This is not a bilingual place. New Brunswick and the part of Ontario that is near Quebec is, but in Quebec the only bilingualism is in thing run by the federal government (post office, airports, etc). Things run by the province are French only.
You will need enough French to dope out road signs. Cardinal directions and such. Not hard, but it takes paying attention. And it is all in metric, which is more irritating to me than the French. Learning ones numbers, for value meal purposes, is good if you are going north of Quebec City.
The people are very friendly, but, IMHO, are more friendly if they know you are an American (and thus not expected to know French) than an Ontarian. They expect Ontarians to speak a little French. The language really is not a barrier until you get north of Quebec City, or away from the A routes.
Roads are as described in Montreal and Quebec City. Kinda poor by US standards. In the more rural areas, it is similar to a US Interstate, but slightly different standards. Metric signage. No mention of other destinations outside Quebec, other than those in the USA (political thing). More of those euro-style pictograph signs for things like gasoline, hotel, etc. "Hotel de ville" on exit signs, which you see a lot, means "City Hall", not a hotel. I think they note that because its like saying "police station" in the USA.
I was just in Quebec and I did not see a single English sign. Everything was in French.
Not even "St James St/Rue St-Jacques" on an autoroute guide sign?
There is also an insistence on translating business names into French which results in, e.g., KFC becoming PFK (KFC trades as KFC in France, if memory serves).
When I drove through southern Ontario a few weekends ago, I recall seeing at least one PFK. That part of the province is pretty far from Quebec, and not particularly strong on bilingual signage.There is also an insistence on translating business names into French which results in, e.g., KFC becoming PFK (KFC trades as KFC in France, if memory serves).
This is, indeed, unique in the world. KFC is KFC everywhere in the world, regardless of what "Kentucky Fried Chicken" might letter out to in the local language, even in places that do not use Latin letters (it will translate or transliterate Kentucky Fried Chicken into the local language). It is KFC in France and in Canada's only bilingual provence (New Brunswick).
Except in Quebec. As I understand it, Quebec has this law called "Bill 101" which provides, among other things, that all commercial signage must have French "markedly prominent" compared to any other language. A name, however, does not have to be translated, even if it could be (if your name is James you do not become Jacques when you cross the border), so "McDonald's" is "McDonald's", "Wal-Mart" is "Wal-Mart" and "Tim Horton" is "Tim Horton". But in the case of KFC, it was ruled that "Kentucky" was the brand name and "Fried Chicken" was the product so they had to translate, and they chose to keep the French initials when they went to this strategy of using the initials.
What is the timetable for the western portion of A-50 between Grenville and Route 317?
Moi aussi je suis ce blogue trés intéressant... merci Stéphane ^^ ... en plus l'A50 me concerne , c'est dans ma région , les laurentides!
No no, it's 'weevils', not 'eels'. Of course, you could learn French...Moi aussi je suis ce blogue trés intéressant... merci Stéphane ^^ ... en plus l'A50 me concerne , c'est dans ma région , les laurentides!
please translate for the rest of us :sombrero: or else I will have to attempt to.
my hovercraft is full of eels
Here's another idea, finish A-30 west of A-55...
Absolutely, this was planned since 30 years ! ... but I think that for now they're choosing what are their priorities... So one day yes, but not now !
For true, the A30 was supposed to be constructed as far as Bécancour ( east of A55 )
According to Transport Quebec (http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/portal/page/portal/grands_projets/trouver_grand_projet/reamenagement_r185), A-85 should be fully completed by the end of next year. What I would like to know is if they will ever consider building a bridge for Route 138 over the Saugauney River?
What I would like to know is if they will ever consider building a bridge for Route 138 over the Saugauney River?
And for the Saguenay river they did some plans and videos about it, but I don't think it is serious for now. it's a over 1 billion of $ for what ? around 100 000 peoples. I don't say that this is couldnt be good, for the Région côte-Nord it should be, but in general, our government is never spending too much money for a low-populated region, you just can see how they're doing with Super-2 highways around here about that.
I was looking at Google Maps today along A-15 north of pont Champlain, and I noticed that there is a set of traffic signals just north of pont Iles-des-Soeurs that seem to regulate where busses enter traffic during the reversible lane hours. Do they really stop freeway traffic to let busses in the reversible lane?
Also, I noticed that what has become today's Metropolitaine began from then Hwy 2 following what is now A-520 to get to what is now A-40. Does anybody know, was Metropolitaine first an at-grade divided highway that was later upgraded to an expressway standard during the Autoroute era? It would seem that way.
It looks like many of the tiles on the walls of the tunnel are in need of replacement.
You are indeed very correct! The Can$4 billion price tag is an enormous cost for repairs. :-o
(http://img.src.ca/2012/02/25/635x357/120225_g575f_accident-autoroute-40_sn635.jpg)
Highway 40 eastbound remains closed in Montreal's Anjou sector after a fatal accident late Friday night, during the first major snowfall to hit Quebec in weeks. A 49-year-old man was killed in his car after it was struck by debris from a transport truck collision near the Roi-René exit. The transport truck crashed into several safety barrels on the side of the road before it hit a large metal road sign structure hanging overhead, which fell on the car. A second transport truck was also struck by the debris, but the driver escaped uninjured. Authorities shut the eastbound lanes to finish their investigation on Saturday. Eastbound drivers have to exit at Ray-Lawson, police said.Only one westbound lane will be open, until inspectors finish their investigation.
The accident is one of two deadly road collisions reported during Quebec's first major snowfall this month.
Read the full article here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/02/25/snow-storm-quebec.html
Found that while walking around town with a friend.I have never seen one of those. That also qualifies as Best Of. Location?
I don't think there's much of them remaining. Not young, too.
(http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww106/webfil/100_1480.jpg)
If you look at Google Maps' aerial photo:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=quebec+city&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=46.814827,-71.217434&spn=0.003693,0.00912&sll=37.6,-95.665&sspn=34.785432,74.707031&hnear=Quebec+City,+Communaut%C3%A9-Urbaine-de-Qu%C3%A9bec,+Quebec,+Canada&t=k&z=17
you'll notice that there's a stub ramp on the right and a bulldozer chewing into the ramp on the left. I'm trying to find out what those ramp stubs were for - were they the original ramps to head south on QC 175, or were they stubs for something else? A historical map or aerial image from the 1970s or 1980s would be perfect, or just your own knowledge. Wikipedia refers to "removal of stubs," but that could just as easily be the mainline stub.
This thread was worth it for that link alone.
Here some pictures of that tunnel http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=132909
That's awesome.
awesome photos!Thanks. Atikamekw people is awesome too, but that awesomeness is sadly harder to record via photography.
I have some photos of R shields, as well as Reserves Fauniques Quebec shields, which are a darker shade of green than the provincials. they were all taken on roads leading up to the James Bay Road.
any pics or news on the Rte-138 extension to connect the huge gape to Newfoundland and Labrador?July 2011 picture : http://goo.gl/maps/NNqY5
I have some photos of R shields, as well as Reserves Fauniques Quebec shields, which are a darker shade of green than the provincials. they were all taken on roads leading up to the James Bay Road.
I'd be willing to see that.
I know SÉPAQ (the provincial authority responsible for parks, wildlife reserves and tourist resorts) has a brown, provincial-route-alike shield of its own, from which I saw examples in Papineau-Labelle reserve and Mont-Tremblant park.
Freewaybrent made a nice video of A-73 in Quebec.
Watch it in HD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiPQgoTt84s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiPQgoTt84s)
QC 175 heads north to Saguenay and that's how it's going to stay for the indeterminate future. No reason to make it a full autoroute, it works fine as a divided highway with sparse intersections. (Not that an Autoroute couldn't have at-grade connections, so if they haven't made it A-73 now, they never will.) They also aren't extending it any farther than their latest project unless Maine brings a freeway up the US 201 corridor. In other words, A-73 is never growing beyond its current length.Freewaybrent made a nice video of A-73 in Quebec.
Watch it in HD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiPQgoTt84s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiPQgoTt84s)
Saw his video and from one of Freewaybrent's annotation A-73 is suppose to go to Maine and it's supposed to go to Saguenay 200km north of Quebec since Saguenay is a tourist attraction for Americans living in ME,NH,VT
In other words, A-73 is never growing beyond its current length.
Yes, I accounted for that in my rundown.In other words, A-73 is never growing beyond its current length.
There is a 18-kilometre section currently under construction from Beauceville to Saint-Georges.
A couple of new photos from A-30 west of Montreal:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
More and larger:
http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/PQ/A/30/Page1.html
The first Viau bridge consisted in an impressive layout of wooden archs and covered spans.They need to build more of these.
(http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww106/webfil/effc24b1-397b-462c-a2e7-f410452f3e74_zps5859310c.jpg)
Circa 1860, looking towards Sault-au-Récollet (now Montréal). Source : Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
(http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww106/webfil/route38-1_zps8f0f90ec.png)No goats?
It's not the ACTUAL Prairies, mind you, just Blvd. des Prairies.(http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww106/webfil/route38-1_zps8f0f90ec.png)No goats?
No goats?No unleashed goats. (http://goo.gl/maps/HUlMg)
The extension of PQ-138 to Kegaska is opened!:)
http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/est-quebec/2013/09/26/011-cote-nord-pont-natashquan.shtml
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/Montreal/Audio/ID/2409043379/
No photo yet (I shall remedy that tomorrow night), but Boulevard Champlain in Quebec City is now actually signed as route 136, at least on the new BGSes on A-73 SB.:wow:
*Aluminium Bridge, no? ;)
Also, Dubuc Bridge (R-175, between R-372 and R-172) has been closed due to a fire on a scaffold under the deck. The bridge linking downtown Saguenay (Chicoutimi) to the northern suburbs is in an uncertain state regarding the steel properties.
Pedestrian can either walk the Sainte-Anne bridge (which seemed to be quite popular today) and ride free bus shuttles or use the 42-km detour via the Chute-à -Caron bridge linking Arvida to Shipshaw. I doubt that the former will be very popular tomorrow, with lows in the -10°F/-25°C, high around 0°F/-20°C.
The closest bridge, the Aluminum Bridge, is ironically closed for major maintenance. Dubuc bridge is the first automobile bridge upstream Saguenay river. It has more trafic than any leg of A-70.
CBC has more info on that (and a video of the blaze) : http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/saguenay-s-dubuc-bridge-to-remain-closed-thursday-morning-1.2460007
*Aluminium Bridge, no? ;)Whatevs... It's made of It, it is nearing 65 years old and it needed major repairs. There is no "I" in such art work :P
I wonder if Pont Ste-Anne could be repaved and reopened to vehicles to help compensate? It could either be one lane each way, or just the one paved lane that is currently there going in peak direction, or two lanes both going in peak direction.
Wait, so what's happening with A-720 exactly? Is it being modified in any way or are they just changing the designation so they can say "look! We don't have an Autoroute going through downtown Montreal, I swear!"?Maybe they wanted a continuous number for the whole corridor and MTQ refused to make it 720. Or 136 will begin where A-720 ends and something got lost in translation.
Here is a video shot of the newly opened A-73 Saint-Georges bypass. The 4-lane divided freeway, consisting of a partial Saint-George bypass, extends northward from R-204 up to the new 74e Rue, a 4-lane divided expressway (some grade separation, some at-grade crossings) linking A-73 to R-173.Once A-73 is complete to here, all I can see is one more 3 to 5 km segment to complete the bypass around St-Georges. QC has no reason to go any farther until Maine does something to connect, which there just isn't a need for. The proposed trans-Maine corridor might actually be the genesis of the remaining freeway.
Video : http://www.beauce.tv/regarder.php?vId=4351 The video covers 74e Rue first, then A-73 south.
Map : http://goo.gl/maps/pA6IB
Judging by that roundabout at the end (with no stub), it doesn't look like MTQ has any plans to extend A-73 anywhere once this segment is connected to the main one to the north.Until I see an aerial photo, I can't tell if the roundabout was designed with a potential flyover in mind, or if it's too small for that. I suspect the latter, though.
What I don't get is, why permanently end A-73 at QC 204? Wouldn't it make more sense to complete the bypass and end it at QC 173 south of town?It's Quebec.
Of course, this is Quebec. They'd be perfectly willing to continue the Autoroute through the roundabout without building a flyover, so the lack of provision for one means nothing.They've done stranger things, like that disconnected segment of A-30 that's co-signed with QC 132 and is a two lane surface street. At least the two-lane section of A-55 is mostly a super-2.
They've done stranger things, like that disconnected segment of A-30 that's co-signed with QC 132 and is a two lane surface street.
I don't if Quebec would build a roundabout on alignment at the end of an expressway segment if there were long term plans to extend the expressway. If Quebec is guilty of anything, its staging road construction too far in advance, not the other way around. A lot of the idiosyncrasies of Quebec's Autoroute network came out planning an overly elaborate network, not by having little foresight.
http://cmap.m-plex.com/hb/hwymap.php?sys=canqca&rg=all&gr=p&r=qc.a030bec&showint=0&dl=0They've done stranger things, like that disconnected segment of A-30 that's co-signed with QC 132 and is a two lane surface street.
Not sure what you are referring to.
Personally I would have finished the Saint-Georges bypass (perhaps as a super 2) for a permanent end at QC 173 about three miles south of the roundabout. That would also eliminate a turn for through traffic.Through traffic is about as much as a quiet residential street. It can manage a turn...
http://cmap.m-plex.com/hb/hwymap.php?sys=canqca&rg=all&gr=p&r=qc.a030bec&showint=0&dl=0They've done stranger things, like that disconnected segment of A-30 that's co-signed with QC 132 and is a two lane surface street.
Not sure what you are referring to.
Still going WAY out of the way. QC 173 to QC 204 to A-73 is more than double the mileage of finishing the bypass. I've never liked having to go out of my way because roads are laid out in an odd way.Personally I would have finished the Saint-Georges bypass (perhaps as a super 2) for a permanent end at QC 173 about three miles south of the roundabout. That would also eliminate a turn for through traffic.Through traffic is about as much as a quiet residential street. It can manage a turn...
Then again, no big deal. That one is quite far from any «surface street» I know of. The ROW is 100% access-controlled on the 19 kilometres A-30 is signed, but no interchanges were built; thanks to the gasoduct ROW that follow A-30 ROW, you can clearly see the location of planned buttonhooks ― luckily, some unuseful service road once bound to link ramps to crossroads were dismantled or converted to bike paths. The heaviest-travelled section has no traffic control of any kind (not co-signed with 132), whereas there is significant drop on the other sections signed as A-30 up to Gentilly, indicating local movements. Then again, rates do not justify a full freeway, and have been stable over the last 12 years (0% change).To me, two lanes, all at-grades = surface street (probably a bit of upstate NY influence; we have very few non-freeways with access control, and all of them are divided extensions of freeways, and I can count on one finger the number of super 2s we have); IMO, having a route multiplex with another and then end randomly between two towns screams "decommission the overlap" (or having a route end in an overlap, period). A-30, A-55, A-19, and however many others have non-freeway segments remind me of I-180 is Wyoming and Breezewood. I don't like freeways with disconnected segments either. I guess Quebec didn't want to play the "re-designate all the route numbers every couple years" game the US played with the interstate system and got stuck.
A-30 was supposed to serve as a throughfare for metallurgical complexes (and other heavy industries) along Saint Lawrence south shore, hence its name ― Autoroute de l'Acier, Steel Freeway. Valleyfield, ContrecÅ“ur, Sorel and Bécancour plants never went as big as they thought they would, partly because of the abrupt downfall of metal prices following the Oil Crisis, closure or deprecation of extraction in North Shore mines, and thank god the '76 moratorium stopped the project of a caducous third east-west freeway alongside Saint Lawrence.
Otherwise, Québec would have a more overbuilt than network of freeways, surely in worst shape than it is right now.
An imponderable that occurs to me as I sit going through a stack of signing plans for Greater Montréal: why "boul." instead of "blvd." as the standard abbreviation for boulevard? "Bd." seems to be preferred in Parisian French.Where do you get those plans, anyway?
An imponderable that occurs to me as I sit going through a stack of signing plans for Greater Montréal: why "boul." instead of "blvd." as the standard abbreviation for boulevard? "Bd." seems to be preferred in Parisian French.
I wouldn't be surprised if the reasoning is something along the lines of "we must use boul because the English-speaking places use blvd" given Quebec's language politics. France is much less insecure about its language since they're in Europe's polyglot of languages rather than surrounded by English hegemony as Quebec is.
Where do you get those plans, anyway?
To view documentation you need to be signed in (the site will try to sell you a subscription, but the viewing function is available with free accounts), and have to have a copy of Acrobat or Acrobat Reader with the FileOpen plugin installed. They don't make it easy to archive the stuff--you can download and save to disk but, unless you break the FileOpen encryption, you are limited to five views per file and can't re-merge files that are broken up into multiple parts.
I wouldn't be surprised if the reasoning is something along the lines of "we must use boul because the English-speaking places use blvd" given Quebec's language politics. France is much less insecure about its language since they're in Europe's polyglot of languages rather than surrounded by English hegemony as Quebec is.
I considered that possibility, but couldn't quite see my way to that adding up to a complete explanation. Judging from the historical photos Webfil posted upthread (second page), the use of boul. as the standard road-sign abbreviation was well established by 1970, before the language laws of 1974 (establishing French as the official language of Québec) and 1977 (establishing the fundamental right to speak and be spoken to in French in business and public life, and creating the provincial bodies that define standard Québec French usage).
Also, if the desire was to avoid the standard English abbreviations blvd. and bl., then Parisian French bd. was available as an alternative. Indeed, I would expect that to be preferred for two reasons. First, it is shorter. Second, in much the same way English-speaking Canadians wear their Anglophilia on their sleeves [...], one would expect officially endorsed French usages in Québec to adhere as closely as possible to Parisian norms except where the latter are clearly derived from English (e.g. week-end as a colloquial substitute for fin de semaine).
