There is a diversion after Chennasamudram toll as well in both directions, but its not that bad or a pain.
Bhpian heals recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Had to do an emergency trip to madras for family bereavement.
Onward Journey
Left C.V.Raman Nagar on Tuesday 4th Feb evening at 7 pm, due to time constraints. I usually prefer to avoid late night drives, but didn’t had much choice. Reached Pallavaram at 1.30 am after a total break for 1+ hour. 40 minutes at Murugan Idli Shop for dinner break and then another 15 minutes for tea break at Chennasamudram toll plaza.
I was in dilemma to go via Katpadi/Vellore or take a chance at Bommasamudram crossing, because it was at 11 pm in the night when i was there. Later assumed there may not be traffic at late night, so thought of trying out Bommasamudram railway cross, and was proven i was completely wrong Recollected srvm’s post immediately
The volume of truck and bus traffic at 11 pm in both sides is absolutely ridiculous. I wonder why they keep the space that allows big vehicles to enter . Complete stupidity. Infact , from a safety perspective, i would say, don’t allow any 4 wheelers at all, though its a detour for us but still safety is more important. Thankfully, the majority of very slow moving traffic was in my direction, so lost about 20 minutes just to cross the section but still its much better. Whereas the opposite side traffic heading to Chittoor was 2x more than vehicles going towards Ranipet. Total utter chaos. As srvm mentioned, don’t take this route for another 1 year or more. They just started to construct pillars for flyover bridge after digging the roads in both sides.
My personal opinion – though bridges are good to ease the traffic, especially for volume of traffic between Ranipet to Chittoor, but for the railway traffic, my understanding is, there are not too many trains that block vehicle movement. I could be wrong though.
So that made overall one way travel to 6.5 hours, because i could catch up speed post Chennasamudram toll.
Return Journey
Left today 6th Feb at 6 am , though traffic was less but dense fog was slowing down. On the way, as today is an auspicious day (Thai Krithigai), was in dilemma to whether goto Kundrathur murugan temple or drive via Ratnagiri. But reached Ranipet Amirtha veg restaurant (mandatory stop for yummy food) for breakfast at 8:15 am. After 30 minutes break, a spark thought came to see Valli Malai Murugan temple, which is a small detour, so that
Its indeed an interesting temple for sure and will be loved by trekkers.
After 2 hour stop in the temple, drove back to Bangalore and reached by 2 pm. So that made up about 6 hours of driving.
Now coming the Road conditions and Diversion Tactics here is more detailed information.
Bangalore to Chittoor to Ranipet
1) As if the existing diversions are not sufficient between Bangalore to Chittoor ( one Before Hoskote toll at Kattamanallur, very long diversion at Narasipura sipcot, Mulbagal, and 2 diversions before and after Nangli town), one new diversion is added between Murugan Idli shop and HIghway star.
2) Chittoor bypass bridge above Collectorate office now allows traffic in both ways. Its a very good tarmac road now and smooth. Makes a lot of difference now for easy drive, compared to what i drove before 2017 in 2L road and now in fully 4L road/6L bridge. Awesome !
3) Need to be very careful in one way traffic with diversion for smaller section near CMC Chittoor campus area.
4) Minor Diversions are there around Chittoor-Thatchoor expressway and BCE expressway. No big deal. Just watchout for the barriacades and any construction items that are protruding in the lanes.
5) We can no longer exit to Katapdi/Vellore by taking right below the bridge which was under construction for years. They closed that option now, so one has to all the way go near Bommasamudram to take right towards Katpadi/Vellore.
6) On a positive side, that bridge is open in opposite direction now so, vehicles coming from Katpadi/Vellore or even Bommasamudram can easily take the flyover bridge. No lane markings though at this time.
7) The hot topic Bommasamudram roads are pathetic and i was able to manage because of SUV, but low GC sedans will really face the hit badly. Recommended to avoid it even if it is a quick pass through. No extra marks for comparing the road conditions with Bangalore potholes, as there is no clear winner.
8) The diversion after Ranipet Collector office to go towards Hospital/Church/Bridge towards Little flower convent is still there. However, it eased up a lot now. Only bridge work is pending , so the traffic below the bridge is smooth now.
Chennasamduram Toll Plaza to Kanchipuram to Sunguvarchatram – Sriperumbudur
First things first – there are NO potholes in the entire stretch or the ones that are currently there are are very small and cannot be really considered as pothole to worry about for a car drive. Negligible or almost nothing.
9) Between Chennasamudram toll to Kanchipuram first exit after Thirputkuzhi, there are only 3 diversions. Of which 2nd one is almost done and may be opened anytime. 4th one is between Kanchipuram first exit and Kanchipuram Arch and the fifth one is the diversion in front of Kanchi Arch itself. Overall not a complaining section at all as the roads are good. Only thing is many places there are no lane markings. So people don’t know where they drive and may be literally driving between 2 lane spaces.
The real pain starts post Kanchipuram, right from the diversion in front of Upashana hotel onwards.
10) Kanchipuram to Sriperumbudur – There are 6 diversion and all of them are bad. 5 till Sunguvarchatram and then one after SIPCOT.
11) Even without any diversion, the road alternates between old and new, where the old roads are really bad and new roads are really good.
12) The roads from Sriperumbudur to Kundrathur direction is bad with so many potholes and bumps. Need to drive carefully and slowly as people zig/zag very fast.
Overall, there are about 11 diversions between Chennasamduram to Sriperumbudur.
Sriperumbudur-Kanchipuram to Chennasamudram Toll Plaza Diversions
13) One solace is, in the opposite direction, the last 1 km just before joining Sriperumbudur highway, they finally laid the roads which was never done in the past. Its truly a medical miracle (those who know the joke will get what i meant, for others sorry – its a funny way of stating it)
14) Sriperumbudur to Kanchipuram – Its better to say, we will be driving heavily in diversions than the main road. There are 11 diversions of which 3 are small ones, not to bother much , but remaining ones are a pain. Thiruputkuzhi diversion is the biggest among all.
15) Kanchipuram to Chennasamudram – There are 3 diversions , but not very bad and manageable.
16) There is a diversion after Chennasamudram toll as well in both directions, but its not that bad or a pain. Just okay.
Attaching some snaps (sorry for some shake) of Bommasamudram railway crossing state (in night and day) and also the new Chittoor flyover above collectorate office.
-Ravi
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