[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Though personally not tried it, I hear Perambalur-Thuraiyur-Karur is pretty good 2-lane. This way you'll avoid even the bad stretch between Trichy-Karur. The route ram suggests is good too, only thing is you have to go through Trichy city to get onto Dindigul road.

narayan, I did this stretch last week (Perambalur-Thuraiyur-Musri-Karur). My time of travel was 1 AM. Perambalur-Thuraiyur stretch is decent with lot of Speed brakers. Thuraiyur-Musri is good mostly with few unexpected bumps. Musiri-Karur (NH67) route is pathetic. 4 laning is on and I had a very dangerous drive for about 1 hour from Musiri to Karur. I would strongly recommend to avoid this stretch as of now.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

Sticking to the topic of Avinashi-CBE 4-laning "for a change" and not ways of avoiding it - from the CBE bypass pt to Avinashi it is just pathetic. Gotten worse we feel. From Avinashi to the Chengapalli 4-lane end-pt its ok. We drove this morning from 4:30 to 5:30 am. It was a nightmare. Will switch back to Kangeyam-Palladam-Sulur next time till I hear from someone that Avinashi-CBE is done and dusted. Friday: Did the Dharapuram-Palladam-Sulur-CBE stretch. Fantastic. A breeze.

Have you tried this?

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by ampere

NH67 (Kangeyam-Palladam) is fantastic. Even Perundurai-Kangeyam is very good. You would love to drive on that road. If you want to hit CBE then this is definitely a longer route. But if you want to hit Kerala. The route via Pollachi is definitely recommended. No barriers in between except for the by-passing Pollachi. Its not that big a problem provided you know which route to take.

EDIT: I think there is a 4-Laning plan for NH67. In most parts this NH is good to very good. The whole NH67 includes:

Gundlupet-Bandipur-Ooty-Mettupalayam-CBE-Palladam-Kangeyam-Karur-Trichy-Tanjore

Karur-Trichy section is the one that is already happening, but for a long time now!
Trichy-Tanjore is done and dusted!
I dont see any need to widen CBE-Palladam-Kangeyam-Karur as it is doing good for the current traffic given its pristine condition.
Mettupalayam-CBE is a mess with heavy traffic! 4-Laning has been happening from CBE-Thudiyalur in this stretch, not sure when they would complete it and extend it all the way to Mettupalayam.
Gundlupet-Bandipur-Ooty-Mettupalayam might be a distant reality as it is mostly ghat section.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by luvurride

Gundlupet-Bandipur-Ooty-Mettupalayam might be a distant reality as it is mostly ghat section.

One does not even need a 4L there. Gundlupet-Bandipur-Gudalur-Ooty is in very good condition to drive.

[iridium]

Drove from Salem to Coimbatore on May 20, 2011.
The last 60 kms to Coimbatore is still being done. We left Salem at around 11Am and the last 60kms was a dreadful experience. Too much of traffic. Four laning is not yet complete. Need to keep changing lanes.

BTW, the stretch from Salem to Dindigul is fantastic. Drove from Dindigul to Bangalore via Salem
on May 23, 2011.
Karur to Salem is 100kms. Not much traffic and the road is very good.
So also Dindigul to Karur. Its about 72kms and the road is very good.

Regards
Iridium

[ramzsys]

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

Sticking to the topic of Avinashi-CBE 4-laning "for a change" and not ways of avoiding it - from the CBE bypass pt to Avinashi it is just pathetic. Gotten worse we feel.

From Avinashi, take a left to palladam. Road is good, except when you reach palladam you need to negate the traffic. Then palladam to pollachi can be done.

[jeevmenon]

Yes - ramzsys. Instead of 41.2 km to my house from Avinashi, the Palladam deviation would add 16km to it but worth it looks like.

[scorpio_fan]

Yesterday i drove from palakkad to bengaluru through NH209 [through Sathyamangalam, Chamraj nagar, Kanakpura]. I normally take Salem route and i was so bored with the same route everytime. I saw some updates from HVK about this road wanted to tryout this time. I really enjoyed the drive, road condition was OK.
Please see the google map that i took.