According to a report from a friend of mine, we've just lost a blue sign on A-10, namely the EB sign for exit 29 (R-133 / Iberville / Richelieu).
Anyway, most of A-10 is in the middle of a big signing project, and at first I didn't see any plans for exits 29 and 55, so I have no idea whether we're going to lose them all or not. I don't know if J. N. Winkler can confirm/infirm; I don't have time to go through the contract letting system right now, but I might at the end of the week.
I had a look and it seems the A-10 signing is being handled under contract number 8703-13-0302, which does cover Exits 29-55. "Chemin des Patriotes" is being substituted for "Iberville." (I don't recall offhand whether Signalisation Routière deprecates mixing street and town names on advance guide and exit direction signs, like the US MUTCD does.)
EDIT: The contract number is 8701-13-0302.
That's not too far from my Uncle's house in Chambly, on the way to the townships. Sad to see it go.According to a report from a friend of mine, we've just lost a blue sign on A-10, namely the EB sign for exit 29 (R-133 / Iberville / Richelieu).
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8288/7866935222_b16ac8893c_z.jpg)
:-(
Yup, I already had that one. At first, I thought 29 and 55 were safe as I didn't find this other project.EDIT: The contract number is 8701-13-0302.
My apologies for the transcription error. I assume you have looked at 8603-13-0302 (A-10 signing update Exits 68-90) as well?
I can remember when they opened the A-10 almost 50 yrs. ago, the signs were Red.That blue sign has been standing for a long, long time. Last time I traveled Autoroute 10 was in August 1980 and it was still a toll road.
I can remember when they opened the A-10 almost 50 yrs. ago, the signs were Red.Indeed. Autoroutes under the Office des Autoroutes jurisdiction also had sequential numbering and no trapezoidal marker for the exits, but trapezoidal BRS/BGS/BBS.
I actually remember that sign from when my dad took us to Expo in 1967(I was nine at the time) and I want to say it was at the Chambly exit. I may have said this before, but I can remember when they first opened the Autoroute, the ramps were actually gravel(at least on ramps). We drove that road quite a bit, driving from Cowansville to Chambly to Montreal and the South Shore.I can remember when they opened the A-10 almost 50 yrs. ago, the signs were Red.Indeed. Autoroutes under the Office des Autoroutes jurisdiction also had sequential numbering and no trapezoidal marker for the exits, but trapezoidal BRS/BGS/BBS.
(http://www.aaroads.com/shields/img/QC/QC19520092l1.jpg) (http://www.aaroads.com/shields/show.php?image=QC19520092)
I actually remember that sign from when my dad took us to Expo in 1967(I was nine at the time) and I want to say it was at the Chambly exit. I may have said this before, but I can remember when they first opened the Autoroute, the ramps were actually gravel(at least on ramps). We drove that road quite a bit, driving from Cowansville to Chambly to Montreal and the South Shore.There are definitely no more left exits! After consulting my old Quebec maps, this is at what's now QC 134, Blvd. Tascherau. Current aerials show a wide median there, so I can believe it originally having had some inside ramps.
The Taschereau interchange was only rebuilt about a decade or so ago. Off the top of my head I am thinking it was maybe 2002 or so when it was done. I know my old 1998 Montreal guide still showed the original configuration.Is there a website for Canada with historic aerials or maps like Historicaerials.com? Even ACME Mapper has USGS quads that can be 40-50 years old, but the Canadian topo I know of is too up to date.
The Taschereau interchange was only rebuilt about a decade or so ago. Off the top of my head I am thinking it was maybe 2002 or so when it was done. I know my old 1998 Montreal guide still showed the original configuration.
Réaménagement de l’échangeur Taschereau / autoroute 10, (phase 3), incluant la construction de voies réservées aux autobus, dans la municipalité de ville de Longueuil, (arrondissement de Brossard), MRC Champlain, circonscription électorale de La Pinière.
Le montant estimé du contrat se situe entre 20 000 000 $ et
25 000 000 $.
The Taschereau interchange was only rebuilt about a decade or so ago. Off the top of my head I am thinking it was maybe 2002 or so when it was done. I know my old 1998 Montreal guide still showed the original configuration.Is there a website for Canada with historic aerials or maps like Historicaerials.com? Even ACME Mapper has USGS quads that can be 40-50 years old, but the Canadian topo I know of is too up to date.
You are correct, that's the Taschereau interchange, don't know what I was thinking, but coming from the memory of a nine-year-old, might have something to do with it, lol!. And the landscape has changed since that pic was taken. And so has the landscape for the Chambly/A-35 interchange.I actually remember that sign from when my dad took us to Expo in 1967(I was nine at the time) and I want to say it was at the Chambly exit. I may have said this before, but I can remember when they first opened the Autoroute, the ramps were actually gravel(at least on ramps). We drove that road quite a bit, driving from Cowansville to Chambly to Montreal and the South Shore.There are definitely no more left exits! After consulting my old Quebec maps, this is at what's now QC 134, Blvd. Tascherau. Current aerials show a wide median there, so I can believe it originally having had some inside ramps.
Does the photo radar in and around Montreal have any leaway? Ie. If I were going 71 in a 70 would I get a ticket? If not, at what speed would I like get a ticket?
Does the photo radar in and around Montreal have any leaway? Ie. If I were going 71 in a 70 would I get a ticket? If not, at what speed would I like get a ticket?
Autoroute 5 up to Wakefield opened to traffic today.
http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/ottawa/2014/10/10/005-outaouais-ouverture-nouveau-troncon-autoroute-5.shtml
They should be consulting the signs.I couldn't spot a single sign on the new stretch, with the exception of one "<= A-35 Saint-Sébastien" orange VMS located at the gore of exit 38 (connector leading to the old terminus), "Fin A-35 <T> 2 km" (that is to say 22 km after the last sign...) and the usual shenanigans (Max speed, km posts, no u-turns except for authorised vehicles). I witnessed many median-crossing u-turns too, and all of these u-turn spots were roughed out by many passages.
They should be consulting the signs.I couldn't spot a single sign on the new stretch, with the exception of one "<= A-35 Saint-Sébastien" orange VMS located at the gore of exit 38 (connector leading to the old terminus), "Fin A-35 <T> 2 km" (that is to say 22 km after the last sign...) and the usual shenanigans (Max speed, km posts, no u-turns except for authorised vehicles).
I was through there yesterday and had the same impression–nothing at all but that VMS from Iberville to Saint-Sébastien, and no exits!
I think that the MTQ has run some issues with the locals in Saint-Alexandre, but I'm surprised that the possibility of an exit at Hwy 227 was scrapped completely. 23 km with no on- or off-ramps whatsoever is quite a long stretch, and the towns to the northeast of the new section (Mont-Saint-Grégoire, Sainte-Brigide, Farnham, etc.) remain essentially unserved by the highway to and from the south.It hasn't been scrapped, the MTQ are waiting on a legal decision regarding the best location for the St-Alexandre exit. The ramps will be built within a year or two I guess.
Autoroute 5 up to Wakefield opened to traffic today.The new 6.5 km A-5 stretch from Chelsea to La Pêche was officially opened on October 20 (press release (http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/centredocumentation/Documents/salle-presse/2014/2014-10-20/communique-anglais.pdf) and a nice map (http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/centredocumentation/Documents/salle-presse/2014/2014-10-20/carte.pdf) of the project). In the planning stages is a final 1 km extension from the current end at R-366 in Wakefield to R-105.
http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/ottawa/2014/10/10/005-outaouais-ouverture-nouveau-troncon-autoroute-5.shtml
Autoroute 5 up to Wakefield opened to traffic today.The new 6.5 km A-5 stretch from Chelsea to La Pêche was officially opened on October 20 (press release (http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/centredocumentation/Documents/salle-presse/2014/2014-10-20/communique-anglais.pdf) and a nice map (http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/centredocumentation/Documents/salle-presse/2014/2014-10-20/carte.pdf) of the project). In the planning stages is a final 1 km extension from the current end at R-366 in Wakefield to R-105.
http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/ottawa/2014/10/10/005-outaouais-ouverture-nouveau-troncon-autoroute-5.shtml
3 kilometers of autoroute 410 near Sherbrooke opened to traffic today.
http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/salle-de-presse/nouvelles/Pages/inauguration-troncon-autoroute40.aspx
Looks like we got some street view early: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.3683171,-71.9260917,3a,90y,95.32h,69.19t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sFxFk__RRazRY_CiKSF8hMg!2e0
I'll be by in a week to spy on the new road and remaining construction.
3 kilometers of autoroute 410 near Sherbrooke opened to traffic today.
http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/salle-de-presse/nouvelles/Pages/inauguration-troncon-autoroute40.aspx
I'd seen the new pavement past the barricades at Rue Dunant, when I stopped by there after the Quebec city meet in October. But I wasn't sure whether it would open so soon, or be deferred to next year.
In any case, it sounds like MTQ isn't done with A-410, with more kms to be added next year.
Cool! Could you let please us know the new exit numbers, if any, east of exit 7 (QC 216)?
It's supposed to run out to Lennoxville. Part of me feels like this is unsatisfying and wants to see it run up to the 610/112 rotary, but I am realistic about the traffic volumes east of Sherbrooke.
Interesting tidbit: Lennoxville is one of the most anglophone places in Québec. I was there last month and after being in "Parlez-vous anglais?" mode for a while, it was like a babel fish had suddenly slipped into my ear in Lennoxville–unsettling, but welcome.
Yes, phase 2 involves crossing the river and veering north to reach R-108 again past Lennoxville. I don't think there is a timeframe set for construction yet. I can try to post a map tonight.I don't think work has even begun on anything east of the roundabouts.
Here's an excerpt of the A-410 project map. It used to be on the MTQ website before they rebuilt it.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7555/15251002564_1b73f0c63d_o.jpg)
Here's an excerpt of the A-410 project map. It used to be on the MTQ website before they rebuilt it.What did the old 108/143 bridge look like? I didn't even know it was rebuilt, the scars are only apparent when I know what I'm looking for.
What did the old 108/143 bridge look like? I didn't even know it was rebuilt, the scars are only apparent when I know what I'm looking for.Unless I'm mistaken, the old bridge still appears to be available on GSV! old bridge (https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=45.352944,-71.859834&spn=0.004644,0.009645&sll=46.856368,-71.341693&sspn=0.287363,0.617294&t=h&hnear=Sherbrooke,+La+R%C3%A9gion-Sherbrookoise,+Quebec,+Canada&z=17&layer=c&cbll=45.352864,-71.859971&panoid=XcFHxaADudlI_Z6TaLebvQ&cbp=12,29.74,,0,8.01&output=classic&dg=oo) vs new bridge (https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=45.349723,-71.864068&spn=0.004645,0.009645&sll=46.856368,-71.341693&sspn=0.287363,0.617294&t=h&hnear=Sherbrooke,+La+R%C3%A9gion-Sherbrookoise,+Quebec,+Canada&layer=c&cbll=45.349723,-71.864068&panoid=KcskMz1KBO_OZh4yR95OhQ&cbp=12,15.83,,0,12.51&z=17).
Clearly, I was expected to look along the bike path. >_<What did the old 108/143 bridge look like? I didn't even know it was rebuilt, the scars are only apparent when I know what I'm looking for.Unless I'm mistaken, the old bridge still appears to be available on GSV! old bridge (https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=45.352944,-71.859834&spn=0.004644,0.009645&sll=46.856368,-71.341693&sspn=0.287363,0.617294&t=h&hnear=Sherbrooke,+La+R%C3%A9gion-Sherbrookoise,+Quebec,+Canada&z=17&layer=c&cbll=45.352864,-71.859971&panoid=XcFHxaADudlI_Z6TaLebvQ&cbp=12,29.74,,0,8.01&output=classic&dg=oo) vs new bridge (https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=45.349723,-71.864068&spn=0.004645,0.009645&sll=46.856368,-71.341693&sspn=0.287363,0.617294&t=h&hnear=Sherbrooke,+La+R%C3%A9gion-Sherbrookoise,+Quebec,+Canada&layer=c&cbll=45.349723,-71.864068&panoid=KcskMz1KBO_OZh4yR95OhQ&cbp=12,15.83,,0,12.51&z=17).
Work to extend eastward Autoroute 70 is nearing the end of its suspension. Premier Philippe Couillard announced that the freeway will be extended towards Bagotville CFB.I have found interesting that if A-70 were extended all the way to a hypothetical St. Lawrence River crossing, it would tie into A-85. Really, 85 should be numbered east-west, except it intersects 20 and heads to north-south NB 2.
Also, road to Opitciwan (logging road 0212, topic here (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2353.msg226943#msg226943)) will get 2-lane bridges and be reconfigurated in some places to ensure "enhanced comfort and security". No pavement, though. Opitciwonok started to go shopping in Val-d'Or (http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/abitibi/2013/10/11/001-obedjiwan-achats-abitibi.shtml)instead of Roberval, because routes 1046, 1009 are better maintained than 0212. Roberval merchants cried to the government about it (whose chief occurs to be local MP), hence the investments.
http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2015/03/12/quebec-annonce-1754-m--en-investissements-routiers
I have found interesting that if A-70 were extended all the way to a hypothetical St. Lawrence River crossing, it would tie into A-85. Really, 85 should be numbered east-west, except it intersects 20 and heads to north-south NB 2.
Work to extend eastward Autoroute 70 is nearing the end of its suspension. Premier Philippe Couillard announced that the freeway will be extended towards Bagotville CFB.I have found interesting that if A-70 were extended all the way to a hypothetical St. Lawrence River crossing, it would tie into A-85. Really, 85 should be numbered east-west, except it intersects 20 and heads to north-south NB 2.
Also, road to Opitciwan (logging road 0212, topic here (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2353.msg226943#msg226943)) will get 2-lane bridges and be reconfigurated in some places to ensure "enhanced comfort and security". No pavement, though. Opitciwonok started to go shopping in Val-d'Or (http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/abitibi/2013/10/11/001-obedjiwan-achats-abitibi.shtml)instead of Roberval, because routes 1046, 1009 are better maintained than 0212. Roberval merchants cried to the government about it (whose chief occurs to be local MP), hence the investments.
http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2015/03/12/quebec-annonce-1754-m--en-investissements-routiers
Some new photos of Autoroute 73 south of Quebec City. Quebec's MTQ has been busy over the past couple of years extending Autoroute 73 southerly with the ultimate goal of completing a four lane highway between Quebec City and Saint-Georges later in 2016.
(http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/PQ/A/73/A73_dv_43-1_south_May15.jpg)
Autoroute 73 will end at a roundabout with Route 204 east of Saint-Georges.
Yuck on that US 201 shield (not-centred, series E or EM). The MTQ has done a much better job before:
http://goo.gl/maps/3ySKQ
but there are just two bordering states (NY and NH) where the state route shield is not a generic square.
Ahem...
Some new photos of Autoroute 73 south of Quebec City. Quebec's MTQ has been busy over the past couple of years extending Autoroute 73 southerly with the ultimate goal of completing a four lane highway between Quebec City and Saint-Georges later in 2016.
(http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/PQ/A/73/A73_dv_43-1_south_May15.jpg)
Autoroute 73 will end at a roundabout with Route 204 east of Saint-Georges.
Pretty sure "USA" is not a French word (that would be "É.-U."). MTQ may need to have a word with the language police.:eyebrow:
The shields you and AsphaltPlanet posted are actually the first US route shields in Québec I can remember seeing. I don't know if MTQ has actually tried to clone US state route shields, but there are just two bordering states (NY and NH) where the state route shield is not a generic square.The only foreign trailblazers that MTQ signs are NHS routes connections ― with the sole exceptions of ON-101 and ON-34 that are not signed from Québec. US-201 is the only US-route connecting to Canada's NHS in Québec, while there are no state routes that do.
Some new photos of Autoroute 73 south of Quebec City. Quebec's MTQ has been busy over the past couple of years extending Autoroute 73 southerly with the ultimate goal of completing a four lane highway between Quebec City and Saint-Georges later in 2016.Saint-Georges is in Beauce-Sartigan, not Les Etchemins (http://www.mamrot.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/cartes/mrc/290.pdf), JSYK.
Neither are french "New York", "New Hampshire", "Toronto", "Ottawa", "Sherbrooke", "Beaconsfield", though they appear on signs.
On the other hand, a certain chicken joint is known as Poulet Frite Kentucky in Quebec due to the language laws.
Some new photos of Autoroute 73 south of Quebec City. Quebec's MTQ has been busy over the past couple of years extending Autoroute 73 southerly with the ultimate goal of completing a four lane highway between Quebec City and Saint-Georges later in 2016.
I take your point, but I think that shield is a bit of an exception. My impression (garnered both from visiting Québec in person about 16 years ago and, more recently, studying the pattern-accurate sign panel detail sheets I can find) is that MTQ tries to deploy Series E Modified in all guide-sign shields, including not just route and autoroute shields for its own roads but also Interstate shields.
The shields you and AsphaltPlanet posted are actually the first US route shields in Québec I can remember seeing. I don't know if MTQ has actually tried to clone US state route shields, but there are just two bordering states (NY and NH) where the state route shield is not a generic square.
On the other hand, a certain chicken joint is known as Poulet Frite Kentucky in Quebec due to the language laws. I suppose one might argue that "Fried Chicken" is a generic term describing the product, but I think most people would disagree and would accept that "Kentucky Fried Chicken" (or "KFC") is a proper noun as the name of the restaurant.
Consider also that several provinces have different names in French (Île du Prince Édouard; Nouveau-Brunswick; Columbie Britannique; Nouvelle-Écosse; Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador).
I heard that the word 'Stop' on stop signs is allowed in Montreal in certain sections, but I might be mistaken.
Any plans to fill the gap between Beauceville and Saint-Georges earlier, as a two-lane Autoroute? The construction photo you posted (thanks!) indicates no such intention, with both roadways similarly far from completion.
