Kattapana had less traffic but the road condition was bad (in many places).

Yes. Adith Bhavan was a decent place with tasty food, affordable price, ample of parking & neat toilets. I used to be regular there. This time around, I almost missed them because I was looking for their big A2B like signboard. Looks like this Saravana Bhavan is a franchise. Food was tasty and affordable. Posting some pictures.

It is BR

I have noticed 2 new things on the road from Hosur to Avinashi this time. May be, these changes are present since some time already and I am seeing it only now.

There are dancing traffic lights on the road almost till Avinashi. 3 colors -- red, white, blue. You will unknowingly start braking because it is tad frightening.

Also, be careful about barricades to reduce speed. They are kept near all crossings near each village. In some places , only middle lane is kept open. In other places , left lane and middle lanes are open.

I feel those barricades are dangerous esp if there are vehicles all around you ( will hinder visibility) and then you attempt to change lane. These barricades could present themselves in front of you out of nowhere.

I am not sure if this is a proven and scientific method to reduce speed or it is some typical jugaad approach.

I did not spot any interceptors or speed cameras though I was anticipating them.

Yes, some of the regulars on the Bangalore/Chennai-TN-KL routes have been ranting about these for some time now. :-)

Horrible, these are. I had even thought about asking NHAI (via RTI) on the research report, IRC recommendation or other technical basis for allowing these on their roads. I'm quite certain these lights are hazards themselves.

Reducing carriageway width as a traffic calming device is indeed a method practised worldwide. See:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicane

But I'm not sure if it is recommended to use these on a high-traffic intercity highway. The saving grace is that these are removed after a certain time, so overnight drivers are spared.

I did miss it yesterday, even after seeing your post. Actually after the Krishnagiri toll I counted 3-4 Saravana Bhavans none resembling these photos, so I assumed I missed it and stopped at Mangalam (I just needed a cup of tea).

But I get ahead of myself. I drove Perumbavur-Bangalore yesterday between 2 and 11 PM. Since I had noticed a big pileup Mattoor and Okkal on MC Road earlier in the day, I chose to avoid Kaladi by coming via Malayattoor-Manjapra. Still had a bit of a pileup at Angamali so with hindsight I would have been better off turning Mookkannur/FISAT.

Couldn't help getting caught in a fairly massive jam at Paliyekkara toll, though. They have conveniently closed the dedicated Fastag lane for resurfacing so had to battle it out with the hoi polloi. The traffic from Angamali till Ollur was unbelievably heavy. I could manage only 78 km in the first two hours.

Kuthiran and surrounding areas looked like an abandoned excavation site. There is no work happening anywhere that I could see - no widening work, no tunnel work, no flyover work.

Once out of Kerala everything was as smooth as it could possibly be; and the odd hour ensured that Krishnagiri-Bangalore (including BETL) went by peacefully. My trip meter says 8h 40min for 530 km.

The second toll towards Palakkad on Coimbatore bypass (the one just before the Trichy road junction) had a 2+km queue of vehicles. Many were KA, so I'm guessing these are people out to celebrate weekend+new year's at various resorts.