Contents

Autoroutes of Quebec

Highway system in Quebec, Canada

Autoroutes of Quebec
Highway shields for Autoroutes 5, 20 and 640
The current Autoroute network in Quebec
System information
Maintained by Transports Quebec (MTQ)
Length	2,381.9 km[1][2] (1,480.0 mi)
Formed	1958 (1958)
System links
Quebec provincial highways Autoroutes List Former

The Quebec Autoroute Systemorle système d'autoroute au Québec is a network of freeways within the province of Quebec, Canada, operating under the same principle of controlled access as the Interstate Highway System in the United States and the 400-series highways in neighbouring Ontario. The Autoroutes are the backbone of Quebec's highway system, spanning almost 2,400 km (1,491 mi). The speed limit on the Autoroutes is generally 100 km/h (62 mph) in rural areas and 70–90 km/h (43–56 mph) in urban areas; most roads are made of asphalt concrete.

The word autoroute is a blend of auto and route, equivalent to "freeway" or "motorway" in English, and it became the equivalent of "expressway" in French. In the 1950s, when the first Autoroutes were being planned, the design documents called them autostrades from the Italian word autostrada.^[3]

Signage[edit]

Autoroutes are identified by blue-and-red shields, similar to the American Interstate system. The red header of the shield contains a white image representing a highway overpass, and the blue lower portion of the shield contains the Autoroute's number in white, along with a fleur-de-lis, which is a provincial symbol of Quebec.

Most Autoroute and road traffic signs in the province are in French, though English is also used on federally-financed or -owned routes, such as the Bonaventure Expressway in Montreal. To surmount the language barrier, however, most signs in Quebec use pictograms and text is avoided in most cases, with the exceptions usually only being the names of control cities. Other exceptions that are posted in both languages is the illegal use of radar detectors when entering the province that reads "DÉTECTEURS DE RADAR INTERDITS/RADAR DETECTORS PROHIBITED", as well as areas where roads can be slippery due to melting ice and snow, marked "DEGEL/THAW".

Numbering system[edit]

Autoroutes are divided into three types – principal routes, deviation routes, and collector routes – and are laid out and numbered in a fashion similar to the Interstate Highway System in the United States. The principal Autoroutes are the major highways of the province, and have single- or double-digit numbers. East-west Autoroutes running parallel to the Saint Lawrence River (for example, Autoroute 20 and Autoroute 40) are assigned even numbers, while north-south Autoroutes running perpendicular to the Saint Lawrence (such as Autoroute 5 and Autoroute 15) are given odd numbers. Deviation and collector Autoroutes both feature triple-digit numbers. Deviation routes are bypasses intended for truck traffic to circumvent urban areas, and are identified by an even number prefixing the number of the nearby Autoroute that it bypasses (for example, Autoroute 440inLaval). Collector Autoroutes, by contrast, are spur routes into urban areas, and are identified by an odd number prefixing the number of the nearby Autoroute that it branches off of (such as Autoroute 720, a spur of Autoroute 20 into downtown Montreal).

History[edit]

Quebec's first Autoroute was the Autoroute des Laurentides (Laurentian Autoroute), which opened in 1959 as a toll road. This initiative to bring freeways into Quebec was started by Maurice Duplessis, whose government saw the construction of the Laurentian Autoroute (now A-15) from MontrealtoSaint-Jérôme and the first section of the Boulevard Métropolitain (A-40), which opened in 1960.

1960s[edit]

It was the Quebec Liberal government of the 1960s that saw the construction of further Autoroutes, with a grid numbering system and the introduction of the blue and red shield. The sign is inspired by the American Interstate sign. This was especially needed in light of the fact that many visitors would be flocking to Montreal by car for Expo 67. Montreal's Autoroute Décarie (A-15) and the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge–Tunnel were constructed for that very reason. The Autoroute des Cantons-de-l'Est (Eastern Townships Autoroute - A-10) opened in 1964, and its continuation, A-55 between Magog and Rock Island, opened in 1967, connecting with Interstate 91. What are now the A-20 (part of the Trans-Canada Highway) and the A-15 to New York (connecting with Interstate 87), originally built in the 1940s, were upgraded to expressway standards. The A-20 also connects with Highway 401 in Ontario. A-40 was extended out to Berthierville, and later to Trois-Rivières in the 1970s. Others include Autoroutes 25, 30 (southern beltway), 31, 35 (eventually connecting to Interstate 89), Autoroute Laurentienne (73), and 640 (an unfinished proposed northern beltway).