Neither are french ... "Beaconsfield"Given it would be named after Benjamin Disraeli (given the title 'The Earl of Beaconsfield'), it surely is the French. However, what would the French be if it was named after the Bucks* town? Some sort of corruption of "compensation dans les hêtres"? Or a false entymology and "le champ de balise"?
Neither are french ... "Beaconsfield"Given it would be named after Benjamin Disraeli (given the title 'The Earl of Beaconsfield'), it surely is the French.
However, what would the French be if it was named after the Bucks* town? Some sort of corruption of "compensation dans les hêtres"? Or a false entymology and "le champ de balise"?
Any plans to fill the gap between Beauceville and Saint-Georges earlier, as a two-lane Autoroute? The construction photo you posted (thanks!) indicates no such intention, with both roadways similarly far from completion.
It looks to me like A-73 will open as a four lane road, and not in stages as a super-2. I think construction is supposed to be done by the end of construction season this year. It looked to me like most of the structural work had been completed for the extension, but a lot of rock work and grading seems to remain. Construction is progressing well on the twinning work near Sainte-Marie. I quite like the area to the south of Quebec City. Some of the roads are pretty entertaining to drive.
I took some photos of the A-85 extension towards Nouveau-Brunswick, and A-20 east towards Trois Pistoles as well, but I haven't had a chance to do anything with the photos yet. The A-85 photos that I have, again, aren't really all that different than what you posted photos of last year. A-85 is quite a road though, I'm looking forward to driving the highway again once the northbound lanes have been completed through Degelis.
I don't know if anybody knows this, but a section of R-112 has been permanently closed for the past couple of years west of Thetford Mines. I don't know the full story behind the closure, but from what I gathered from the French article I (attempted to) read, the mining operations have undermined the stability of the existing highway. A new permanent realigned road is currently under construction.
I don't know if anybody knows this, but a section of R-112 has been permanently closed for the past couple of years west of Thetford Mines. I don't know the full story behind the closure, but from what I gathered from the French article I (attempted to) read, the mining operations have undermined the stability of the existing highway.Pretty much. In a nutshell, the pavement of the original R-112 and a realignment attempt are both currently located, in crumbs, somewhere at the bottom of the adjacent asbestos mine.
Most likely, if the town came before Disraeli was given the title, either it would be left alone or a saint's name would have been appended to the name to make it work. Both are quite common out in the RoQ (the Rest of Québec outside Montréal and Québec City) - an example of the second strategy, for example, would be the town of Saint-Étienne-de-Bolton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-%C3%89tienne-de-Bolton,_Quebec). Fortunately, as far as I'm aware, Quebec does not have any placenames containing, nor for that matter does it have any need for, the words "sur" and "sous", so the respective abbreviations "s/" and "s/s", used in France, are not needed on signage.One of Montreal's most important satellite cities is Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and there's several other uses of "sur" in town and city names, but interestingly enough, not a single use of "sous". Québec, however, does not go to the same lengths as France to abbreviate place names on signage, and does not use "s/" and "s/s".
Kentucky Fried Chicken did rename itself into Poulet Frit Kentucky (at least, partly) in order to comply with Bill 101. Now that it's KFC and PFK, it might actually be legal to just use the English acronym but hey, we're used to the French name now, and IANAL. Canadian Tire, East Side Marios, Dairy Queen and such are illegal, but I guess that they can cover the legal costs that come with not changing their name. Note, adding a French word to the name (e.g., Magasins Canadian Tire, Restaurant East Side Marios, etc.) is enough to make it "French". Businesses (and especially chains) with English names do attract some protestors, though, and I think it's ridiculous.
On shields:
My understanding is that in Québec, all shields on BGSes have to use Series E(M) for legibility (basically, a stricter version of what NYSDOT does with their state route shields). However, in several cases, U.S. and Interstate shields do violate that rule and are posted with Series D numerals. Notably, older signs with U.S. 201 on A-20 and service lanes near A-73, A-73 itself just past the bridge out of Québec City, I-89 shields on A-10's service lanes and I-87 shields on A-30's mainline in the eastbound direction. Then, R-133 SB incorrectly uses Series EM on I-89 reassurance signs. As you can see, adherence to that rule is somewhat inconsistent.
Most likely, if the town came before Disraeli was given the title, either it would be left alone or a saint's name would have been appended to the name to make it work. Both are quite common out in the RoQ (the Rest of Québec outside Montréal and Québec City) - an example of the second strategy, for example, would be the town of Saint-Étienne-de-Bolton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-%C3%89tienne-de-Bolton,_Quebec). Fortunately, as far as I'm aware, Quebec does not have any placenames containing, nor for that matter does it have any need for, the words "sur" and "sous", so the respective abbreviations "s/" and "s/s", used in France, are not needed on signage.One of Montreal's most important satellite cities is Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and there's several other uses of "sur" in town and city names, but interestingly enough, not a single use of "sous". Québec, however, does not go to the same lengths as France to abbreviate place names on signage, and does not use "s/" and "s/s".
Otherwise, at least for the free-standing shields, IIRC it's Series E(M) if single-digit, Series D for two-digit, and Series B for three-digit.This is true for autoroute shields, but national route shields were more or less recently changed to always use Series D.
1 G$ funding was announced this afternoon for the completion A-85's last 40 kilometres.If by completed you mean "incapable of being extended further" yes... unless you bridge the St. Lawrence.
I believe that would make it the first ever completed trunk autoroute in Québec, upon opening.
1 G$ funding was announced this afternoon for the completion A-85's last 40 kilometres.
I believe that would make it the first ever completed trunk autoroute in Québec, upon opening.
1 G$ funding was announced this afternoon for the completion A-85's last 40 kilometres.If by completed you mean "incapable of being extended further" yes... unless you bridge the St. Lawrence.
I believe that would make it the first ever completed trunk autoroute in Québec, upon opening.
1 G$ funding was announced this afternoon for the completion A-85's last 40 kilometres.If by completed you mean "incapable of being extended further" yes... unless you bridge the St. Lawrence.
I believe that would make it the first ever completed trunk autoroute in Québec, upon opening.
If your willing to bridge the St. Lawrence or use a large ferry then you could extend A-85 to A-70 and maybe replace A-70.
1 G$ funding was announced this afternoon for the completion A-85's last 40 kilometres.If by completed you mean "incapable of being extended further" yes... unless you bridge the St. Lawrence.
I believe that would make it the first ever completed trunk autoroute in Québec, upon opening.
The 1971 ministère de la Voirie master plan did feature some wacky, eccentric autoroute extensions, but not that one. And I was quoting that plan when referring to the first completed trunk autoroute.
Copyright issues prevent me from reproducing the whole maps here.
(http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww106/webfil/extract_zpsac15f753.jpg)
Yes, that plan's mesh is tight and most of southern Québec is covered with a grid of expressways that would defy nowadays common sense, such as A-18 linking Saint-Albert to Plessisville or a freeway bridge between Lanoraie and Tracy. But nothing as alanlandish as a bridge between Rivière-du-Loup and Saint-Siméon.
Those were the times when growth expectations were sky-rocketing, and the province's population estimates for 2000 were above 10 000 000 people, with over 6 M people in the Greater Montréal. The 8 M threshold was reached in 2011 for the province, and Montréal reached 4 M in 2014.
Copyright issues prevent me from reproducing the whole maps here.
In other Laval news, MTQ still considers plans for A-19 to be extended north from A-440 to A-640 as a non-restricted boulevard instead of a full autoroute. Article in French here: http://www.courrierlaval.com/Actualites/Societe/2015-08-06/article-4238000/Le-MTQ-etudie-toujours-l%26rsquo%3Boption-du-boulevard-urbain/1 (http://www.courrierlaval.com/Actualites/Societe/2015-08-06/article-4238000/Le-MTQ-etudie-toujours-l%26rsquo%3Boption-du-boulevard-urbain/1)
So when will MTQ finish A-410 to its final terminus further along QC 108?
Maybe the MTQ will eventually connect both ends together...
BTW, extension of A-20 to Notre-Dame-des-Neiges southwest of Trois-Pistoles was supposed to be done around now, but apparently hasn't happened just yet.
Maybe the MTQ will eventually connect both ends together...
Don't hold your breath on that. It looks like A-20 between Trois-Pistoles and Rimouski has been pulled from MTQ's 2015-2025 plans, to give priority to completing A-85:
http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/est-quebec/2015/09/23/006-prolongement-20-jean-damour-fait-le-point.shtml
http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/est-quebec/2015/11/12/001-autoroute-20-prolongement-chambre-commerce-rimouski-transports-jean-damour.shtml
http://rimouski.rougefm.ca/info-rimouski/2015/09/23/prolongement-de-lautoroute-20-sur-la-glace
MTQ says one reason for postponing (not killing) extending A-20 to Rimouski is the very expensive river crossing in Trois-Pistoles. Since bridge construction seems to be already underway, I'm not sure what happens to that part of the project.
BTW, extension of A-20 to Notre-Dame-des-Neiges southwest of Trois-Pistoles was supposed to be done around now, but apparently hasn't happened just yet.
The area between A-5 and ON 417 has always struck me as a definite gap in Canada's freeway system. Too bad it looks like the tunnel to fill that gap will be truck-only.
The gap in A-20 west of Montreal is much worse IMO.
The area between A-5 and ON 417 has always struck me as a definite gap in Canada's freeway system. Too bad it looks like the tunnel to fill that gap will be truck-only.
The gap in A-20 west of Montreal is much worse IMO.
That one is pretty bad. There really ought to be an option to bypass it via A-30 to the south or A-40 to the north. Then at least you wouldn't have a gap in the network there. ;)
I think A-20 is a higher priority than A-85. They've designed it, they've just never gotten funding in place. To me, the highest priority is making sure the Montréal infrastructure doesn't crumble, which it's already very good at doing, and then Québec City won't be far behind (but fewer bridges and better condition helps).The area between A-5 and ON 417 has always struck me as a definite gap in Canada's freeway system. Too bad it looks like the tunnel to fill that gap will be truck-only.
The gap in A-20 west of Montreal is much worse IMO.
That one is pretty bad. There really ought to be an option to bypass it via A-30 to the south or A-40 to the north. Then at least you wouldn't have a gap in the network there. ;)
Fair enough. Quebec has higher priorities for freeway connections (like A-85 and 35). I guess my cringing for A-20 is more of an emotional thing rather than a logical one.
Sure, but completed A-20 doesn't really do anything for infrastructure renewal in Montreal, aside from ensuring there are more maintenance requirements for the province in the future.
From a traffic perspective in the Montreal region, money would be much better spent on widening either A-20 or A-10 east of A-30 than it would be on completing the last remaining portions of A-20 through the west islands.
I think A-20 is a higher priority than A-85. They've designed it, they've just never gotten funding in place. To me, the highest priority is making sure the Montréal infrastructure doesn't crumble, which it's already very good at doing, and then Québec City won't be far behind (but fewer bridges and better condition helps).The area between A-5 and ON 417 has always struck me as a definite gap in Canada's freeway system. Too bad it looks like the tunnel to fill that gap will be truck-only.
The gap in A-20 west of Montreal is much worse IMO.
That one is pretty bad. There really ought to be an option to bypass it via A-30 to the south or A-40 to the north. Then at least you wouldn't have a gap in the network there. ;)
Fair enough. Quebec has higher priorities for freeway connections (like A-85 and 35). I guess my cringing for A-20 is more of an emotional thing rather than a logical one.
Sure, but completed A-20 doesn't really do anything for infrastructure renewal in Montreal, aside from ensuring there are more maintenance requirements for the province in the future.
From a traffic perspective in the Montreal region, money would be much better spent on widening either A-20 or A-10 east of A-30 than it would be on completing the last remaining portions of A-20 through the west islands.
What about widening A-30 in the stretch between A-10 and A-20? A six lane stretch of A-30 would make the A-30 bypass more reliable.
I think A-20 is a higher priority than A-85. They've designed it, they've just never gotten funding in place. To me, the highest priority is making sure the Montréal infrastructure doesn't crumble, which it's already very good at doing, and then Québec City won't be far behind (but fewer bridges and better condition helps).The area between A-5 and ON 417 has always struck me as a definite gap in Canada's freeway system. Too bad it looks like the tunnel to fill that gap will be truck-only.
The gap in A-20 west of Montreal is much worse IMO.
That one is pretty bad. There really ought to be an option to bypass it via A-30 to the south or A-40 to the north. Then at least you wouldn't have a gap in the network there. ;)
Fair enough. Quebec has higher priorities for freeway connections (like A-85 and 35). I guess my cringing for A-20 is more of an emotional thing rather than a logical one.Sure, but completed A-20 doesn't really do anything for infrastructure renewal in Montreal, aside from ensuring there are more maintenance requirements for the province in the future.
From a traffic perspective in the Montreal region, money would be much better spent on widening either A-20 or A-10 east of A-30 than it would be on completing the last remaining portions of A-20 through the west islands.
What about widening A-30 in the stretch between A-10 and A-20? A six lane stretch of A-30 would make the A-30 bypass more reliable.
^ Above comments are from the Ontario's Highways thread - page 26
Just making sure, when you say the A-30 stretch from A-10 to A-20, are you referring to the west interchange with A-20, or the east interchange with A-20?
I've driven A-30 a few times from the west end to A-10 and I found it wasn't that busy. Is it already having traffic issues?
I think A-20 is a higher priority than A-85. They've designed it, they've just never gotten funding in place. To me, the highest priority is making sure the Montréal infrastructure doesn't crumble, which it's already very good at doing, and then Québec City won't be far behind (but fewer bridges and better condition helps).The area between A-5 and ON 417 has always struck me as a definite gap in Canada's freeway system. Too bad it looks like the tunnel to fill that gap will be truck-only.
The gap in A-20 west of Montreal is much worse IMO.
That one is pretty bad. There really ought to be an option to bypass it via A-30 to the south or A-40 to the north. Then at least you wouldn't have a gap in the network there. ;)
Fair enough. Quebec has higher priorities for freeway connections (like A-85 and 35). I guess my cringing for A-20 is more of an emotional thing rather than a logical one.Sure, but completed A-20 doesn't really do anything for infrastructure renewal in Montreal, aside from ensuring there are more maintenance requirements for the province in the future.
From a traffic perspective in the Montreal region, money would be much better spent on widening either A-20 or A-10 east of A-30 than it would be on completing the last remaining portions of A-20 through the west islands.
What about widening A-30 in the stretch between A-10 and A-20? A six lane stretch of A-30 would make the A-30 bypass more reliable.
^ Above comments are from the Ontario's Highways thread - page 26
Just making sure, when you say the A-30 stretch from A-10 to A-20, are you referring to the west interchange with A-20, or the east interchange with A-20?
I've driven A-30 a few times from the west end to A-10 and I found it wasn't that busy. Is it already having traffic issues?
So I did some research about the Montreal area and some interesting highways popped up to me, but some of them I have questions about. Here's my first observation.
1. A-20 was originally going to follow A-720, through the north bank of the St. Lawrence River, to a short freeway that Avenue Souligny uses, and ends at an overbuilt interchange with A-25 (Sortie 4), and up until 2011, A-25 ended abruptly here. A-20 would then follow the Louis Lafontine Bridge-Tunnel over the St. Lawrence River, bypassing Longueuil. Instead, A-25 used the Louis Lafontine Bridge-Tunnel to A-20. (information courtesy of AlpsRoads) However, it was not finished between the end of A-720 and Avenue Souligny, instead multiplexing with QC 132 through Longueuil. However, A-40 later did exactly that, following the north shore of the St. Lawrence River all the way through Montreal. So why was there a need for A-20 to follow the north shore if A-40 later took its place? Is it because QC 132 would be its own freeway and the main route through Longueuil, or was it because A-40 was not anticipated?
2. A-13 parallels A-15 up until it ends at A-640. It also was supposed to head northwest to Mirabel Airport. So what was the point of this Autoroute if A-15 did exactly what A-13 did; head northwest out of Montreal. Was A-13 supposed to be a bypass of the tolled A-15 at the time of its construction, or was it an airport connector, connecting Mirabel and P.E Trudeau?
So I did some research about the Montreal area and some interesting highways popped up to me, but some of them I have questions about. Here's my first observation.Montreal is a big city. Parallel freeways are necessary.
1. A-20 was originally going to follow A-720, through the north bank of the St. Lawrence River, to a short freeway that Avenue Souligny uses, and ends at an overbuilt interchange with A-25 (Sortie 4), and up until 2011, A-25 ended abruptly here. A-20 would then follow the Louis Lafontine Bridge-Tunnel over the St. Lawrence River, bypassing Longueuil. Instead, A-25 used the Louis Lafontine Bridge-Tunnel to A-20. (information courtesy of AlpsRoads) However, it was not finished between the end of A-720 and Avenue Souligny, instead multiplexing with QC 132 through Longueuil. However, A-40 later did exactly that, following the north shore of the St. Lawrence River all the way through Montreal. So why was there a need for A-20 to follow the north shore if A-40 later took its place? Is it because QC 132 would be its own freeway and the main route through Longueuil, or was it because A-40 was not anticipated?
2. A-13 parallels A-15 up until it ends at A-640. It also was supposed to head northwest to Mirabel Airport. So what was the point of this Autoroute if A-15 did exactly what A-13 did; head northwest out of Montreal. Was A-13 supposed to be a bypass of the tolled A-15 at the time of its construction, or was it an airport connector, connecting Mirabel and P.E Trudeau?
Does anybody know why A-20 has you driving on the left between QC 138 and the Turcot? It just seems like more work, with overpasses required to get the lanes back to the right side on each end.That might have been the easiest way to deal with the railroad tracks. The EB lanes are pretty straight, but the WB lanes swerve twice.
It'll be a bit sad to see this interesting section go when they reconstruct the interchange.
I found a couple more odd things about the Montreal freeway system.
