[hillsnrains]

Hi folks,

Today i have successfully completed Bangalore to Podili(deviation from NH5 @Ongole). Here is the quick update on road conditions
Whitefield-Andhra boarder(Via kolar): dream to drive. In perfect condition
Andhrapradesh boarder-Chittoor:2 lane road (read no divider), but perfect surface to drive. May be a problem while overtaking long trailer trucks
Chittoor-Tirupati:Road is ok overall, with small bad patches here and there. Especially putalapattu-Tirupati road(officially speed limit is 100KMPH)started showing age.
Tirupati-Srikalahasti:Except Tirupati ring road, road condition is bad(with lots of speed breakers)
Srikalahasti-Nayudupet: Surface is recently done, so good to drive.
Nayudupet -Nellore(NH5): can't be any better, i mean perfect condition
Nellore-Ongole:First half strech diversions(may be 4) are of not NH5 standards. Rest is very good. Most of the NH5 3 lane work is done, with just few patches remaining.

Great surprise is the removal of 9 serial breakers(out of 12)before and after Ongole city. They were the real killers for the last few years


Hope this helps!

[RollingWheels]

Hi Hillsandrains, thanks for this update. How long did it take for you to complete this journey up till ongole? Is your vehicle a sedan or an SUV? Any idea about the road conditions beyond ongole till Vijayawada. Last year same time there were lots of diversions owing to 6 lane work in progress. Am taking this route this Friday.

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by RollingWheels

Hi Hillsandrains, thanks for this update. How long did it take for you to complete this journey up till ongole? Is your vehicle a sedan or an SUV? .

He must have taken his Skoda Rapid, my guess only.

Any idea about the road conditions beyond ongole till Vijayawada. Last year same time there were lots of diversions owing to 6 lane work in progress. Am taking this route this Friday

What I heard from one of my friends who travelled on a bus that route few days back, the 6 laning from Vijayawada upto Chilukaluripet has been complete. So there still might be some diversions between Ongole and Vijayawada.

[PMK-MoJo]

Has any one tried via chennai?
Hope this route will be a bettet except more distance. I believe it will be more comfortable drive.
Any suggestions?

[hillsnrains]

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

He must have taken his Skoda Rapid, my guess only

Yes, you are correct Jose!

Originally Posted by RollingWheels

Hi Hillsandrains, thanks for this update. How long did it take for you to complete this journey up till ongole? Is your vehicle a sedan or an SUV? Any idea about the road conditions beyond ongole till Vijayawada. Last year same time there were lots of diversions owing to 6 lane work in progress. Am taking this route this Friday.

We stared@4.40AM from whitefield and there in Ongole 12.05PM. We took 45 minutes breackfast break @Chittoor town(Hotel Sindhu, opp. railway stration) and three more 5 minutes breaks for my 3yr old son. At ongole we took another 30 minutes break and reached Podili@1.30PM and had lunch @home

My authentic inputs are also concurs with what Jose said in his previous post, Ongole to Vijayawada is in good shape? I will travel on this strech till Guntur in couple of days and update the same.

Originally Posted by PMK-MoJo

Has any one tried via chennai?
Hope this route will be a bettet except more distance. I believe it will be more comfortable drive.
Any suggestions?

Route via Chennai is significantly long (may be 100+ kms) especially those who are staying in and around Whitefield. It will take more time as well because you have to cover quite a few additional kms. If you need a good highway to drive (between Bangalore and Vijayawada) then try via Hyderabad, according to me which is far better choice than route via Chennai.

I hope i answered you query?

[hillsnrains]

Mods, excuse for back to back posts. I am using mobile device to post, hence confusion. Can you please delete this post.

[RollingWheels]

Thanks a lot. This is really helpful. Appreciate your inputs.

[PMK-MoJo]

Originally Posted by hillsnrains

Route via Chennai is significantly long (may be 100+ kms) especially those who are staying in and around Whitefield. It will take more time as well because you have to cover quite a few additional kms. If you need a good highway to drive (between Bangalore and Vijayawada) then try via Hyderabad, according to me which is far better choice than route via Chennai.

I hope i answered you query?

Thanks for the reply.
I stay near to Electronic city and my destination is Guntur. i generally used to go Via chittoor & Tirupati. So for me it will take more than an hour to reach KR PURAM itself. So thinking about this route via chennai. looks like no benefit with Distance or time but expecting road will be good.

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by PMK-MoJo

Thanks for the reply.
I stay near to Electronic city and my destination is Guntur. i generally used to go Via chittoor & Tirupati. So for me it will take more than an hour to reach KR PURAM itself. So thinking about this route via chennai. looks like no benefit with Distance or time but expecting road will be good.