1970s[edit]

The 1970s also saw the completion of the Pierre Laporte BridgeinQuebec City, connecting the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River to the north. In addition to this, the A-73 was extended to Beauce, the A-20 was extended to Rivière-du-Loup, and the Chomedey Autoroute (A-13), the A-19 and the A-440 were constructed in Laval. Autoroutes were built (two sections of A-440, and A-740) and a few more planned in the Quebec City region, creating a dense web, which led to significant sprawl. In 1976, the Parti Québécois came to power, whose platform mandated an expansion of public transportation over the construction of more Autoroutes. Existing Autoroutes were extended (e.g., the A-40 was extended from Trois-Rivières to Quebec City) but no new Autoroutes were built.

The Autoroute des Laurentides, the Autoroute des Cantons-de-l'Est, the Autoroute de la Rive-Nord (North Shore Autoroute), and the A-13 were toll roads until the mid-1980s, when the toll barriers were removed and the province stopped collecting tolls from vehicles using the Autoroutes. The last toll booth was on the Champlain Bridge (A-10,A-15 and A-20). It was removed in 1990 because the Champlain Bridge is federal property and is thus not subject to provincial tolls.

2000s[edit]

In the 2000s, there were several high-profile failures and collapses around some Autoroutes, due to aging and crumbling infrastructure, including the Boulevard du Souvenir overpass collapse, De la Concorde overpass collapse, and most recently the Ville-Marie tunnel collapse. An online poll by Léger Marketing conducted shortly after the Viger tunnel collapse found that 88 percent of Montrealers are "worried" about the state of roads, bridges and tunnels in the city, with more than half of respondents saying they are downright "scared" to drive under an overpass (58 percent), on a bridge (54 per cent), or through a tunnel (53 per cent). McGill University's Saeed Mirza stated that ill-advised design choices and poor-quality concrete were used in the construction rush ahead of Expo '67 and the 1976 Olympics. In particular, the concrete used was permeable with lack of proper drainage, and these allowed chlorides from de-icing salts to corrode the steel reinforcements.^[4]

Main-class autoroutes[edit]