A-520 ends oddly. The speed limit decreases from 70 km/h to 50 km/h, and it merges into it's frontage roads. There's also a traffic light for some odd reason. Also, there is no direct way to A-40 WB. You have to follow A-520's frontage road, make a left onto the other side of A-40, and follow its frontage road to the next exit (or loop around back to A-520 and A-40 EB). The interchange also seems to be a corrupted trumpet and all the movements are made via A-520's and A-40's frontage roads.
The two so-called ramps to nowhere off Highway 20 in Dorval will be completed by the fall of 2017. The announcement was made during a technical briefing by Transport Quebec on Monday.
Work on the two ramps just east of Dorval Circle on the westbound side of the highway has been stalled for years while the provincial government, CN, CP and two hotels affected by the revamping of the roadways in the area worked out their differences.
The two ramps will provide access to and from the airport from Highway 20 and Highway 520 and, by extension, create a direct link from the airport to the downtown core.
Linking the ramps to the highways will relieve congestion in Dorval Circle because airport traffic will take the new direct route.
The ramps sat unfinished for years because both CN and CP refused to approve the original plan, which involved moving tracks and interrupting rail service. The new design won’t move tracks, but it will see the demolition of 10 per cent of one of the unfinished ramps.
Transport Ministry engineer Kamal Boulhrouz said the ramp must be reworked to accommodate the technical requirements of the new design.
“It was built when the plan was to move rail tracks,” Boulhrouz said during Monday’s briefing. “From a cost perspective, the demolition of 10 per cent of the ramp is much less expensive than moving tracks.”
When pushed by journalists as to why the ramps were built before negotiations with the affected parties were complete, Boulhrouz said the project was “very complicated” and had many players – each with interests and needs to accommodate.
“Today’s news is good,” he said. “We’ve come up with a solution that works for everyone.”
The cost of demolishing and rebuilding 10 per cent of the ramp is included in the $344-million contract awarded to contractor TNT. The vast reworking of what is called the Dorval Exchange North project is scheduled for completion in 2019.
The Transport Ministry’s director for the Dorval project, Martin Cormier, said 75 per cent of the overall project is complete. All roadwork in the area, which includes redoing Michel-Jasmin Ave., will be completed by fall 2018 and the finishing touches, including landscaping, will be done by 2019.
The cost of completing the link of the two ramps with the highways and the airport is $18 million.
The overhaul of the Dorval exchange also affected the parking lots for both Hôtel MTL Express (formerly Best Western) and Hôtel Marriott Fairfield. There were also concerns about vibrations and noise.
In March, the Tribunal administratif du Québec ordered the Transport Ministry to pay Hôtel MTL Express a provisional indemnity of around $5 million for the expropriation of part of its parking lot and to cover costs incurred by the hotel during the transformation process. The exact amount of the compensation will be calculated once the work is complete.
Transport Ministry spokesman Sarah Bensadoun said the agreement with Hôtel Marriott Fairfield “is confidential since it was a private negotiation.”
Cormier said there will be some lane closures on westbound Highway 20 and Highway 520 during the completion of the roadwork. Details about closures are posted at www.quebec511.info.
Neither Cormier or Boulhrouz had information about the redevelopment of the southern portion of the Dorval Exchange, which is supposed to include the reworking of Dorval Ave. and new stations for buses and trains. The shape of that overhaul might well be affected by the announcement last month by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec of a $5.5-billion light-rail project that will link the South Shore, North Shore and the West Island with the airport and the downtown core. Boulhrouz said the light-rail system would not overlap with work being done on the Dorval Exchange North project because its route runs north of the project.
15 always went the way it does. However, the two autoroutes are considered completely different freeways, hence the reset for Laurentides.
Another thing is that A-15 strangely resets exit numbers after the concurrency with A-40. I'm guessing that A-15 ended here, and the extension to the US was built later (it could be vice versa though).
Another major stub I can think of comes from the A-40/73, A-573 interchange in Quebec City:I find the ending of A-40 more stubby than that. It should end at A-440, but for some reason continues to QC 368 and magically becomes QC 138.
https://goo.gl/maps/2izEgmmzD8n
A-40 was supposed to be extended west of here I believe, but of course, never happened.
I confess, I haven't done a thorough search, but does anyone have any insights as to what is happening with the Boneventure in Montreal? Is it just being demolished and decommissioned?
A friend just explained to me that it's being converted to a ground-level boulevard of sorts with "green spaces" in an effort to reconnect the neighborhood.
Technically QC 138 enters from the interchange with QC 368. While they could have extended A-440 to that point, MTQ probably wanted to go from one through number to another to make it easier for long distance travelers, who just need to follow A-40 and QC 138 without worrying about a section of A-440 in between.Another major stub I can think of comes from the A-40/73, A-573 interchange in Quebec City:I find the ending of A-40 more stubby than that. It should end at A-440, but for some reason continues to QC 368 and magically becomes QC 138.
https://goo.gl/maps/2izEgmmzD8n
A-40 was supposed to be extended west of here I believe, but of course, never happened.
I guess that really cements 175 ending at 218 instead of 173. Don't forget the important acknowledgement of QC 136!Indeed, R-136 is pretty well advertised now at its western end, with still no other acknowledgment along its length or eastern end! (wherever that is!).
I think it's funny that they're acknowledging QC 136 when they're planning on duplicating the number.Yeah, that's a bit lame in my opinion. There's no vital need to duplicate numbers. And Boul. Champlain should probably be downgraded to a R-3xx with the low speed limits and short length (it's the shortest extant R-1xx unless I'm mistaken).
Roadwork: More hell on the way this fall on Montreal highways
If you thought traffic was bad now, road planners have an ominous message: it’s going to get even worse, and the added pain could last two years or longer.
“It’s the worst I have ever seen it,” said long-time traffic observer Rick Leckner. “We have to stop complaining and do what we can to try to reduce the problem by staying off the roads.”
Planners from Transport Quebec, the city, and several other agencies called reporters in for an hour-long briefing Thursday about the roadwork planned for the next few months, most of it on main routes to downtown.
The bulk of the interruptions will occur in what’s being called the Bonaventure-Champlain-Turcot triangle, the three major projects underway in the city’s centre.
Ville-Marie Expressway: reduced lanes for two years or longer
The Ville-Marie Expressway, used by more than 100,000 motorists daily, will never be the same again as of November. That’s when cars on the eastbound side will be diverted to part of the rebuilt expressway, which will be known as Route 136 when it reopens fully in 2020.
Only two lanes of the rebuilt expressway will be built by November, so traffic will be reduced to two lanes from the current four lanes until some time in 2018. The section affected is from the Highway 20/Décarie entrance until the entrance to Ville-Marie tunnel. Sarah Bensadoun, a spokesperson for Transport Quebec, said it was not possible to say when in 2018 the expressway would be back up to four lanes.
It gets worse: the eastbound expressway will be completely closed for 15 to 20 weekends on the same stretch of road, starting in mid-October.
The lane closures are added to long-term closures already in place in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, where the Montreal West and St-Pierre interchanges have been closed since December, and will remain so until 2019. A possible alternate road, St-Jacques St. was demolished over the Décarie Expressway and won’t be reopened for at least a year, Bensadoun said.
Bridge work
There are six weekends of work blitzes scheduled for both the Champlain and the Mercier bridges. On the weekends of Sept 10-11, and Oct. 1-2, the South Shore-bound Champlain Bridge will be closed for work on the structure’s beams. Montreal-bound traffic will be closed on the bridge over the Sept. 17-18 and Oct. 15-16 weekends. Lanes of the Mercier Bridge leading to the South Shore will be closed on Oct. 8-9 and Oct. 22-23, but traffic will be diverted to the other side of the bridge, so one lane of traffic in each direction will be maintained during those weekends. The Montreal-bound Mercier will be closed on the weekend of Oct. 29-30, with no Montreal-bound traffic permitted.
Other closures
A portion of St-Patrick St. in the Sud-Ouest borough, from around Pitt St. to Atwater Ave., will be closed from September to December.
Greene Ave. from Dorchester Blvd. to St-Antoine St. will be closed starting in September for undetermined period.
The exit for Wellington St. in Verdun from Highway 15 will be closed until 2017 as part of work on the new Champlain Bridge.
There will also be work done around the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel that will cause some lanes to be reduced, and some overnight closures.
Commuters called to do their part
Both Transport Minister Jacques Daoust and Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre called on commuters to do their part by trying to stay off the roads and take public transit. Montreal’s Chamber of Commerce said it will try to help by bringing together businesses to put in place measures like alternative hours, or carpooling incentives, to try to ease rush hour traffic.
Mitigation measures
The province said it is pouring in $60 million into incentives to take public transit. Among the measures are 25 new buses for the Société de transport de Montréal, which will result in 130 new departures. There will also be more buses added to the commuter routes off-island, more departures on the métro’s Green Line, and more parking spaces around transit hubs. A new train station in Lachine on the Candiac Line is due to open at the end of the year.
A-73 construction is complete, all it need is the marked paint linesAssuming it still has southern end at QC 204 roundabout, instead of continuing a few km farther south to a proper ending at 173.
http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/quebec/2016/09/23/007-prolongement-autoroute-73-ouverture-saint-georges.shtml
Althought then the former mayor of St-Georges complained about that detail.
http://www.enbeauce.com/actualites/politique/299664/autoroute-73-claude-morin-met-le-frein-a-lenthousiasme-de-roger-carette
Edit: A-73 is now open! http://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2016/09/29/lautoroute-de-la-beauce-ouvre-vendredi-1
Assuming it still has southern end at QC 204 roundabout, instead of continuing a few km farther south to a proper ending at 173.
Althought then the former mayor of St-Georges complained about that detail.
http://www.enbeauce.com/actualites/politique/299664/autoroute-73-claude-morin-met-le-frein-a-lenthousiasme-de-roger-carette
Assuming it still has southern end at QC 204 roundabout, instead of continuing a few km farther south to a proper ending at 173.
Right. But if the auto-translation of the article Stephane linked is correct, MTQ plans to study a short southward extension (not all the way to 173), to address the anticipated congestion in downtown St.-Georges.
Great photos.
French placenames aren't too favorable for signage due to the amount of -de-xxx ,or sur-xxx, or -les-xxx or -sous-xxx, etc, which makes placenames twice as long.
Imagine placenames like Washington-on-the-Potomac or New York City-at-the-Hudson :)
Great photos.
French placenames aren't too favorable for signage due to the amount of -de-xxx ,or sur-xxx, or -les-xxx or -sous-xxx, etc, which makes placenames twice as long.
Imagine placenames like Washington-on-the-Potomac or New York City-at-the-Hudson :)
There's still Niagara-on-the-lake. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara-on-the-Lake Close but no cigar I guess. ;)
Stratford upon Avon, Newcastle upon Tyne, Barmby on the Marsh, Newton-le-Willow, Ashton-under-Lyne, Burley in Wharfedale, Shipton by Beningbrough.
Highway 15 overpass, completed last year, now being demolishedMaybe its a sop to the Canadian Mob?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-highway-15-overpass-torn-down-1.3811421 (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-highway-15-overpass-torn-down-1.3811421)
When they replaced the Seaway bridge, they build everything out really nice for the new bridge... and then proceded to rip some of it up just a couple months later for the temporary traffic pattern (and toll booth) to demolish the old bridge. Not only did they rip up brand new infrastructure, the toll booths and permanent roadway are situated in such a way that there will be a permanent kink in the road where the old bridge pier was. What they should have done is build the new bridge with the temporary connecting road and toll booth and built the permanent connections after the bridge pier was demolished (also, I would have built the booths on the other side of customs, so that people going from the US to Cornwall Island could make the trip without paying two bridge tolls, as used to be possible before customs was moved off the island). It's as if someone designed the bridge not realizing that it would need to be built around the old bridge until they were nearly done.
they aren't getting rid of the 720. It's being renumbered as 136, and it's being realigned as part of the Turcot construction, but it's basically just being replaced with a new expressway on a slightly different alignment.
they aren't getting rid of the 720. It's being renumbered as 136, and it's being realigned as part of the Turcot construction, but it's basically just being replaced with a new expressway on a slightly different alignment.
How come they decided to renumber it from an autoroute to a provincial highway?
they aren't getting rid of the 720. It's being renumbered as 136, and it's being realigned as part of the Turcot construction, but it's basically just being replaced with a new expressway on a slightly different alignment.
How come they decided to renumber it from an autoroute to a provincial highway?
Lane width on the new 136 will be 3.5 m, minimum for an Autoroute is 3.75 m.
I feel like that's the cart leading the horse. They decided they wanted to downgrade it before they set about justifying it geometrically. The idea is just to calm traffic on that leg, which was originally constructed as a through highway.they aren't getting rid of the 720. It's being renumbered as 136, and it's being realigned as part of the Turcot construction, but it's basically just being replaced with a new expressway on a slightly different alignment.
How come they decided to renumber it from an autoroute to a provincial highway?
Lane width on the new 136 will be 3.5 m, minimum for an Autoroute is 3.75 m.
I think it's interesting that they're removing the autoroute status for lanes being a little narrow (in US units: 11.5' instead of 12') while A-19, A-55, and A-955 have at-grades and traffic lights (why is A-955 still an autoroute? Just make it QC 2xx! Ditto for A-19). I think there are a few at-grades lurking in other places too. And quite a few autoroute-autoroute interchanges that go through service roads with no access control, including to stay on A-15 and A-20 near the Champlain Bridge.
And they really should use a number that isn't duplicated somewhere. Especially after they JUST started signing QC 136 in Quebec City.
That's ridiculous. Traffic isn't nearly that high on 955. I certainly agree with twinning A-55.I think it's interesting that they're removing the autoroute status for lanes being a little narrow (in US units: 11.5' instead of 12') while A-19, A-55, and A-955 have at-grades and traffic lights (why is A-955 still an autoroute? Just make it QC 2xx! Ditto for A-19). I think there are a few at-grades lurking in other places too. And quite a few autoroute-autoroute interchanges that go through service roads with no access control, including to stay on A-15 and A-20 near the Champlain Bridge.
And they really should use a number that isn't duplicated somewhere. Especially after they JUST started signing QC 136 in Quebec City.
Since the missing gap of A-55 was done between St-Celestin and TCH-20, it created a latent demand and traffic had raised on A-955 and looks like the push for a 4-lanes will be push from what I saw on this French articles.
http://www.lanouvelle.net/actualites/politique/2016/10/12/doublement-de-la-55-955---le-depute-rayes-offre-son-appui.html
http://www.lapresse.ca/le-nouvelliste/actualites/201603/24/01-4964140-doublement-de-lautoroute-55-force-nouvelle-au-dossier.php
they aren't getting rid of the 720. It's being renumbered as 136, and it's being realigned as part of the Turcot construction, but it's basically just being replaced with a new expressway on a slightly different alignment.
How come they decided to renumber it from an autoroute to a provincial highway?
Lane width on the new 136 will be 3.5 m, minimum for an Autoroute is 3.75 m.
Is there a source for that online?
That's ridiculous. Traffic isn't nearly that high on 955. I certainly agree with twinning A-55.
Even 10,000 VPD is fine for two lanes.That's ridiculous. Traffic isn't nearly that high on 955. I certainly agree with twinning A-55.
I do not share your opinion on the ridiculousness of the proposition of upgrading 955.
The connection of A-55 and A-955 really drained traffic onto A-955 for movements with Victoriaville as an origin/destination. A-955 has seen its rates go up by 141 % since 2006 (2,700 VPD/15% truck → 6,000 VPD/20% truck) and traffic on R-122 has doubled since 2000 (3,500 VPD → 7,000 VPD) whilst rates have remained stable on R-161 between A-20 and Victo. Also, combined truck volumes of routes 161 and 122 were under 1000 trucks per day in 1998; freight traffic surely grew as fast as the passenger volumes.
While the roadway itself shows fewer geometrical problems, the volumes compare advantageously to A-5 in Wakefield, A-20 in Rimouski, A-50 in Petite-Nation region, A-85 or R-175 between Québec and Saguenay ― but A-955 would never get a politician as much votes as upgrades on the former highways would nor is it eliglible to federal funding.
MTQ could take advantage of provision for A-18 on route 122 (large ROW, 3,75 m-wide lanes ;-), non-access servitude, no intersection except for Rang 9) to build passing lanes.
Even 10,000 VPD is fine for two lanes.That's ridiculous. Traffic isn't nearly that high on 955. I certainly agree with twinning A-55.
I do not share your opinion on the ridiculousness of the proposition of upgrading 955.
The connection of A-55 and A-955 really drained traffic onto A-955 for movements with Victoriaville as an origin/destination. A-955 has seen its rates go up by 141 % since 2006 (2,700 VPD/15% truck → 6,000 VPD/20% truck) and traffic on R-122 has doubled since 2000 (3,500 VPD → 7,000 VPD) whilst rates have remained stable on R-161 between A-20 and Victo. Also, combined truck volumes of routes 161 and 122 were under 1000 trucks per day in 1998; freight traffic surely grew as fast as the passenger volumes.
While the roadway itself shows fewer geometrical problems, the volumes compare advantageously to A-5 in Wakefield, A-20 in Rimouski, A-50 in Petite-Nation region, A-85 or R-175 between Québec and Saguenay ― but A-955 would never get a politician as much votes as upgrades on the former highways would nor is it eliglible to federal funding.
MTQ could take advantage of provision for A-18 on route 122 (large ROW, 3,75 m-wide lanes ;-), non-access servitude, no intersection except for Rang 9) to build passing lanes.
Doesn't it say somewhere that, at least for Ontario, freeways are considered as soon as there is a 10 000 AADT for a stretch of roadway?
Doesn't it say somewhere that, at least for Ontario, freeways are considered as soon as there is a 10 000 AADT for a stretch of roadway?
Doesn't it say somewhere that, at least for Ontario, freeways are considered as soon as there is a 10 000 AADT for a stretch of roadway?I agree. I don't see any reason for A-955; it pretty much only exists because it's an old alignment of A-55 (before it was rerouted to Drummondville). My top priority for the A-55 corridor would be to eliminate the remaining at-grade intersections. For that matter, I'd like to see all the at-grades and breezewoods on the autoroute system removed, and the gaps either filled in or fixed with renumbering/decommissioning (can we please get rid of A-30 near Becancour? Make it an A-x55 and remove the at-grades or just make it a realignment of QC 132).