If it takes you more than 1 hour to reach KR Puram, I think it would be better for you to take the route to Guntur via Chennai. Since you will travel on a 4 lane road till Guntur, you can save time even though the route is a bit longer than via Tirupathi.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by PMK-MoJo

Has any one tried via chennai?

Originally Posted by PMK-MoJo

I stay near to Electronic city and my destination is Guntur.

Not recommended to go via Madras. Roads are in disastrous form past Arcot and traffic also significantly increases past that. There are 2 options:

1. Electronics City-Krishnagiri-NH 219-Palamaner-Chittoor-Tirupati-Naidupet-Guntur.
2. Electronics City-Ranipet-Chittoor-Tirupati-Naidupet-Guntur.

There was an old update that NH 219 was good, back when Bangalore-Mulbagal 4-laning was in progress.

Option 2 gives you more 4-laners and latest known conditions of Ranipet-Chittoor section and in addition you avoid extended city traffic of both cities. It might add 30-40 km over the traditional route, but would save you some hassles.

[hillsnrains]

Originally Posted by PMK-MoJo

Thanks for the reply.
I stay near to Electronic city and my destination is Guntur. i generally used to go Via chittoor & Tirupati. So for me it will take more than an hour to reach KR PURAM itself.

I would suggest the following route

ECity-krishnagiri-vellore-chittoor-tirupati-nayudupet-guntur

Originally Posted by narayans80

Not recommended to go via Madras. Roads are in disastrous form past Arcot and traffic also significantly increases past that. There are 2 options:

^^ narayans

Via chennai is not good option as you suggest. But i prefer the above sugggested route. I have done the above route 4 times, but that was before 2013. At that time i was staying in E city. The advantage with route is, u will get very good 4 lane road all the way till Vellore and advantage is very good breakfast/snaks options along the way

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by hillsnrains

ECity-krishnagiri-vellore-chittoor-tirupati-nayudupet-guntur

There is just one catch. You'll have to wade through Vellore-Katpadi which could be a pain. Ranipet is a breeze to cross in comparison. Going via Vellore will be shorter by 15 km.

Yet another option that comes to mind is Electronics City-Attibele-Sarjapura-Bagalur-Malur-Kolar-Chittoor-Naidupeta-Guntur.

Bagalur-Malur-Kolar was being resurfaced quite sometime back. Don't know the current status.

This option avoids quite a few tolls, the only toll you'd pay till Naidupet is at Mulbagal.

[hillsnrains]

Originally Posted by narayans80

There is just one catch. You'll have to wade through Vellore-Katpadi which could be a pain. Ranipet is a breeze to cross in comparison. Going via Vellore will be shorter by 15 km.

I agree, there will be some traffic in Vellore-Katpadi strech. Generally i will stop for breakfast in vellore, where one can get quite a few options including Saravanabhavan.

[hillsnrains]

I have came back from my hometown in AP to Bangalore Yesterday. Here is the update.

Started from Podili @5.10AM and reached Bangalore, whitefield @4.00PM
Breaks:
Breakfast @Nellore AP Tourism for 45 mins
Coffee @ Coffee Day, Chittoor bypass for 15 minutes
Lunch @ Adigas near Kolar for 45 mins

Road conditions:
Podili to Ongole: Good to ok, with few speed breakers and few badpatches before an after Cheemakurthy
Ongole to Nellore: Overall verygood, with some 5 diversions between Kavali and Nellore are in bad shape
Nellore to Nayudupet: Excellent
Nayudupet to Tirupati: Good, with alot of speed breakers before and after Sreekalahasti
Tirupti to AP Boarder: Good roads with lot of traffic between Chitoor and Palamaner
AP boarder to Bangalore: Excellent roads, 4 laning is almost done and we can expect toll gate (AP&KA boarder) to function very soon

Here are few other points may be somebody can benifit:
There are all three Oil Marketng Companies COCO Fuel pumps little after Ongole(in the order as you travel from Ongole to Nellore). All are on left hand side only
HPCL, Vallur (opp valluramma temple)
BPCL, Surareddy palem (easy to identify as there are big storage tanks behind the pump)
IOCL, Surareddy palem (few meters after BPCL pump)

I think many BHPians might have noticed cattle signboards near Nellore, in near future NHAI might remove those. There is fencing work going on along the NH5 on both sides, which can reduce the aceess points to cattle, sheep from the side by fields. This is a great move.

There is a new food joint (this is the first time I noticed), Hotel Amaravathi near Gudur, few kms before the Budhanam toll plaza. I have not tried, but looks good from outside atleast.

[Arka]

I am thinking of driving from Bangalore to Bhubaneswar, shortly. In a dilemma, and am trying to decide between Bangalore-Hyderabad-Vijayawada and Bangalore-Tirupati-Vijayawada. I am a sedate driver and seldom exceed 100 kmph even on the best of highways. What would you suggest, based on the current road conditions on these two routes?