[ravib]

Back from a yearly trip to B'lore-Trichy-Pillayarpatti in the weekend.

B'lore-Trichy via Thuraiyur route from Namakkal => As always, roads are in good condition, so nothing new to write about. Still the best option.

Karaikudi-Pudukkottai-Trichy => 2 lane Road widening is in progress.
Trichy to Pudukkottai section has lots of diversions and road is not in good condition. From Pudukkottai to Karaikudi, road conditions improve and little better, but still few diversions are there.

In current conditions, Not so great option to drive in the dark, due to diversions.

If you want to save time, but drive few more kms, better take Trichy-Madurai road and exit in singampunari. This time, We again tried Trichy to Pillayarpatti via Trichy-Viralimalai-Kottampatti-Singampunari-Tirupattur-Pillayarpatti route. Though its bit longer, its less stressful drive.

Hopefully by next year, if road widening work completes between Trichy-Pudukkottai-Karaikudi, then it is definitely a better option.

-Ravi

[nssrini]

Is there a median getting built now or just plain road widening?

Originally Posted by ravib

Back from a yearly trip to B'lore-Trichy-Pillayarpatti in the weekend.


Karaikudi-Pudukkottai-Trichy => 2 lane Road widening is in progress.
Trichy to Pudukkottai section has lots of diversions and road is not in good condition. From Pudukkottai to Karaikudi, road conditions improve and little better, but still few diversions are there.


-Ravi

[ampere]

Originally Posted by nssrini

Is there a median getting built now or just plain road widening?

As I read, it seems there is 4-laning going on on the Trichy-Pudukottai section.
Who know they may have plans to extend it all the will till Ramnad! Lets hope for the best.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by nssrini

Is there a median getting built now or just plain road widening?

At its current state, they are still widening the road in both sides, so not yet constructed any medians.
Even in the fully laid roads, from Pudukkottai to Karaikudi, there are no medians.


-Ravi

[nssrini]

Thanks for the info Ravi. I only hope they provide medians for long term benefits. It appears that there's increased real estate development activity that side, with new IIM Campus coming - so traffic is bound to increase on that stretch..

Originally Posted by ravib

At its current state, they are still widening the road in both sides, so not yet constructed any medians.
Even in the fully laid roads, from Pudukkottai to Karaikudi, there are no medians.

-Ravi

[nfsfreak]

Just to update on Namakkal-Musiri-Trichy conditions:

Namakkal - Musiri: Roads are OK till Thottiyam with occassional bad streches. Roads just before thottiyam till Musiri are very bad, sometimes worst.
Musiri-Trichy is in good shape for now.

Musiri-Kulithalai-Trichy: From Kulithalai roads are OK for around 20 Kms. In some stretches, the 4L (without median) is complete and is very good. But gets worse in last 15 Kms towards Trichy with some nasty pot holes enough to damage your tyres/suspension.

So, to summarize, as ravib mentioned - better option is to take Namakkal-Thuraiyur-Trichy.

[aravindr]

Originally Posted by ravib

Back from a yearly trip to B'lore-Trichy-Pillayarpatti in the weekend.

B'lore-Trichy via Thuraiyur route from Namakkal => As always, roads are in good condition, so nothing new to write about. Still the best option.

Karaikudi-Pudukkottai-Trichy => 2 lane Road widening is in progress.
Trichy to Pudukkottai section has lots of diversions and road is not in good condition. From Pudukkottai to Karaikudi, road conditions improve and little better, but still few diversions are there.

In current conditions, Not so great option to drive in the dark, due to diversions.

If you want to save time, but drive few more kms, better take Trichy-Madurai road and exit in singampunari. This time, We again tried Trichy to Pillayarpatti via Trichy-Viralimalai-Kottampatti-Singampunari-Tirupattur-Pillayarpatti route. Though its bit longer, its less stressful drive.

Hopefully by next year, if road widening work completes between Trichy-Pudukkottai-Karaikudi, then it is definitely a better option.

-Ravi

Ravi, how long did it take for you to reach Trichy from Bangalore? I am planning for a similar trip from Bangalore but to Thanjavur from Trichy.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by aravindr

Ravi, how long did it take for you to reach Trichy from Bangalore? I am planning for a similar trip from Bangalore but to Thanjavur from Trichy.

Driving time - 5 hrs for 350 kms. With breaks, you can add an hour approx. But it also depends on the time you exit Bangalore. Remember, EC to Krishnagiri is a pain to drive, and the other way is even worse.

Trichy to Tanjore : My usual timing is 45 mts. But note that there is a bridge construction happening before Thiruverumbur, which will slow you down very badly. So better don't plan in peak hours in mornings or evenings. After thiruverumbur, you can really do good speeds without any problem, but just watch out for some blind curves where Cows/Bulls may be grazing the median grass in high speed lane.

Incase, if your destination is Kumbakonam & If you are further planning to goto Kumbakonam, my suggestion is to take Tanjore-Thiruvaiyaru-Kabisthalam-Swamimalai-Kumbakonam route, instead of direct bus route via Tanjore-Papanasam-Kumbakonam.

-Ravi

[ravigop]

@nfsfreak thanks for the update. Is there a way to connect Kulithalai bypass from Periyar palam (bridge) directly when we travel from Musiri to Trichy ?
I noticed that going to Kulithali town busstand and connecting the bypass after 4 kms is still a pain as there are no roads at all in the old alignment.

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

Musiri-Kulithalai-Trichy: From Kulithalai roads are OK for around 20 Kms. In some stretches, the 4L (without median) is complete and is very good. But gets worse in last 15 Kms towards Trichy with some nasty pot holes enough to damage your tyres/suspension.

[ravigop]

Originally Posted by aravindr

Ravi, how long did it take for you to reach Trichy from Bangalore? I am planning for a similar trip from Bangalore but to Thanjavur from Trichy.

it takes 5:30 hrs if you drive non stop. However since we tend to break twice (one before Krishnagiri & another at Salem) it normally takes 6.5 - 7 hrs.

[nfsfreak]

Originally Posted by ravigop

Is there a way to connect Kulithalai bypass from Periyar palam (bridge) directly when we travel from Musiri to Trichy ?

As far as I know, There is no way to connect to the Kulithalai bypass from Periyar Palam. You have to go to Kulithalai town.

[Naturalist]

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

As far as I know, There is no way to connect to the Kulithalai bypass from Periyar Palam. You have to go to Kulithalai town.

Theres a small way once you cross Periyar bridge, on the left there is a small mud road going from the bridge to the bypass but it is quite steep. I went through that last time. Once you cross the bridge slow down and look for it. In that case you dont need to go through the Kulithalai town.

[ravigop]

Originally Posted by Naturalist

Theres a small way once you cross Periyar bridge, on the left there is a small mud road going from the bridge to the bypass but it is quite steep. I went through that last time. Once you cross the bridge slow down and look for it. In that case you dont need to go through the Kulithalai town.

is it drivable by car or only by bike ? how risky it is for a fully loaded vehicle to drive through that ?

[Naturalist]

Originally Posted by ravigop

is it drivable by car or only by bike ? how risky it is for a fully loaded vehicle to drive through that ?

If it is heavy loaded or more than 2 passengers I would not recommend that. Also because of rains that path might have been damaged. We were two people in Swift.

[csateesh]

Originally Posted by ravib

I usually do this ~90 kms stretch in 80 to 90 minutes via thuraiyur route.

-Ravi

Ravi

Pls. do share the details Thuraiyur route

Would want to give it a try

@nfsfreak, @ravib - Thanks for the latest info on the road. From the update it does seem better to opt for the Thuraiyur route
- Sateesh