I'm not sure about Quebec's freeway priorities, but I don't see A-955 as a priority. It doesn't bring any significant economic value to the province, it's AADT is too low IMO, and MTQ is already bogged down with projects like the Turcot interchange, A-85 and (maybe A-35, if that ever gets done). I would even suggest dropping the Autoroute designation altogether from that route. Gosh, I would focus more on connecting A-20, and maybe A-530.
They should four lane A-55 first, and maybe when that's all done, it will be more viable to do A-955.
The Guardian: Slippery slope: slo-mo snow mayhem in Montreal as buses, cars and trucks crash - Footage shows a bus sliding out of control and hitting a group of cars, before a pickup truck, second bus, police car and salt truck suffer the same fate (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/06/mayhem-montreal-snow-buses-cars-trucks-crash)
Does anyone know the story behind this roundabout at exit 78 from A-10 west (in Bromont)? Here's the location: https://goo.gl/maps/5iVFf6VmCeT2 (https://goo.gl/maps/5iVFf6VmCeT2)
Video of Autoroute 10 through the eastern Townships of Quebec taken at the height of fall colours:
No PPVA?No... what?
Looks like A-50 will be 4-laned from what I read on these French articles. They'll begin by specifics gaps first.http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1019404/autoroute-50-danger-faible-outaouais
While the roadway itself shows fewer geometrical problems [prior to widening/conversion to autoroute], the volumes compare advantageously to A-5 in Wakefield, A-20 in Rimouski, A-50 in Petite-Nation region, A-85 or R-175 between Québec and Saguenay ― but A-955 would never get a politician as much votes as upgrades on the former highways would nor is it eliglible to federal funding.
A-50 is under 15,000 VPD on all of its Super-2 section, except for a small stretch in Gatineau between exits 166 and 174 (barely over 16,000), where it acts both a Buckingham bypass and through route between Gatineau core and Montréal.Even 10,000 VPD is fine for two lanes.
Agreed. I think anything over 15,000 VPD is enough to justify widening to four lanes.
$265M in repairs, upgrades announced for James Bay Highway
'Essentially, it's northern development that goes through that [highway]," says Luc Blanchette
By Susan Bell, CBC News Posted: Jul 10, 2017 4:04 PM CT Last Updated: Jul 10, 2017 4:32 PM CT
The joint project covers the 620 kilometres of the James Bay Highway from Matagami to Radisson.
Quebec and Ottawa are investing $265 million to rebuild a good portion of the James Bay Highway – a vital link connecting the coastal Cree communities of James Bay with the south.
The announcement was made Monday afternoon by Cree Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come; federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau; member of the national assembly for the region Luc Blanchette; and Jean Boucher, member of parliament for Ungava.
The joint project covers the 620 kilometres of the James Bay Highway from Matagami to Radisson. It will see more than half of the road surface repaired – including the replacement of culverts, guardrails and signage – something Coon Come referred to on social media as "long awaited" by the people who use the route regularly. The federal minister of transport, Garneau, said the route is "an extremely" important bit of infrastructure.
"It is very clear that for northern development and for reliable access to the North, it is important to invest in infrastructure," said Garneau.
The Government of Canada is contributing more than $108 million, with the provincial government throwing in more than $156 million.
"Be it tourists, commercial transporters as well as our Cree and Jamesien citizens travelling with their families, these improvements will allow our people to travel on a safer, more secure road," said Coon Come. "Not to mention the savings on unplanned tire and suspension repairs that put a dent in our budgets."
Coon Come also acknowledged the improvements will lead to increased economic opportunities and tourism development.
'It's northern development'
The poor condition of the James Bay Highway is a constant topic of discussion on social media within the territory, with motorists regularly posting photos and videos of particularly bad sections.
In May, one traveller noted every pothole more than "9 inches [small] in diameter" from kilometre 238 south to Matagami. There were more than 50 on the list.
"It reflects our commitment to maintaining the quality of our transportation infrastructure across our vast territory," said Blanchette, MNA for Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue. "This project will also facilitate the flow of people and goods. User safety on this key link to James Bay is our top concern."
Blanchette also said the Quebec government is providing funding for repairs to the 90 kilometres of the access road to the community of Chisasibi.
'It's really a very important project. Essentially, it's northern development that goes through that [highway]," said Blanchette. "We know that GoldCorp has made major investments with a large concentrator and there will be deposits in the vicinity. That's in their business plan. We had to support this kind of development there."
For Jean Boucher, MNA for Ungava, the improvements to the James Bay Highway will reinvigorate northern Quebec.
"By moving quickly on critical stretches, we will be increasing safety not only for the 11,000 people served by the James Bay Road, but also for the numerous hydroelectric, mining, forestry and tourism sector users in our region."
I spotted on Google Streetview, this old railroad crossing sign, around Beauharnois, the photo was taken in August 2015, I don't know if it's still there.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.3096875,-73.896357,3a,37.5y,35.05h,94.28t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZdx8L7YY_aICfhqkGem2ew!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=fr
Also mirrored at
https://shrinktheweb.snapito.io/v2/webshot/spu-ea68c8-ogi2-3cwn3bmfojjlb56e?size=800x0&screen=1024x768&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.ca%2Fmaps%2F%4045.3096875%2C-73.896357%2C3a%2C37.5y%2C35.05h%2C94.28t%2Fdata%3D!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZdx8L7YY_aICfhqkGem2ew!2e0!7i13312!8i6656%3Fhl%3Dfr%3A%2F%2F
Still unclear whether the new tie-in to route 170 at the new Ch. Grande-Anse interchange is completed, and what happened to the old tie-in near the Chicoutimi golf course.
Still unclear whether the new tie-in to route 170 at the new Ch. Grande-Anse interchange is completed, and what happened to the old tie-in near the Chicoutimi golf course.
OpenStreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/48.3567/-71.0164) has it pretty right.
Still unclear whether the new tie-in to route 170 at the new Ch. Grande-Anse interchange is completed, and what happened to the old tie-in near the Chicoutimi golf course.
OpenStreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/48.3567/-71.0164) has it pretty right.
OSM hasn't yet been updaed to reflect the completion of the A-70 extension, and any other related roadways that were opened on Friday. The Transports Quebec website press release (https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/salle-de-presse/nouvelles/Pages/ameliorer-deplacements-citoyens-saguenay.aspx) indicates that parts of the project on A-70/170 tie-ins are still being worked on.
Field note, confirmed by Google: QC 153 is simultaneously signed on 5th/6th Streets (one-way pair) and 3rd Street (two-way) in Grand-mère. 3rd St. feels like an unofficial bypass of downtown.
3rd Street is R-153 truck route. 153 between 351 and 359 is classified as a level 3 local highway (lowest mark in MTQ inventory); municipally-owned, -maintained and -signed. Both routes are most likely official. It could even be a mitigation measure requested by the MTQ to maintain route number consistency when trucks were prohibited downtown.
3rd Street is R-153 truck route. 153 between 351 and 359 is classified as a level 3 local highway (lowest mark in MTQ inventory); municipally-owned, -maintained and -signed. Both routes are most likely official. It could even be a mitigation measure requested by the MTQ to maintain route number consistency when trucks were prohibited downtown.
Are municipally maintained routes common in Quebec towns and cities?
I'm shocked the work on the A-35 has stalled.
I've always seen the A-35 proposal more as a means of getting Quebecois to New England instead of the other way around. So, bluntly speaking, why would MTQ spend money on a roadway to speed its citizens going south of the border to spend money there?
I've always seen the A-35 proposal more as a means of getting Quebecois to New England instead of the other way around. So, bluntly speaking, why would MTQ spend money on a roadway to speed its citizens going south of the border to spend money there?
I thought it was more about safety than about speed or throughput. QC 133 was perfectly capable of handling the traffic counts south of Iberville without getting unduly congested and is generally a good quality two-lane road. But there are several communities and a bunch of homes along the way, and a freeway is safer for both locals and travelers.
https://globalnews.ca/news/2099510/quebecs-longest-highway-construction-project-a-35-still-not-finished/
Wow Canada also has their version of the I-710 gap and its on A-35 Quebec.
-- the problem with the A-35 gap seems to be money [...]Funding is a problem indeed; MTQ once built highways like there were no tomorrow (36% of the Ministry's non-administrative expenditures went into network development, 2004-2014), but the crying lack of maintenance of the infrastructure over the last 20 years is catching up ― big time. Network development now weighs in for 11,7% in 2016 and 8,7% in 2017 budgets.
-- the affected local residents in Quebec want the project to happen[...]Everybody wants to drive on a freeway but no one wants to pay for it. Typical freerider problem. Put a toll on the gap-filler, and only a handful of motorist will opt for the new option.
You would think with the amount of trucks that use that artery, they'd find a way to fund it. It's not just a sleepy back road border road. The traffic does warrant it. Last time I crossed at Highgate, it took over 2 hours. A lot of it were truckers.
The presence or not of a freeway on one side of the border is not a guarantor of shorter waiting times.
Also, truck proportion is 20%. R-155 north of La Tuque and R-177 through Vérendrye WR, R-105 south of Mont-Laurier, R-167 north of La Doré, among others, have similar ratings and higher or equal truck percentages. How is a 4-lane freeway justifiable for 133 but not these roads?
Looked at the Vermont side. I-89 at the border had a 2015 AADT of 2400. With the higher truck volumes, that brings up the road to about maybe 5% of the capacity of a four lane freeway.
So no, there is no empirical traffic engineering justification for R-133 being a freeway.
QuoteLooked at the Vermont side. I-89 at the border had a 2015 AADT of 2400. With the higher truck volumes, that brings up the road to about maybe 5% of the capacity of a four lane freeway.
So no, there is no empirical traffic engineering justification for R-133 being a freeway.
If you want to talk about warrants, perhaps you should see NB-2....the Grand Falls-Fredericton section in particular definitely doesn't warrant a freeway, but yet they got one.
If money could magically befoundwasted for that, then money can easily befoundwasted to turn QC-133 into a freeway.
And furthermore, perhaps it's an inconvenient truth that NB-95 was upgraded to a freeway (this connects to I-95 obviously) roughly 10 years ago and has an AADT less than 2500.
The inconvenient truth of it is that politicians control the money, and politics don't necessarily allocate money towards the empirically demonstrated greatest need.AMEN! See also Québec city third bridge, etc.
There was no congestion or significant slowdown in Pike River, the one community on 133 south of A-35. And A-35 had light traffic until St-Jean-sur-Richelieu near its north end.And even if there was something close to problematic volumes or an unacceptable level of service in Pike River, the solution would rather be a 2-3 lane bypass directly south of the town with non-access servitude; not a 4-lane divided, controlled-access freeway miles away from it.
On that note, I am kinda curious: anyone know if traffic counts on QC 133 were any higher back in the 90s, when crossing the border was easier?
On that note, I am kinda curious: anyone know if traffic counts on QC 133 were any higher back in the 90s, when crossing the border was easier?
Don't have the Québec data myself, but generally speaking the Ontario ones have been in a steady decline for the last ten years. It really started before the passport rules came into effect in 2009. So while there's probably some causation, for the most part it seems to be correlation.
I mean, realistically speaking I-89 and I-95 extending all the way to the border are kinda unnecessary too. But were built decades ago anyway since the federal government in the US threw a bunch of money at it. Naturally there is some desire to close the gap on the Canadian side since short gaps on the map just look messy. You also get the "last mile" argument - this is all that stands between there being a freeway all the way from Montreal to Boston!
Indeed, the presence of a relatively highly secured border is likely the only reason traffic counts are so low on what is otherwise the most direct route between two decently sized metro areas. I'd think the traffic to justify finishing the freeway would be there if the US and Canada permitted citizens to travel between the two countries freely.
On that note, I am kinda curious: anyone know if traffic counts on QC 133 were any higher back in the 90s, when crossing the border was easier?
Those Autoroutes sure are interesting! I've always wondered why they went with the red, white and blue shield; was that to match up with the American Interstates?
Something I've been wondering recently:
In the US, we most frequently refer to interstates as (e.g.) "I-40", albeit with several regional variations.
What is the conversational term for Quebec Autoroutes in Quebecer English? "Autoroute 40", "A-30", "Highway 15", ...?
The provincial government's English site uses 'Autoroute' though.
I spotted this archived topographic map of Orford area circa 1969-71 showing the gap of A-55 under construction at that time was originally planned to be numbered PQ-91 as an extension of I-91. http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2703473
The provincial government's English site uses 'Autoroute' though.
I remember some old maps who mention "autoroute" term like "Laurentian Autoroute", "North Shore Autoroute". "Eastern Townships Autoroute".
An update about Turcot interchange reconstruction. http://montrealgazette.com/news/weekend-traffic-update-avoid-the-turcot-interchange-and-get-used-to-doing-so
Before the edicts to restore the French language throughout the province. Look at all those English names.I spotted this archived topographic map of Orford area circa 1969-71 showing the gap of A-55 under construction at that time was originally planned to be numbered PQ-91 as an extension of I-91. http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2703473
It's rare to quote myself, but here another map from 1968 showing PQ-91 or A-91. http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2703345
Before the edicts to restore the French language throughout the province. Look at all those English names.I spotted this archived topographic map of Orford area circa 1969-71 showing the gap of A-55 under construction at that time was originally planned to be numbered PQ-91 as an extension of I-91. http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2703473
It's rare to quote myself, but here another map from 1968 showing PQ-91 or A-91. http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2703345
I spotted on Google Streetview, this old railroad crossing sign, around Beauharnois, the photo was taken in August 2015, I don't know if it's still there.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.3096875,-73.896357,3a,37.5y,35.05h,94.28t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZdx8L7YY_aICfhqkGem2ew!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=fr
Also mirrored at
https://shrinktheweb.snapito.io/v2/webshot/spu-ea68c8-ogi2-3cwn3bmfojjlb56e?size=800x0&screen=1024x768&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.ca%2Fmaps%2F%4045.3096875%2C-73.896357%2C3a%2C37.5y%2C35.05h%2C94.28t%2Fdata%3D!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZdx8L7YY_aICfhqkGem2ew!2e0!7i13312!8i6656%3Fhl%3Dfr%3A%2F%2F
It's always irked me that A-35 and I-89 still don't connect; A-15 and I-87 currently connect to each other, as do A-55 and I-91, so why the long wait?
A19 to be extended from A440 to A640: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/highway-19-quebec-laval-1.4628166
They've been planning to do it for 40 years, but this time they really mean it....?
The James Bay Highway is 620 kilometres long and serves more than 11 thousand people, including several Cree communities, according to the Société de développement de la Baie James (SDBJ), which owns and maintains the road on behalf of the Quebec Transport Ministry and Hydro Quebec.
The poor state of the road is the subject of much discussion on social media, where a Facebook page has been dedicated to road conditions and warning other travellers where the worst potholes are.
Raymond Thibault, the chief executive officer of the SDBJ, admits the highway is in rough and even dangerous shape in some spots. He said crews have been out since the beginning of May doing temporary repairs with cold asphalt, but people should still drive carefully.
Redeveloping Route 117 With Four Lanes Between Labelle and Rivière-Rouge - The Government Confirms his Commitment Rivière-Rouge, May 25th, 2018 - The Quebec government confirms his commitment and makes a real move in redeveloping Route 117 with four lanes, between Labelle and Rivière-Rouge. In March 2018, the project was registered to 2018-2028 Quebec Infrastructure Plan, showing the will of the government to improve that route, especially about safety of travel. So the amounts required to drive all studies needed to determine the best long-term scenario are reserved in the provincial budget. The right-of-way, the number and the geometry of lanes, and the realisation schedule are some of the points to be analysed into the elaboration of an opportunity file. Since 2006, Route 117 is the subject of a structured intervention plan. Up to date, over 247 million$ were invested in traffic safety and flowing projects in the corridor connecting the Laurentians, Outaouais, and Abitibi-Témiscamingue regions. The redeveloping of Route 117 between Labelle and Rivière-Rouge is a major project estimated to over 100 million$. Quotes "The safety of road users is an essential issue and the improvement of Route 117 is a priority for our government. During the elaboration of this project, we will continue our collaboration with the SOS 117 Committee, in order to realise the right interventions at the right places." - André Fortin, minister of Transports, Sustainable mobility and Transport Electriffication. "Today, we confirm that the intention of the government is strong. The registration of the project to the Quebec Infrastructure Plan shows it. Here to the completion of this major project, it's essential to recall that several interventions will be made on Route 117, always in order to improve safety for all, as we do since several years." - Christine St-Pierre, minister of International relationship and Francophonie, and minister responsible of the Laurentians region. Highlights
|
The Société de développement de la Baie James (SDBJ), which owns and maintains the James Bay Highway on behalf of the Quebec Transport Ministry and Hydro Quebec, says the sinkhole was caused by a corrugated metal culvert that failed. It was at the end of its lifespan.
... Culverts have a lifespan of 40 to 50 years, according to Thibault. The highway was built in the early 1970s to make way for hydroelectric development. About 330 culverts need replacing.
Thibault said the culvert in question is to be replaced this summer as part of a $265-million repair project to close to half the surface of the highway between now and 2021.
The work slated for this year includes $60 million to replace more than 60 culverts and repave more than 118 kilometres, including the section between kilometres 88 and 200. Eleven bridges will also be repaired and repaved, and guardrails replaced between kilometres 120 and 200.
Quebec's Ministry of Transport is calling for bids to study the doubling of Highway 50 between Mirabel and Lachute, a roughly 20-kilometre stretch starting about 130 kilometres east of Ottawa.
... Between 15,000 and 21,000 vehicles use the highway between Lachute and Mirabel every day, according to the ministry.
Highway 50, which connects the Ottawa-Gatineau region to Montreal, has been the scene of eight fatalities along undivided stretches since it opened in 2012.