1. Roads in general was good, but some small stretches were little bad because of patch works. problem is sudden change of conditions.
2. The roads are with lot of turnings, so max speed that can be taken is ~120 in some stretches, otherwise ~100 is what we can go.
3. Very less traffic after coimbatore, the roads are 2 lines only
4. Passing through coimbatore was hectic, any by-pass that i can take to avoid city traffic?
5. Not many good hotels, but there sare small tea sops on the road
6. Sathyamangalam has 27 hair pins, driving the scorp through these were amazing
7. Because top speed was always limoted by 120, got very good mileage of 13.5 KM / litre
8. Vehicle was loaded with 4 passengeres and luggage [almost full], maintained 32PSI in all tyres
9. No toll [only in coimbatore toll of 8 Rs has to be paid.

It took me atleast 1.5 hrs more compared to Salem route, but this was worth because of the forest and less traffic. I would like to know how to avoid coimbatore city.

Regards,

[NPV]

Originally Posted by scorpio_fan

4. Passing through coimbatore was hectic, any by-pass that i can take to avoid city traffic?
9. No toll [only in coimbatore toll of 8 Rs has to be paid.

I would like to know how to avoid coimbatore city.

This is my understanding from what you've mentioned:
From Palakkad after Walayar when you reached outskirts of coimbatore, seems like you took the left turn and went towards Kovai Pudur and then to Ukkadam (that's where the Rs.8 toll is collected). Instead you should simply proceed straight into the L&T Byepass to avoid Coimbatore city. At the end of this toll way (toll is Rs.35 I think) you will be at the other end of coimbatore city on Avinashi Road.
However from that point onwards a stretch of about 50Km is being 4 laned upto Avinashi. On this stretch good progress has been made between November 2010 and May 2011 when I drove there on my way to Munnar.
There are deviations on this stretch since some of the bridges/flyovers are not yet completed. On my last travel 3 weeks ago I did this stretch in good time to reach Coimbatore but it's a little unpredictable due to truck traffic.
Several of our fellow TBHPians have mentioned alternate routes like Palladam, etc to avoid this so you can consider those too.
Hope this helps.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by NPV

From Palakkad after Walayar when you reached outskirts of coimbatore, seems like you took the left turn and went towards Kovai Pudur and then to Ukkadam (that's where the Rs.8 toll is collected). Instead you should simply proceed straight into the L&T Byepass to avoid Coimbatore city. At the end of this toll way (toll is Rs.35 I think) you will be at the other end of coimbatore city on Avinashi Road.

The original poster was talking of traveling through the CBE-Sathy-Chamarajnagar route, and not the conventional route via Avinashi-Perundurai-Salem-Hosur.

AFAIK, there is no way to avoid the city while taking the Sathy route. They only alternative I see is to take the bypass road, and then a left at Karumathampatti. But this means traveling through the diversions between Neelambur and Karumathampatti. At Karumathampatti, take left, and you'll join the CBE-Sathy route at Annur.

[scorpio_fan]

Originally Posted by NPV

This is my understanding from what you've mentioned:
From Palakkad after Walayar when you reached outskirts of coimbatore, seems like you took the left turn and went towards Kovai Pudur and then to Ukkadam (that's where the Rs.8 toll is collected). Instead you should simply proceed straight into the L&T Byepass to avoid Coimbatore city.

I know this route my intention was to avoid this and try Sathyamangalam route.

Originally Posted by NPV

At the end of this toll way (toll is Rs.35 I think) you will be at the other end of coimbatore city on Avinashi Road.
However from that point onwards a stretch of about 50Km is being 4 laned upto Avinashi. On this stretch good progress has been made between November 2010 and May 2011 when I drove there on my way to Munnar.
There are deviations on this stretch since some of the bridges/flyovers are not yet completed. On my last travel 3 weeks ago I did this stretch in good time to reach Coimbatore but it's a little unpredictable due to truck traffic.
Several of our fellow TBHPians have mentioned alternate routes like Palladam, etc to avoid this so you can consider those too.
Hope this helps.