Number	Length (km)[2][1]	Length (mi)	Southern or western terminus	Northern or eastern terminus	Local names	Formed[2]	Removed	Notes
A-5	34.0	21.1	King Edward AvenueatOntario boundary in Gatineau	R-105 / R-366inWakefield	Autoroute de la Gatineau	01964-01-011964	current
A-6	55	34	A-15inLa Prairie	Route 235inFarnham	Richelieu Autoroute, Autoroute Haut-Richelieu	—	—	A-6 was to roughly parallel Route 104. The western half of the route was cancelled by the mid-1970s while the rest of the route was abandoned a few years later.
A-9	12	7.5	A-40inPointe-Fortune	A-50inLachute	Pointe Fortune-Lachute Autoroute	—	—	A-9 was to provide a fixed crossing over the Ottawa River but was cancelled.
A-10	145.1[5]	90.2	R-136inMontreal	A-55 / A-610inSherbrooke	Autoroute Bonaventure, Autoroute des Cantons-de-l'Est	01962-01-011962	current
A-13	21.4	13.3	A-20inLachine	A-640inBoisbriand	Autoroute Chomedey	01975-01-011975	current
A-15 (TCH)	164.0	101.9	I-87atUnited States border at Lacolle	R-117 (TCH)inSainte-Agathe-des-Monts	Autoroute Décarie, Autoroute des Laurentides	01958-01-011958	current	Part of the Trans-Canada Highway between A-40inMontreal and Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts.
A-16	9	5.6	R-134	A-30inLongueuil	Autoroute Wilfrid-Laurier	—	—	Reserved for autoroute conversion of Boulevard Wilfrid-Laurier (Route 112 and Route 116).
A-18	—	—	A-55 near Victoriaville	Proposed A-65inPlessisville	Autoroute des Bois-Francs	—	—	Unbuilt.
A-19	10.1	6.3	A-40 (TCH)inMontreal	A-440 / R-335inLaval	Autoroute Papineau	01970-01-011970	current
A-20 (TCH)	534.5	332.1	Highway 401atOntario border at Rivière-Beaudette	R-132inNotre-Dame-des-Neiges	Autoroute Jean-Lesage, Autoroute du Souvenir	01964-01-011964	current	Part of the Trans-Canada Highway between A-25inLongueuil and A-85inRivière-du-Loup.
A-20	45.2	28.1	R-132inRimouski	R-132inMont-Joli	Autoroute Jean-Lesage	01991-01-011991	current	Future plans to connect to the western segment.
A-25 (TCH)	52.1	32.4	A-20 (TCH)inLongueuil	R-125 / R-158inSaint-Esprit	Autoroute Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine	01967-01-011967	current	Part of the Trans-Canada Highway between A-40inMontreal and A-20 in Longueuil.
A-30	144.1	89.5	A-40 (TCH)inVaudreuil-Dorion	R-132inSorel-Tracy	Autoroute de l'Acier	01968-01-011968	current
A-30	20.8	12.9	R-132inBécancour	R-132inBécancour	Autoroute de l'Acier	01975-01-011975	current	No plans to connect to the western segment.
A-31	14.3	8.9	A-40 / R-131inLavaltrie	R-131 / R-158inJoliette	Autoroute Antonio-Barrette	01966-01-011966	current
A-35	41.4	25.7	R-133inSaint-Sébastien	A-10inChambly	Autoroute de la Vallée-des-Forts	01966-01-011966	current	Future extension to United States border and I-89.
A-40 (TCH)	347	216	Highway 417 / TCHatOntario border near Pointe-Fortune	R-138 / R-368 near Boischatel	Autoroute Félix-Leclerc, Autoroute Métropolitaine, Autoroute Transcanadienne	01959-01-011959	current	Part of the Trans-Canada Highway between Ontario and A-25inMontreal.
A-50	159	99	Rue Montcalm in Gatineau	R-117 near Mirabel	Autoroute de l'Outaouais, Autoroute Maurice-Richard	01975-01-011975	current
A-51	45	28	Route 116 near Melbourne	A-20inDrummondville		01974-01-011974	01982-01-011982	Renamed A-55.
A-55	247	153	I-91atUnited States border at Stanstead	R-155inShawinigan	Autoroute Joseph-Armand-Bombardier, Autoroute de l'énergie	01964-01-011964	current
A-65	—	—	Thetford Mines	A-20inVilleroy	Autoroute de l'Amiante	—	—	Unbuilt. Possible extension to A-10 near Lambton.
A-70	31.56	19.61	R-170inSaguenay (Jonquière)	R-170inSaguenay (Aéroport Bagotville)	Autoroute du Saguenay, Autoroute Alma-La Baie	01983-01-011983	current	Autoroute 70 is being extended westward from Jonquière to Alma, and eastward from Aéroport CFB Bagotville to La Baie.
A-73	135.0	83.9	R-204inSaint-Georges	R-175inStoneham-et-Tewkesbury	Autoroute Robert-Cliche, Autoroute Laurentienne, Autoroute Henri-IV	01963-01-011963	current
A-85 (TCH)	62.9	39.1	Route 2 (TCH)atNew Brunswick border near Dégelis	A-20 (TCH) near Rivière-du-Loup	Autoroute Claude-Béchard	02005-01-012005	current	Part of the Trans-Canada Highway for its full length. Presently a 35 km (22 mi) gap between Saint-Antonin and Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!; connection made via Route 185, which it will eventually replace.
Former

Spur Class Autoroutes[edit]