Has anyone clinched Route 138 (the central portion, not the disconnected segments.) from the NY border to Natashquan? What's the quality of the road and is it paved to the very end or is it gravel after a certain point?I did, but only up to Natashquan. The road is built and paved all the way to Kegashka now. The 40 km extension from Natashquan to Kegaska opened in 2013.
Has anyone clinched Route 138 (the central portion, not the disconnected segments.) from the NY border to Natashquan? What's the quality of the road and is it paved to the very end or is it gravel after a certain point?
For Manuan Lafond, singing the blues about the James Bay Highway in Quebec just feels right.
The 36-year-old singer, whose mother was Cree and father is Quebecois, has released a new single and video entitled James Bay Highway Blues.
The song was written in the middle of a 14-hour trip between Gatineau, where he lives, and Chisasibi, where he's from.
They've been a little quiet about the A-720 downgrade as of late (at least in articles that made their way to the Facebook groups). I keep hoping that they'll come to their senses and pick another number, or even better, just leave A-720 be.
One still has to wonder why they selected 136, and not something that was actually available.
Do the 2xx and 3xx routes have similar rules (beyond 2xx being south of the river and 3xx being north)?Yes. Moreover, routes 390-399 are reserved for Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, even though it's west of most 3xx routes.
I do hope they will extend the new R-136 east over Rue Notre-Dame and Avenue Souligny.I do too. It could be a silver lining to losing A-720. I see on street view they added km markers to Avenue Souligny in the past couple years - could that be an indication that they will in fact do this? On the other hand, Avenue Souligny always had exit numbers for the A-25 interchange, so it might not be an indication of anything.
I would have opted for a new route 138 alignment. None of it is maintained by the MTQ east of Ville Saint-Pierre anyways.That makes a lot of sense too. All it would need is an extension of the A-20 overlap and a short overlap with A-25.
Yes, the idea is to create a comprehensive highway designation to replace the ill-fated Trans-Canada/A-20/A-720 project. The upgrade of Notre-Dame street between Dickson and Papineau is still in the plans.I do hope they will extend the new R-136 east over Rue Notre-Dame and Avenue Souligny.I do too. It could be a silver lining to losing A-720. I see on street view they added km markers to Avenue Souligny in the past couple years - could that be an indication that they will in fact do this? On the other hand, Avenue Souligny always had exit numbers for the A-25 interchange, so it might not be an indication of anything.
News:Wow, I thought that Toronto or Vancouver would spend more. Of course, the streets and highways in both cities are way better managed.
Montreal spends more on roads than rest of Canada, with worse results
(https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreal-spends-more-on-roads-than-rest-of-canada-with-worse-results)
I am shocked! Shocked! :-D
News:Wow, I thought that Toronto or Vancouver would spend more. Of course, the streets and highways in both cities are way better managed.
Montreal spends more on roads than rest of Canada, with worse results
(https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreal-spends-more-on-roads-than-rest-of-canada-with-worse-results)
I am shocked! Shocked! :-D
Why not check out the oldest covered bridge in Quebec (also Canada's oldest covered bridge), which was built in 1861. This is the Powerscourt Covered Bridge located near Hinchinbrooke, Quebec.
The cause of the West section would have been poorly defended by the asbestos region. Thus, the member for Frontenac in the National Assembly, Dr. Henri Lecours, explained that the provincial government decided to build Highway 73 east of the Chaudière River.
According to Mr. Lecours, several municipalities in the County of Beauce spent thousands of dollars preparing a report in which the benefits of construction in East Chaudière were presented and the Ministère des Transports authorities reportedly based on this report to make their decision. Mr. Lecours added that he did not believe that representatives of the asbestos region addressed the good people who could have influenced the choice of the West route. According to him, we should have met the promoters of the inter-port project in Quebec and explained the advantages of a road for the transport of asbestos, "I know that if I had to take care of the file, it is to those people that I would have addressed myself, "said Mr. Lecours.
Access road
The member for Frontenac also pointed out that an access road could possibly be built between the asbestos region and Highway 73, joining the latter near Vallée Jonction. He admitted that this could be a solution to the problem while emphasizing that the distance would remain considerable. Mr. Lecours stated that a sharing solution was always possible: the construction of the highway east of Chaudière to Vallée Jonction and west of Vallée Jonction in Québec City.
Mr. Lecours also revealed that the work undertaken last year on Highway 49 was continuing. Special budgets are now being considered for the continuation of this work, and important statements should be made shortly, concludes Lecours.
The Deputy Minister of Highways of Quebec, Mr. Claude Rouleau yesterday published the list of numbers that the highways currently under construction or will eventually be.
Highways on an east-west axis will have an even number, and north-south highways will have an odd number.
Among the highways projected - by the Highways, we note: Highway 50 which leaves from Hull to finish at St-Gabriel de Brandon via Lachute and Jolietle; Highway 30 from the US border to Gentilly north of Bécancour; Highway 13, from Ste-Scholastique to Ste-Barbe d'Huntingdon via Jesus Island and the island of Montreal; Highway 51 from Sherbrooke to Yamaska through Drummondville; Highway 73, from Ste-Catherine de Portneuf to Jackman, on the Quebec-Maine border, passing through Quebec and Beauce; Highway 65, from Villeroy in Lotbinière County to Thetford Mines; Highway 18, from Plessisville to Ste-Clothilde d'Arthabaska, at the junction of Highway 55 and Highway 85, from Rivière-du-Loup to the New Brunswick border.
I spotted some vintage photos on old newspaper articles about what was once A-51 between Richmond and Drummondville showing A-51 markers.You have won the internet for today, friend.
http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3649585?docsearchtext=autoroute%2051 on page 6.
http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3655576?docsearchtext=autoroute%2051 cahier 2 page 3a
My understanding is that A-30 was to follow the QC 132 corridor to NY at Fort Covington/Dundee. Note that A-530 was originally intended to be part of (as was signed as until recently) A-30.
Not directly road-related, but the ferry expected to replace the ferry that crashed into two docks while replacing the problematic aerial substitute for the original ferry, crashed into another ship.(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJG1-ekXYAAF1iv.jpg)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ferry-follies-saaremaa-1.5074791
Not directly road-related, but the ferry expected to replace the ferry that crashed into two docks while replacing the problematic aerial substitute for the original ferry, crashed into another ship.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ferry-follies-saaremaa-1.5074791
I'm heading to Montreal (and potentially Ottawa) next week for a short trip, and I was hoping to get some advice on what to see in terms of road infrastructure. Is there anything worth renting a car for?
Federal and provincial government officials announced on Monday that plans are in the works to extend Quebec’s Highway 35 by nearly nine kilometres in the southbound direction – but that still leaves it 4.5 kilometres short of reaching the U.S. border.
Authorities also aren’t saying when the highway will be finished because they are worried about competition and privacy in the bidding process.
....
Provincial authorities still don’t know when the 8.9-kilometre section will be complete, but they could confirm a public call for tenders will begin this year.
“We should be able to start the construction as early as next year,” Treasury Board President Christian Dubé said.
-New Champlain Bridge wasn't yet open when I visited. Definitely looks nice, but doesn't seem to have a notable effect on traffic and the construction there along with Turcot made navigating that area both interesting and frustrating.I take it you took it south/eastbound? It's open north/westbound.
-The A-20/A-25 and A-10/A-15/A-20 interchanges in Longueuil are horrible. I don't even know why they''re designed that way.Probably has a lot to do with the fact that A-20 wasn't intended to go through here, but instead follow an extended A-720 to the Y interchange on A-25. Plus freeway interchanges tend not to be great in Montréal. Just look at the A-13/A-520 interchange.
Yeah, never got the chance to take it NW bound. Never really had a reason to do such.-New Champlain Bridge wasn't yet open when I visited. Definitely looks nice, but doesn't seem to have a notable effect on traffic and the construction there along with Turcot made navigating that area both interesting and frustrating.I take it you took it south/eastbound? It's open north/westbound.Quote-The A-20/A-25 and A-10/A-15/A-20 interchanges in Longueuil are horrible. I don't even know why they''re designed that way.Probably has a lot to do with the fact that A-20 wasn't intended to go through here, but instead follow an extended A-720 to the Y interchange on A-25. Plus freeway interchanges tend not to be great in Montréal. Just look at the A-13/A-520 interchange.
Quote-The A-20/A-25 and A-10/A-15/A-20 interchanges in Longueuil are horrible. I don't even know why they''re designed that way.Probably has a lot to do with the fact that A-20 wasn't intended to go through here, but instead follow an extended A-720 to the Y interchange on A-25. Plus freeway interchanges tend not to be great in Montréal. Just look at the A-13/A-520 interchange.
Double trumpet is also relatively easily tolled.Quote-The A-20/A-25 and A-10/A-15/A-20 interchanges in Longueuil are horrible. I don't even know why they''re designed that way.Probably has a lot to do with the fact that A-20 wasn't intended to go through here, but instead follow an extended A-720 to the Y interchange on A-25. Plus freeway interchanges tend not to be great in Montréal. Just look at the A-13/A-520 interchange.
I had thought that the story of the 10/15/20 interchange was as simple as: autoroute along riverbank needs interchange with bridge with high clearance over seaway = funky interchange. The 20/25 interchange would be similar, except the bridge involved doesn't need to be as high.
I had thought that the story of the 10/15/20 interchange was as simple as: autoroute along riverbank needs interchange with bridge with high clearance over seaway = funky interchange. The 20/25 interchange would be similar, except the bridge involved doesn't need to be as high.Double trumpet is also relatively easily tolled.
The toll booths were located on the other side of the bridge.I had thought that the story of the 10/15/20 interchange was as simple as: autoroute along riverbank needs interchange with bridge with high clearance over seaway = funky interchange. The 20/25 interchange would be similar, except the bridge involved doesn't need to be as high.Double trumpet is also relatively easily tolled.
* I have more or less lost access to advertised construction contracts through SEAO, owing to software upgrades on their end. As I explained (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2353.msg299737#msg299737) in this thread about five years ago, SEAO requires an (expensive) pay subscription to download documents without DRM, but uses FileOpen DRM to allow registered non-subscribers to open and view (not print, save, or extract) contract documents in PDF up to five times per document. This is accomplished through a FileOpen client that bolts onto Acrobat; when the user opens a document, the client sends a hash to the server over the Internet and gets back a key that is used to decrypt the file. There is a 3,000-line Python script, ineptpdf.py or ineptpdf.pyw, that duplicates the functionality of the client but can be run at the command line and allows the file to be saved without encryption. I used it in combination with other PDF tools to build a collection of just under 3,000 MTQ signing sheets. However, when I went back to SEAO earlier this month, I discovered that it had implemented HTTPS with HTST, and neither ineptpdf.pyw nor the FileOpen client I had had since 2014 would decrypt downloaded PDF files. I was able to get them to open in Acrobat by upgrading to the current version of the FileOpen client, but active development of ineptpdf.pyw seems to have come to an end around 2012. I suspect the underlying issue is that neither it nor the old FileOpen client could handle HTST, and the fix may be as simple as updating the script to use a newer Python library with HTST support, but I cannot rule out the underlying encryption having been strengthened. For the time being I can do without access to MTQ contracts since SEAO archives in arrears and the pattern for signing contracts in recent years has been structural work only (no sign panels furnished or installed, therefore no sign panel detail sheets), but tracking down the ineptpdf.pyw developers is on my to-do list.That's a shame. I was relying on a similar method to crack those those documents, but I haven't used it in a while.
* For at least a decade (I first found it in 2007, IIRC), MTQ has made renderings of standard traffic signs available for free download through a satellite of its main website. The server name used to be something like "mtqsignalisation" but the facility has been branded as the Répertoire des dispositifs de signalisation routière du Québec (RSR) (http://www.rsr.transports.gouv.qc.ca/Dispositifs/Accueil.aspx) since about 2013. The website appears to be a front end for a database where each sign has a five-digit index number. Renderings are available for each index number in up to seven formats--PDF (called devis, consisting of a dimensioned drawing similar to a page in Standard Highway Signs), BMP, DXF, EPS, AI, PNG, and JPEG. I wrote and have had a successful first run of a script to download all of the available renderings and file them by index number. Some statistics are as follows: 2276 distinct index numbers; index number range 12392 to 35259; 3 hours 18 minutes to finish full download over a relatively fast residential cable connection; 14,727 total files downloaded; 2.07 GB aggregate filesize; 1916 PDFs downloaded; 1910 PDFs with unique filenames (some index numbers have no corresponding PDF, while the same devis is used for multiple index numbers, such as the ones corresponding to various values for speed limit on the speed limit sign); 4645 total PDF pages of sign drawings. The script also has the ability to be run in "incrementing" mode, where renderings are downloaded only if the corresponding index numbers have not previously been encountered. I plan to monitor the RSR from now on to verify that index numbers are persistent (i.e., a given sign keeps the same index number) and determine the extent to which existing index numbers accumulate new renderings as time passes. The RSR is updated biannually; new signs are added beginning January 1 and July 1, and are kept in the nouveautés section for up to three months.Now that's very interesting... especially since the download UI on that site is very clunky.
That's a shame. I was relying on a similar method to crack those those documents, but I haven't used it in a while.
Now that's very interesting... especially since the download UI on that site is very clunky.
They didn't mention when Phase 3 of the A-35 extension would begin construction?
They didn't mention when Phase 3 of the A-35 extension would begin construction?
They didn't mention when Phase 3 of the A-35 extension would begin construction?
My post back in June (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2353.msg2423637#msg2423637) found an article that said they could start next year.
https://globalnews.ca/news/5374897/quebec-highway-35-extension-us-border/
They could also complete the Turcot Interchange next year! :-DThey didn't mention when Phase 3 of the A-35 extension would begin construction?
My post back in June (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2353.msg2423637#msg2423637) found an article that said they could start next year.
https://globalnews.ca/news/5374897/quebec-highway-35-extension-us-border/
They could also complete the Turcot Interchange next year! :-DThey didn't mention when Phase 3 of the A-35 extension would begin construction?
My post back in June (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2353.msg2423637#msg2423637) found an article that said they could start next year.
https://globalnews.ca/news/5374897/quebec-highway-35-extension-us-border/
I wonder what the technical status of QC 185 is. If it's technically concurrent with A-85 around Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, then QC 232 would make that a triplex. There used to be A-30/QC 132/QC 201 on the southeast side of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, and the question there would be whether A-530 extends west past the QC 201 trumpet interchange, which I think it does.Good ones! Not sure about the first, according to GSV on signs it's either A-85 or R-185 depending on the section, but technically it may be both. A-530/R-132/R-201 is definitely one though, as seen on this GSV capture.
TCH (Kirkland Lake) and QC 117 are concurrent, and together they multiplex with QC 101 in the Rouyn-Noranda area.Huh I didn't think of TCH. Too bad it doesn't appear to be signed along R-101/117. On the other hand A-20/R-116/TCH definitely is.
185 shields were extensively replaced or covered with A-85 shields on the freeway sections. I was in NDL a couple of weeks ago. There is no 232 sign on the triplex, whether it's northbound or southbound.I wonder what the technical status of QC 185 is. If it's technically concurrent with A-85 around Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, then QC 232 would make that a triplex.Good ones! Not sure about the first, according to GSV on signs it's either A-85 or R-185 depending on the section, but technically it may be both.
185 shields were extensively replaced or covered with A-85 shields on the freeway sections. I was in NDL a couple of weeks ago. There is no 232 sign on the triplex, whether it's northbound or southbound.I wonder what the technical status of QC 185 is. If it's technically concurrent with A-85 around Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, then QC 232 would make that a triplex.Good ones! Not sure about the first, according to GSV on signs it's either A-85 or R-185 depending on the section, but technically it may be both.
Others I can think of :
–116/143/243 in Richmond;
–35/104/133 in Saint-Jean;
–337/341/348 in Rawdon;
–5/105/366 in Wakefield.
There used to be a 40/55/155 triplex but 155 was decommissioned south of Grand-Mère some time ago, not long after A-55 was completed.
What about news from Rivière-du-Loup area?
The QC-185, connecting Rivière-du-Loup, QC to New Brunswick, is slowly but surely turning into A-85. The last 40-km (25-mile) section of QC-185 was cut into seven segments to be transformed into a four-lane divided freeway, and works are begun on segments 1, 2, 3 and 6. The opening of those segments will begin in 2021 (segments 1 and 3, 2022 for segments 2 and 6), and the whole project is supposed to be finished by 2025.
https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/projets-infrastructures/reseau-routier/projets-routiers/BSL-Gaspesie-IDLM/autoroute-85-claude-bechard/Documents/Documentation/Cartes/carte-phase-III.pdf (https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/projets-infrastructures/reseau-routier/projets-routiers/BSL-Gaspesie-IDLM/autoroute-85-claude-bechard/Documents/Documentation/Cartes/carte-phase-III.pdf)
Sorry, this document is only available in French.
CONCERNING the hommage of the population of Quebec to the memory of President Kennedy.
WHEREAS the brutal death of the young and brilliant American Chief of State, President John F. Kennedy, deeply affected the population of Quebec;
WHEREAS it is deemed expedient to recall his memory by giving his name to the Levis-Jackman highway, which is the most direct road between the capital of the Province and the birthplace of President Kennedy in New England.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDER, upon the proposition of the Prime Minister :
THAT, in hommage to the memory of President John F. Kennedy, the Levis-Jackman highway shall henceforth be designated under the name of "President Kennedy".