Me too did this stretch3 times in last 1 month and Avinashi - Coimbatore is really un predictable. I wanted to avoid this stretch.

Originally Posted by binaiks

The original poster was talking of traveling through the CBE-Sathy-Chamarajnagar route, and not the conventional route via Avinashi-Perundurai-Salem-Hosur.

AFAIK, there is no way to avoid the city while taking the Sathy route. They only alternative I see is to take the bypass road, and then a left at Karumathampatti. But this means traveling through the diversions between Neelambur and Karumathampatti. At Karumathampatti, take left, and you'll join the CBE-Sathy route at Annur.

Exactly, when I digged the google map, i found a way like this

5.Continue straight onto National Highway 47/NH47 Pass by K G Chavadi Police Station (on the right in 26.6 km)58.1 km
6.Turn left onto Venkitapuram Rd1.7 km
7.Turn left onto Avinashi Rd Pass by absoft computer education (on the left)800 m
8.Take the 1st right toward Kalapatti Rd2.7 km
9.Turn right onto Kalapatti Rd7.0 km
10.Turn left toward NH 209140 m
11.Turn right onto NH 209 Pass by Petrol Bunk (on the left in 51.3 km)51.4 km
12.Turn right to stay on NH 209 Pass by BP Petrol or Diesel Pump Station (on the left in 800 m)1.4 km
13.Turn right at Sri Varasakthi Vinayakar Temple Main Gate Tower toward Sathyamangalam - Athani - Aapakoodal - Erode Road/SH 82 450 m

Regards,
Scorpio Fan

[luvurride]

Guys,

Here is a way to by-pass CBE city.

Get into the L&T by-pass when you come from Walayar and proceed all the way to Nilambur where it ends.(Not much traffic here)
Instead of continuing to Avinashi, Make a Left here which will make you travel towards CBE city. (6-lane hence no congestion)
At the Airport junction make a right turn towards Kalapatti/Annur. There are clearly marked signs at the junction which cannot be missed.
This will connect you to the CBE-Sathy road to proceed towards Annur/Sathy.

Here is the link on Google Maps.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...,0.883026&z=10

Although the route may appear like a detour, this is the best.The roads are good throughout and not much traffic anytime of the day.

Hope this helps.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by luvurride

Guys,

Here is a way to by-pass CBE city.

Get into the L&T by-pass when you come from Walayar and proceed all the way to Nilambur where it ends.(Not much traffic here)
Instead of continuing to Avinashi, Make a Left here which will make you travel towards CBE city. (6-lane hence no congestion)
At the Airport junction make a right turn towards Kalapatti/Annur. There are clearly marked signs at the junction which cannot be missed.
This will connect you to the CBE-Sathy road to proceed towards Annur/Sathy.

Is this the right turn towards Mettupalayam ? I remember seeing the signage to Mettupalayam (right-turn) somewhere near Aravind Eye Hospital.

Edit: After seeing the google map I think this is the previous right turn (the one before Mettupalayam Road)

[vinucv]

I did Avinashi - Coimbatore - Palaghat route last week and felt it is manageable though there were still diversions and rough patches which is going to test your patience. 4 laning work is progressing but it looks like it will take another 6 months atleast to complete.

Incase you are going beyond palaghat , say trichur, it is really worth taking the Kangeyam- Palladam- Pollachi route. I took this route while returning and roads are in good condition

[varunrdas]

Originally Posted by NPV

Is this the right turn towards Mettupalayam ? I remember seeing the signage to Mettupalayam (right-turn) somewhere near Aravind Eye Hospital.

Edit: After seeing the google map I think this is the previous right turn (the one before Mettupalayam Road)

Nope, it definitely is not to mettupalayam. It is much further away. Also, the signage is near Avanashi Junction. Near Airport you do have a signage showing the sign of Kalapatti, likewise near Hope College for Vilankurichi/Sathy Road.