Number	Length (km)[2][1]	Length (mi)	Southern or western terminus	Northern or eastern terminus	Local names	Formed[2]	Removed	Notes
A-410	12.9	8.0	R-108 / R-143inSherbrooke	A-10 / A-55 in Sherbrooke	Autoroute Jacques-O'Bready, Autoroute de l'Université	01971-01-011971	current
A-415	7	4.3	A-15inMontréal	A-19 (unbuilt section) in Montreal	Mount Royal Autoroute	—	—	Cancelled northern leg of a proposed downtown freeway loop.
A-430	—	—	A-15 / A-30inCandiac	A-30inVarennes		—	—	Several kilometers of Route 132 north and south of A-20 was designated A-430 on paper in the 1970s.
A-440	18.2	11.3	A-13 / R-148inLaval	A-25 in Laval	Autoroute Jean-Noël-Lavoie, Autoroute Laval	01974-01-011974	current
A-440	12.5	7.8	A-40 / A-73inQuébec	A-40 in Québec	Autoroute Charest, Autoroute Dufferin-Montmorency	01962-01-011962	current	Two segments with a 4 km (2.5 mi) gap through downtown Quebec City; connection made via Boulevard Charest.
A-520	7.8	4.8	A-20inDorval	A-40 (TCH)inMontréal	Autoroute Côte de Liesse	01966-01-011966	current
A-530	12.9	8.0	R-132 / R-201inSalaberry-de-Valleyfield	A-30 in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield		02012-01-012012	current	Formerly part of A-30.
A-540	5.1	3.2	A-73 / R-175inQuébec	R-138 in Québec	Autoroute Duplessis	01966-01-011966	current
A-540	4.9	3.0	A-20inVaudreuil-Dorion	A-40 in Vaudreuil-Dorion		01967-01-011967	02012-01-012012	Renamed A-30.
A-550	—	—	Ontario boundary in Gatineau (Would continue as Highway 416inOttawa)	A-50inGatineau	Deschênes Autoroute, Britannia-Deschênes corridor	—	—	Gatineau bypass, including a new bridge across the Ottawa River.
A-573	12.9	8.0	A-40 / A-73inQuébec	R-369 in Québec	Autoroute Henri-IV	01976-01-011976	current
A-610	10.3	6.4	A-10 / A-55inSherbrooke	R-112 in Sherbrooke	Autoroute Louis-Bilodeau	02006-01-012006	current	Formerly part of A-10.
A-640	53.2	33.1	R-344inOka	R-344inCharlemagne	Autoroute de contournement nord de Montréal	01961-01-011961	current
A-720	8.1	5.0	A-15 / A-20inMontréal	Rue Notre-Dame in Montréal	Autoroute Ville-Marie	01972-01-011972	02021-01-012021[6]	Renamed R-136.
A-730	4.2	2.6	A-30inSaint-Constant	R-132 in Saint-Constant		02012-01-012012	current	Formerly part of A-30.
A-740	7.4	4.6	R-175inQuebec	Boulevard Lebourgneuf in Québec	Autoroute Robert-Bourassa, Autoroute du Vallon	01975-01-011975	current
A-755	10	6.2	A-55inTrois-Rivières	A-40 in Trois-Rivières	Autoroute de Francheville	01977-01-011977	01990-01-01c. 1990	Renamed A-40.
A-930	2.5	1.6	A-30inCandiac	R-132 in Candiac		02012-01-012012	current	Formerly part of A-30.
A-955	15.9	9.9	Rue Principale in Saint-Albert	A-20 (TCH) / A-55inSainte-Eulalie		01975-01-011975	current	None of this highway is of freeway standard.
A-973	3.6	2.2	Rue du Chalutier / Rue du Prince-Édouard in Quebéc	A-40 / A-73 in Quebec		01983-01-011983	current	Cosigned with Route 175 for its entire length.
Former

See also[edit]

References[edit]

• Information on new A-730 and A-930 from MTQ's A-30 newsletter

External links[edit]

• Ministère des Transports du Québec (provincial transport ministry)
• motorways-exits.com: An unofficial guide to the Province of Quebec Expressway system
• Steve Anderson's MontrealRoads.com
• Unofficial Autoroute 73 website
• Tripod autoroute web site