Gazette officielle de Québec, Vol. 95, No. 95 ― December 4th 1963 (http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/2359385?docpos=37)
I founded by luck this blog post who have some maps showing the ROW of A-25 extension to Rawdon.Wow, that would make A-25 rival A-15 if it connected to the existing 4-lane divided 125 up that way. I wonder how much of this is actually Autoroute vs. just dualizing the existing highway (I'm thinking once you stop seeing interchanges, it's not grade separated).
https://transportologie.wordpress.com/2018/10/08/prolongement-de-lautoroute-25/
I founded by luck this blog post who have some maps showing the ROW of A-25 extension to Rawdon.Wow, that would make A-25 rival A-15 if it connected to the existing 4-lane divided 125 up that way. I wonder how much of this is actually Autoroute vs. just dualizing the existing highway (I'm thinking once you stop seeing interchanges, it's not grade separated).
https://transportologie.wordpress.com/2018/10/08/prolongement-de-lautoroute-25/
This may be a silly question, but why are the road signs bilingual in Ontario, but only in French in Quebec?
There's is bilingual road signs in Quebec mainly in Montreal. The population of Quebec is mainly francophone. https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4671143,-73.4959306,3a,37.5y,325.43h,98.33t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2zHOGqqrIhZscvZtgFhBOQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
There's is bilingual road signs in Quebec mainly in Montreal. The population of Quebec is mainly francophone. https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4671143,-73.4959306,3a,37.5y,325.43h,98.33t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2zHOGqqrIhZscvZtgFhBOQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
I thought that on MTQ-maintained highways, signage was only in French, but signage on the new Pont Champlain was bilingual because it was a federal project. And then you get bilingual (or trilingual) signage on local roads in areas with a significant non-Francophone population.
This may be a silly question, but why are the road signs bilingual in Ontario, but only in French in Quebec?
I thought that on MTQ-maintained highways, signage was only in French, but signage on the new Pont Champlain was bilingual because it was a federal project. And then you get bilingual (or trilingual) signage on local roads in areas with a significant non-Francophone population.
Prowling MTQ's recent press releases, I noticed a few other noteworthy updates:
-- Reconstruction of the Turcot interchange in Montreal (A-15/A-20/A-720/R-136) is almost done (https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/salle-de-presse/nouvelles/Pages/fin-chantier-turcot.aspx), though with some finishing work going into 2021. Finally! I don't know when Autoroute 720 will be completely decommissioned in favor of R-136, which I understand was awaiting the Turcot revamp.
-- A short reroute of R-169 in Alma opened last month (https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/salle-de-presse/nouvelles/Pages/ouverture-complete-voie-contournement-alma.aspx).
-- Plans have been approved for a northward extension of A-25 to Sainte-Julienne (https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/salle-de-presse/nouvelles/Pages/prolongement-autoroute-25-voie-contournement.aspx). Work is scheduled to begin in 2022.
- 1,5 G$
This may be a silly question, but why are the road signs bilingual in Ontario, but only in French in Quebec?
- 1,5 G$
$1.5 Billion
(For those who didn't know. I had to look it up myself.)
I smell some road meets coming up!Prowling MTQ's recent press releases, I noticed a few other noteworthy updates:
-- Reconstruction of the Turcot interchange in Montreal (A-15/A-20/A-720/R-136) is almost done (https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/salle-de-presse/nouvelles/Pages/fin-chantier-turcot.aspx), though with some finishing work going into 2021. Finally! I don't know when Autoroute 720 will be completely decommissioned in favor of R-136, which I understand was awaiting the Turcot revamp.
-- A short reroute of R-169 in Alma opened last month (https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/salle-de-presse/nouvelles/Pages/ouverture-complete-voie-contournement-alma.aspx).
-- Plans have been approved for a northward extension of A-25 to Sainte-Julienne (https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/salle-de-presse/nouvelles/Pages/prolongement-autoroute-25-voie-contournement.aspx). Work is scheduled to begin in 2022.
Thanks, oscar!
Just to add some infos on upcoming works,...
- A-30 shoulders are turning into bus-reserved lanes between A-20 in Boucherville, and A-10 in Brossard. Works will continue until 2021.
- A-50 twinning: Works would be starting as soon as 2022 on two lenghts, between Gatineau (Buckingham) and L'Ange-Gardien, and between Lachute and Mirabel. The rest of the distance is on study.
- Route 117 between Labelle and Rivière-Rouge will be turned from 2-lane to 4-lane divided starting 2022.
- A-55 twinning between Bécancour and A-20; works would start in 2022.
- 1,5 G$ (CA) to be invested on A-15 in Laval and Boisbriand; many improvements to be done, starting in 2022.
Is there any plan to raise the speed limit to 110 or 120 anytime soon? 100km/h (62mph) is painfully slow on nice wide rural freeways.
Is there any plan to raise the speed limit to 110 or 120 anytime soon? 100km/h (62mph) is painfully slow on nice wide rural freeways.
I spotted more old French articles about A-55.
This one from 1976 at the bottom of page 6 showing a vintage photo of the gap of the former A-55 (now A-955) terminus at St-Albert before the rerouting of PQ-122 on its current alignment.
https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3656540
I spotted more old French articles about A-55.
This one from 1976 at the bottom of page 6 showing a vintage photo of the gap of the former A-55 (now A-955) terminus at St-Albert before the rerouting of PQ-122 on its current alignment.
https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3656540
Google Streetview updated the part of A-15/A-20 multiplex and Champlain bridge.
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4661893,-73.597134,3a,75y,305.29h,99t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sT3-ajDcqi4Tnov3JiJoFOQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
https://goo.gl/maps/d8GhMB1vRnB2yfnP9
^ If I'm reading the FM93 map correctly, the tunnel would also tie directly into A-973?
From what I saw on that blog post, they also thought of another alternative, linking it to Champlain Blvd. https://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/2011/12/09/le-tunnel-dufferin-une-caverne-mysterieuse-sous-nos-pieds/Indeed, there has been proposals to repurpose these ramps to connect to Champlain (in the 70's, Champlain was to be an unumbered collector autoroute following the master plan), but to my knowledge, their destination has never been somewhere south of the river. Bridges and tunnels have been proposed between Château Frontenac or Plaines d'Abraham in the 40's and implied some sort of underground connection, but never were the ghost ramps of Dufferin built or intended to serve transfluvial traffic.
https://www.lesoleil.com/archives/une-autoroute-sous-la-ville-quebec-metropole-millionnaire-de-beton-12c2e58141e6fa0c912d3ad2074d9ac8
One detail who come to my mind is the original path then A-50 was originally planned to take around Aylmer, Hull and Gatineau from what I read on that French blog. https://transportologie.wordpress.com/2020/04/22/autoroute-50-bis-region-de-gatineau/
Funny note : 1976 Topographical Map (https://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/2704159) shows this strectch of highway numbered as "50".
https://goo.gl/maps/xKrgSsPsMuk96j3F8no stopping
What is the black octagon inside the red circle supposed to be under the Exit 1 sign on A-15?
Do they still have the folded diamonds with trumpets on the south shore? To me I would assume it would cause weaving below and why leave it.
The southern terminus of A-73 is a roundabout, and that appears likely to still be part of the highway if it's extended. Is there any other roundabout on a mainline Autoroute? Nothing is coming to mind.
None of those seem like they would be extended beyond the roundabout - 70 is intriguing, only at the EB end.The southern terminus of A-73 is a roundabout, and that appears likely to still be part of the highway if it's extended. Is there any other roundabout on a mainline Autoroute? Nothing is coming to mind.
East end of A-70. East end of A-20's Rimouski segment (less likely to be extended east).
If you're counting 3-digit Autoroutes as "mainlines", the newly-extended A-410. No plans to extend A-410 again.
another note: QC 134's east end is well west of its west end, thanks to being "river east/west". Should just be signed N/S.
another note: QC 134's east end is well west of its west end, thanks to being "river east/west". Should just be signed N/S.
And there was a time it was QC-116 who used the Jacques-Cartier bridge instead of QC-134 as shown in these topographic maps printed in 1980 and 1988.
https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2704565
https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2705036
And here a topographic map showing a part of the South Shore before QC-9 (current QC-116) and before the TCH.
https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2246296
That's the vehicle access point to Mont Royal, right?
(or widen A-50 to 4 lanes)
MONTREAL -- Engineers will be closing the Ile-aux-Tourtes bridge imminently because of an unsound structure, Quebec's transport minister announced suddenly on Thursday afternoon.
"Engineers decided to close the bridge for the safety of users," Minister François Bonnardel tweeted at around 3 p.m.
"The teams of [Transport Quebec] are on site. Mitigation measures will be announced shortly. I am following the situation closely," he wrote.
The closure of the two-kilometre structure will cause major traffic headaches, shutting one of two major links between the West Island and the mainland, including Ontario.
During normal times, with fewer people working from home, it is traversed by roughly 83,000 cars every day.
REBAR TOO DAMAGED FOR SAFETY
In a news release, the Ministry of Transport said that "reinforcing rods" in the bridge, or rebar in English, were too damaged to ensure the bridge would be safe.
"As part of the work in progress, the Ministry observed damage to reinforcing rods," it wrote.
"Since the structure could have been weakened by this damage, complete closure is considered the only responsible option to ensure the safety of road users."
While some speculated the earthquake this week may have worsened the bridge's structure, that's not the case, said a spokesperson for Transport.
Ile-aux-Tourtes bridge is closed due to safety concerns.
^ ... on highways numbered 40.Oh my, I didn't even think of that... this is eerie! :wow:
^ ... on highways numbered 40.
And both with a single parallel route of equal status (I-55, A-20) as the only other way out of that side of the city.^ ... on highways numbered 40.
And both on the west side of the city, too.
Any recent news on the extension of Highway 35 to I-89? Rand McNally is showing this is under construction in the 2022 Road Atlas.
An 11 kilometer segment of Autoroute 85 recently opened to traffic south of Saint-Antonin: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1803712/troncon-185-85-travaux-saint-antonin-circulation-construction
This reduces the autoroute gap from 40 to 29 kilometers to Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, where the freeway to New Brunswick currently starts.
Aparrantly the downgrade of A-720 to QC 136 is now official, per an article posted to TM earlier today. It also shows as changed on Québec's route map (http://www.dds.transports.gouv.qc.ca/).
Interesting that they only did a straight downgrade on former A-720, and didn't extend it up the corridor that A-20 would have been built on down Rue Notre-Dame, Rue Dickson, and Avenue Souligny. Major missed opportunity there to make the system a bit more logical (even as they duplicated a number; I'd either have numbered it QC 142 even though it's slightly out of grid or made it re-routed QC 138, though that would more logically continue down Rue Notre-Dame to existing QC 138) and give everyone a silver lining out of a pointless downgrade, given that the route is still a freeway (over 1' of shoulder width when stuff like this (https://www.google.com/maps/@46.0260461,-73.1082325,3a,75y,107.47h,82.03t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sMPFzdpIAljQNB-NFlxVcPQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DMPFzdpIAljQNB-NFlxVcPQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D298.1599%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192) is an autoroute? Come on!).
https://www.turcot.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/nouvelles-multimedia/nouvelles-communiques/nouvelles/Pages/Lautoroute-720-devient-la-route-136.aspx
They mentionned that interchange will be reconfigurated. Too bad they didn't show some plans online. The inner cloverleaf who was built back when it was a toll road is outdated.
Cool, thanks. :)They mentionned that interchange will be reconfigurated. Too bad they didn't show some plans online. The inner cloverleaf who was built back when it was a toll road is outdated.
No plans online, but I saw a parclo AB2 on TV. The routing on Openstreetmap (https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/45.3460/-72.7833) is accurate in regard of what I saw.
Also it seems like Quebecois actually respect speed limits, wonder why that it as well.I wonder if it has anything to do with their speed cameras (which are fairly pervasive in urban areas, even on the autoroutes). I've read that they'll take a photo for even 1 kph over the limit and that the cops reviewing the photos have a far lower tolerance before issuing tickets than they would if they needed to pull someone over.
Quebec has a lot of split phase traffic signals, where each direction of traffic gets its own protected phase. I'm not sure why they design their signals as such, but there seems to an affinity for complicated traffic signal design in Quebec.
Two views looking northerly along A-85 near Lake Témiscouata near the border with New Bruswick:
(http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/PQ/A/85/A85_cl_24-5_north_w_Oct21_forum.jpg)
http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/PQ/A/85/A85_cl_24-5_north_w_Oct21_24x16.jpg
(http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/PQ/A/85/A85_cl_24-5_north_t_Oct21_forum.jpg)
http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/PQ/A/85/A85_cl_24-5_north_t_Oct21_24x16.jpg
That's what it looked like last monday morning.
175 was pretty barren at the higher elevations, but was very scenic at both the Quebec City and Saguenay ends.
I actually deliberately avoided Route 7 in New Brunswick, and did Secondary Highway 630 instead. What a mistake. The northern half of 630 is gravel, which I thought would be fine, but I bottomed out my rental car on a boulder sticking out of the roadway. Thankfully there was no damage -- and more thankfully it was a rental.
175 was pretty barren at the higher elevations, but was very scenic at both the Quebec City and Saguenay ends.
I actually deliberately avoided Route 7 in New Brunswick, and did Secondary Highway 630 instead. What a mistake. The northern half of 630 is gravel, which I thought would be fine, but I bottomed out my rental car on a boulder sticking out of the roadway. Thankfully there was no damage -- and more thankfully it was a rental.
That's what it looked like last monday morning.
On my trip, I was really surprised how much the variation of "peak" was in the different places I traveled. Even 10 miles away from various spots would be peak vs. past peak vs. still pretty green. I think the most "peak" I saw was on NB7 between Saint John and Fredericton.
^ Any estimate of when the improvements between Baie-Comeau and Manic-2 will be completed?
One carriageway of that segment has been opened to two-way traffic for several weeks. I drove that segment, in both directions, earlier this month. I'm counting that as a clinch of the extended northern part of A-85, though of course there will be one or more further extensions to Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! that will complete the freeway to the New Brunswick border.
though of course there will be one or more further extensions to Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! that will complete the freeway to the New Brunswick border.
though of course there will be one or more further extensions to Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! that will complete the freeway to the New Brunswick border.
And thus from Windsor to Halifax!
though of course there will be one or more further extensions to Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! that will complete the freeway to the New Brunswick border.
And thus from Windsor to Halifax!
And thus from Windsor to Windsor!
https://goo.gl/maps/FZDYuwKDDZqj6btD9
though of course there will be one or more further extensions to Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! that will complete the freeway to the New Brunswick border.
And thus from Windsor to Halifax!
And thus from Windsor to Windsor!
https://goo.gl/maps/FZDYuwKDDZqj6btD9
Anybody coming from Ontario would turn off 102 further north though.
If I was a tourist...I would take NS215 along the Noel Shore and Burntcoat Head to see the Fundy Tides!
Just to return back to A-85,...
Can somebody at the MTQ can explain why they decide to give exit number 85 to the ramps going towards Chemin de Riviere-Verte? Normally, the exit number is corresponding to the place the road is crossing the highway, like at the overpass/underpass. But in this case, the km marker, at the underpass, is 86.5, so it would be exit 86, not 85. This situation caused some confusion, because the contractor had to place some more signs to indicate the exit 85 is not highway A-85.
:pan:
Just to return back to A-85,...
Can somebody at the MTQ can explain why they decide to give exit number 85 to the ramps going towards Chemin de Riviere-Verte? Normally, the exit number is corresponding to the place the road is crossing the highway, like at the overpass/underpass. But in this case, the km marker, at the underpass, is 86.5, so it would be exit 86, not 85. This situation caused some confusion, because the contractor had to place some more signs to indicate the exit 85 is not highway A-85.
:pan:
But who would confuse an exit number (in yellow) with an Autoroute shield (in blue)?
Here a recent streetview from last October showing the new ramps in construction on exit 68 on A-10 and PQ-139.
https://goo.gl/maps/PyFWjqk5d4oQVwAVA
Here a recent streetview from last October showing the new ramps in construction on exit 68 on A-10 and PQ-139.
https://goo.gl/maps/PyFWjqk5d4oQVwAVA
Kinda sad to see a toll era interchange go, but I get why they'd reconstruct it.
Just to return back to A-85,...
Can somebody at the MTQ can explain why they decide to give exit number 85 to the ramps going towards Chemin de Riviere-Verte? Normally, the exit number is corresponding to the place the road is crossing the highway, like at the overpass/underpass. But in this case, the km marker, at the underpass, is 86.5, so it would be exit 86, not 85. This situation caused some confusion, because the contractor had to place some more signs to indicate the exit 85 is not highway A-85.
:pan:
But who would confuse an exit number (in yellow) with an Autoroute shield (in blue)?
^ That's the bridge near Grand-Mère?Yes, located where A-55 ends and the roundabout on the other side of the river. There's also a older suspension bridge closer to downtown Grand-Mère.
Quick question on QC 276 history. I get why it's been routed around St-Joseph-de-Beauce... or maybe I don't REALLY get it, but I can at least see a reason one might give... but how long ago was that done? Is it as old as the QC 173 bypass? What makes them more special than every other town that has a route on their main street?
Quick question on QC 276 history. I get why it's been routed around St-Joseph-de-Beauce... or maybe I don't REALLY get it, but I can at least see a reason one might give... but how long ago was that done? Is it as old as the QC 173 bypass? What makes them more special than every other town that has a route on their main street?
I wonder what's so special about this bridge for Québec. Europe is full of them and they do not appear to be problematic. On the other hand Seattle has a major problem with a box girder bridge which isn't very old (1984).
(https://i.imgur.com/Sw112A2.jpg)
Evidently they plan to add a cable-stayed bridge-like construction to this bridge.
(https://i.imgur.com/s1J5IvO.jpg)
They also did this with a box girder bridge in the Netherlands. This bridge was built in 1970 and reinforced in 2010 with a cable-stayed addition. However it carries a vastly different traffic volume than the one in Québec (184,000 vehicles per day).
(https://i.imgur.com/L8kztnE.jpg)
Take it with a pinch of salt, but some guys already jumped the gun to mention the A-13/Chomedey autoroute extension.What are the odds this is happening at all, or is this just a fanperson?
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=45.69182,-73.96391&z=14&t=M
In case that edit dissapear, it's archived on the following link. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/EHSCT
Take it with a pinch of salt, but some guys already jumped the gun to mention the A-13/Chomedey autoroute extension.What are the odds this is happening at all, or is this just a fanperson?
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=45.69182,-73.96391&z=14&t=M
In case that edit dissapear, it's archived on the following link. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/EHSCT
Take it with a pinch of salt, but some guys already jumped the gun to mention the A-13/Chomedey autoroute extension.What are the odds this is happening at all, or is this just a fanperson?
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=45.69182,-73.96391&z=14&t=M
In case that edit dissapear, it's archived on the following link. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/EHSCT
Take it with a pinch of salt, but some guys already jumped the gun to mention the A-13/Chomedey autoroute extension.What are the odds this is happening at all, or is this just a fanperson?
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=45.69182,-73.96391&z=14&t=M
In case that edit dissapear, it's archived on the following link. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/EHSCT
With Mirabel being closed, the chances of A-13 being built to its fullest extent are slim to none.
The individual who made that change looks to have the OSM handle of "magic 2001", and just started yesterday with a number of edits across southern Quebec. I've already reverted one of their edits because (s)he was showing the physically completed parts of the A-35/QC 133 interchange near Saint Sebastien as open even though the roadway to the south isn't even close to completed yet.The person who drawn this is a problematic OSM and Wikipedia editor known as the "all user" (in reference to their edit comments), going all the way to vandalize maps and articles with implausible fantasy.
^ Regarding the map you posted, was there a proposal to extend A-50 east of A-15? Where would it have gone?The 1971 numbering plan from Ministère de la Voirie shows it reaching as easterly as Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, following the path of R-158 (Saint-Lin—Laurentides, Saint-Esprit, Saint-Jacques, Crabtree, Joliette), then R-131 (Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, Saint-Félix-de-Valois) and ultimately – I kid you not – R-348 (Saint-Cléophas, Saint-Gabriel).
Question for those of you from Quebec or anyone else who may know: On a trip to the Montreal area about a decade ago, I seem to remember driving on a "reversed" highway, where the carriageways flipped and traffic going the other way was on the right instead of the left.
Does anyone know where this might be? I thought it was somewhere between the airport and downtown Montreal, but I can't seem to find it. Now I'm questioning whether it was just a temporary alignment for a construction project or perhaps even just a figment of my imagination? I'd be glad for any thoughts/insight - thanks!
I believe this would've been A-20 west of A-15 (the Turcot interchange). The interchange was recently redone, which took away the flipped carriageways on A-20.
Question for those of you from Quebec or anyone else who may know: On a trip to the Montreal area about a decade ago, I seem to remember driving on a "reversed" highway, where the carriageways flipped and traffic going the other way was on the right instead of the left.
Does anyone know where this might be? I thought it was somewhere between the airport and downtown Montreal, but I can't seem to find it. Now I'm questioning whether it was just a temporary alignment for a construction project or perhaps even just a figment of my imagination? I'd be glad for any thoughts/insight - thanks!
I believe this would've been A-20 west of A-15 (the Turcot interchange). The interchange was recently redone, which took away the flipped carriageways on A-20.
Question for those of you from Quebec or anyone else who may know: On a trip to the Montreal area about a decade ago, I seem to remember driving on a "reversed" highway, where the carriageways flipped and traffic going the other way was on the right instead of the left.
Does anyone know where this might be? I thought it was somewhere between the airport and downtown Montreal, but I can't seem to find it. Now I'm questioning whether it was just a temporary alignment for a construction project or perhaps even just a figment of my imagination? I'd be glad for any thoughts/insight - thanks!
I believe this would've been A-20 west of A-15 (the Turcot interchange). The interchange was recently redone, which took away the flipped carriageways on A-20.
Now I'm intrigued. Does anyone have any old map of the former Turcot Interchange?
Question for those of you from Quebec or anyone else who may know: On a trip to the Montreal area about a decade ago, I seem to remember driving on a "reversed" highway, where the carriageways flipped and traffic going the other way was on the right instead of the left.
Does anyone know where this might be? I thought it was somewhere between the airport and downtown Montreal, but I can't seem to find it. Now I'm questioning whether it was just a temporary alignment for a construction project or perhaps even just a figment of my imagination? I'd be glad for any thoughts/insight - thanks!
I believe this would've been A-20 west of A-15 (the Turcot interchange). The interchange was recently redone, which took away the flipped carriageways on A-20.
Now I'm intrigued. Does anyone have any old map of the former Turcot Interchange?
I will try to post some vintage aerials later.
A detail who come to my mind is QC-148 rerouting, it once pass thru the village of St-Hermas as shown in this 1984 and 2000 topographic maps but it was rerouted later to reach QC-158 between Lachute and St-Camut. I wondered why this rerouting?
A detail who come to my mind is QC-148 rerouting, it once pass thru the village of St-Hermas as shown in this 1984 and 2000 topographic maps but it was rerouted later to reach QC-158 between Lachute and St-Camut. I wondered why this rerouting?
The R-148 rerouting and reconstruction of the junction in Saint-Hermas occurred most likely around 2008, even though the interchange at A-50 was built 13 years prior to that. I don't know the official rationale behind it, but this is most likely tied to the opening of significant portions of A-50. At that time, Thurso-Grenville was the only remaining gap on A-50, with construction underway to finish the missing link. Here's what seems to justify the realignment:
- The actual routing for R-148 is the shortest between A-640 and A-50. The actual configuration for the junction at Saint-Hermas is likely less prone to accidents, knowing that the volume on the road heading north-west to A-50 is at least twice the volume of the road leading to Saint-Hermas;
- Before 2008, R-148 was identified as severely dysfunctional by the MTQ for many reasons (crossing of many urban agglomerations without any control of access, no passing options, subpar curves, etc.). Rerouting through traffic on A-50 to avoid Saint-Hermas and Lachute is likely a gain of functionality;
- Prior to the rerouting, A-50, R-158 and R-148 closely paralleled each other. The rerouting eliminates the corridor redundancy; all in all the MTQ breaks even in network length, but 10 km of the former routing (Saint-Hermas―Lachute road) were declassified from primary to collector in the process.
According to the Québec 511 app, QC 321 is closed north of Saint-André-Avellin due to the roadway departing (in their words). I can't find any other information currently.
With the passing of former hockey star Guy Lafleur, some people suggest to name A-50 as Autoroute Guy Lafleur.Maybe A-10 could be used, as that was his sweater number when playing for Montreal.
https://www.fm1047.ca/nouvelles/faits-divers/479656/bientot-une-autoroute-guy-lafleur
With the passing of former hockey star Guy Lafleur, some people suggest to name A-50 as Autoroute Guy Lafleur.Maybe A-10 could be used, as that was his sweater number when playing for Montreal.
https://www.fm1047.ca/nouvelles/faits-divers/479656/bientot-une-autoroute-guy-lafleur
I remember him being a great player on those excellent Canadiens teams of the mid to late 1970's--I just did not realize how great he was, as well as those teams until I recently researched it. Six straight seasons of scoring 50 goals and amassing 100 points--the first to do so (sorry, Wayne Gretzky). Plus, Montreal had the most amazing three year stretch in NHL history from 1975-78 going 58-11-11, 60-8-12, and 59-10-11. Tack on a 52-17-11 1978-79 season and WOW!!! Of course, it helps having the best player and the best goaltender in the NHL at the time to win those four championships in a row!
RIP Guy Lafleur!
I wonder what's so special about this bridge for Québec. Europe is full of them and they do not appear to be problematic. On the other hand Seattle has a major problem with a box girder bridge which isn't very old (1984).
(https://i.imgur.com/Sw112A2.jpg)
Evidently they plan to add a cable-stayed bridge-like construction to this bridge.
(https://i.imgur.com/s1J5IvO.jpg)
They also did this with a box girder bridge in the Netherlands. This bridge was built in 1970 and reinforced in 2010 with a cable-stayed addition. However it carries a vastly different traffic volume than the one in Québec (184,000 vehicles per day).
(https://i.imgur.com/L8kztnE.jpg)
This bridge was built in 1978, and is problematic since the beginning. Shortly after its opening to traffic, about a hundred sensors were installed to monitor the bridge 24/7, and some load tests were done every now and then. It's after some of those tests, done in November 2021, and monitoring reports showing that the bridge deteriorates faster than expected, that the MTQ decided to close the bridge until the repair to be completed, expected by the end of 2022.
Meanwhile, building of the replacement bridge, a bit downstream from the actual one, and planned since June 2020, will start with some tree cutting this year, and the construction of the bridge itself is figured to start on spring of 2023, in order to be completed in 2025.
:thumbsup: Thanks for the information on this.With the passing of former hockey star Guy Lafleur, some people suggest to name A-50 as Autoroute Guy Lafleur.Maybe A-10 could be used, as that was his sweater number when playing for Montreal.
https://www.fm1047.ca/nouvelles/faits-divers/479656/bientot-une-autoroute-guy-lafleur
I remember him being a great player on those excellent Canadiens teams of the mid to late 1970's--I just did not realize how great he was, as well as those teams until I recently researched it. Six straight seasons of scoring 50 goals and amassing 100 points--the first to do so (sorry, Wayne Gretzky). Plus, Montreal had the most amazing three year stretch in NHL history from 1975-78 going 58-11-11, 60-8-12, and 59-10-11. Tack on a 52-17-11 1978-79 season and WOW!!! Of course, it helps having the best player and the best goaltender in the NHL at the time to win those four championships in a row!
RIP Guy Lafleur!
The naming of autoroute 50 as Autoroute Guy-Lafleur would be based on the fact of Lafleur being born in Thurso, in Outaouais region, a municipality crossed by A-50. Another request was made many years ago, that time to name A-50 as Autoroute Maurice-Richard, based on the fact that Richard was the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games in the NHL, but the Commission de Toponymie du Québec, at that time, decided to wait the completion of the highway prior to study the request.
On my own opinion, the Commission will probably name the highway to Guy Lafleur, because he is a local personality, as Richard was Montreal-born. The naming would probably be held after the completion of the A-50, supposed to be done within the next 10 years, as said recently by the MTQ.
So, my employer had its RTO last week, and I'm now making my first trip in since the start of the pandemic.
I stopped at the 89/133 crossing this afternoon to get a new work permit, and was surprised a few km later to encounter a construction zone. (Actually, since I was headed to Montréal, I guess construction shouldn't have been much of a surprise.)
Looks like they are reasonably well along with grading for the southern extension of Autoroute 35. Sadly, I wasn't prepared with a camera; maybe next trip.
^ So that's what...MAYBE a 4km extension?
I think that 7 km is "heavy pencil pressure" (I don't know if that's a saying in English). The figures probably include the ramps as well as the R-170 relocation; measuring along the OSM path (https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/48.3414/-70.9537), I get a mere 5 km. And 7 sure looks better than 5 in a swing district.
I think that 7 km is "heavy pencil pressure" (I don't know if that's a saying in English). The figures probably include the ramps as well as the R-170 relocation; measuring along the OSM path (https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/48.3414/-70.9537), I get a mere 5 km. And 7 sure looks better than 5 in a swing district.
From a link in the article, I found this exhibit (http://chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/projets-infrastructures/reseau-routier/projets-routiers/saguenay-LSJ-chibougamau/Documents/carte-A70-etape4_P2_lots.pdf) which seems to show the proposed improvements. It seems to match that the freeway improvements are about 5km.
With the location of the new terminus at 170, does that position them for a future southern bypass of LaBaie?R-381 already is the southern bypass for La Baie. It was relocated in the late 1990's. Prior to that, it reached Grande-Baie via Chemin de la Rivière Along Ha! Ha! River. Trafic East and South of La Baie is scarce, light years away from warranting anything access-controlled around or beyond the town, whether it's two or four lanes.
so... why does the MTQ need so many years to construct 5 km of freeway...?
Its construction is made through highly unstable terrain (see map of landslide-prone areas (https://bit.ly/3PqMYZs) ― one occurred just across the Mars River one month ago (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/saguenay-quebec-landslide-1.6511304), forcing nearly 200 out of their homes), so precautionary measures and stabilisation works are likely required... but the pace of announcements is indeed curiously compliant with the electoral calendar.so... why does the MTQ need so many years to construct 5 km of freeway...?
I wondered the same question. Some joked then they built one section before an election. Then built another one before another election,....
I have just recently learned of the history of the Quebec Bridge. Wow! That is some story. Sorry so many lives were lost.
GSV show an updated view of the reconfigurated ramps of A-10 exit 68 (PQ-139) on the westbound side. https://goo.gl/maps/2VMTfcaFdYvYMNWE8
Now if they could update their satellite views....
Why was the old interchange so weird anyways?
So, my employer had its RTO last week, and I'm now making my first trip in since the start of the pandemic.
I stopped at the 89/133 crossing this afternoon to get a new work permit, and was surprised a few km later to encounter a construction zone. (Actually, since I was headed to Montréal, I guess construction shouldn't have been much of a surprise.)
Looks like they are reasonably well along with grading for the southern extension of Autoroute 35. Sadly, I wasn't prepared with a camera; maybe next trip.
The simple future interchange where 35 will eventually diverge from 133 is taking shape, with construction underway for the future ramp from southbound 133 to whatever the highway to the border will be designated as (not sure whether it will be a full Autoroute, or retain the non-controlled access 133 designation).
The simple future interchange where 35 will eventually diverge from 133 is taking shape, with construction underway for the future ramp from southbound 133 to whatever the highway to the border will be designated as (not sure whether it will be a full Autoroute, or retain the non-controlled access 133 designation).
There's some plans to upgrade the remaining gap of PQ-133 as full freeway and one interchange will replace an intersection.
https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/projets-infrastructures/reseau-routier/projets-routiers/monteregie/autoroute-35-prolongement/Documents/Documentation/Cartes/Simulation_St_Armand_sud_petite.pdf
The construction of the Philipsburg interchange is slated for an undated phase IV, along with the Saint-Alexandre interchange. Although a design for thie Philipsburg interchange has been made public, there has been no land acquisition (https://geoegl.msp.gouv.qc.ca/igo/cptaq_demeter/?&id=da8dedd271), thus probably no definitive planning. There is hardly 1,000, nay 2,000 vpd on this section; nothing justifies grading quickly the scarce intersections with low-volume roads or dead-end streets south of Pike River.
A 5.8 kilometer segment of Autoroute 85 has been upgraded to a full freeway east and west of Exit 60 at Saint-Honoré-de-Témiscouata. The official opening was on November 2.
https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/salle-de-presse/nouvelles/Pages/nouveau-troncon-Saint-Honore-de-Temiscouata.aspx
Hold your horses, construction will not begin in 2023. There, you have it : it's listed as in planning in the PQI, which lists the priorities in terms of infrastructures for the next 10 years. The status remains the same since Saint-Sébastien―Philipsburg and Philipsburg-Border sections were split in two phases in 2019. Funding for the construction has not even been secured by the Treasury board (https://www.tresor.gouv.qc.ca/infrastructures-publiques/tableau-de-bord/?tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5Bprojet%5D=104&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5BmotsCles%5D=&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5Bavancement%5D=0&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5Bactivite%5D=0&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5Bstatut%5D=&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5Bregion%5D=0&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5Bnouveau%5D=0&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5Bnumero%5D=104&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BcurrentPage%5D=&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5Baction%5D=show&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5Bcontroller%5D=Projet&cHash=6ed5e85025dfbfeae8c0674bd43e5351), so the works are not about to begin since no provision for a contract was made, no contractor was chosen, no tender was received and no calls for tenders was launched ― and I'm not even talking about the needed ministerial authorizations and redtaping.The construction of the Philipsburg interchange is slated for an undated phase IV, along with the Saint-Alexandre interchange. Although a design for thie Philipsburg interchange has been made public, there has been no land acquisition (https://geoegl.msp.gouv.qc.ca/igo/cptaq_demeter/?&id=da8dedd271), thus probably no definitive planning. There is hardly 1,000, nay 2,000 vpd on this section; nothing justifies grading quickly the scarce intersections with low-volume roads or dead-end streets south of Pike River.
Just looking at the MTQ website, on the A-35 Project page, Phase IV is still undated, and still reported as "on planning" in the PQI (Plan québécois des infrastructures, or Quebec's Infrastructural Plan), but is on the list of bill 66, accelerating some government projects, adopted in 2020, so it will probably begin in 2023 or 2024, in order to upgrade the last part of the actual QC-133 (the divided part) to interstate standards.
Hold your horses, construction will not begin in 2023. There, you have it : it's listed as in planning in the PQI, which lists the priorities in terms of infrastructures for the next 10 years. The status remains the same since Saint-Sébastien―Philipsburg and Philipsburg-Border sections were split in two phases in 2019. Funding for the construction has not even been secured by the Treasury board (https://www.tresor.gouv.qc.ca/infrastructures-publiques/tableau-de-bord/?tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5Bprojet%5D=104&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5BmotsCles%5D=&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5Bavancement%5D=0&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5Bactivite%5D=0&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5Bstatut%5D=&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5Bregion%5D=0&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5Bnouveau%5D=0&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BrechercheInfo%5D%5Bnumero%5D=104&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5BcurrentPage%5D=&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5Baction%5D=show&tx_tdbpip_tdbpip%5Bcontroller%5D=Projet&cHash=6ed5e85025dfbfeae8c0674bd43e5351), so the works are not about to begin since no provision for a contract was made, no contractor was chosen, no tender was received and no calls for tenders was launched ― and I'm not even talking about the needed ministerial authorizations and redtaping.The construction of the Philipsburg interchange is slated for an undated phase IV, along with the Saint-Alexandre interchange. Although a design for thie Philipsburg interchange has been made public, there has been no land acquisition (https://geoegl.msp.gouv.qc.ca/igo/cptaq_demeter/?&id=da8dedd271), thus probably no definitive planning. There is hardly 1,000, nay 2,000 vpd on this section; nothing justifies grading quickly the scarce intersections with low-volume roads or dead-end streets south of Pike River.
Just looking at the MTQ website, on the A-35 Project page, Phase IV is still undated, and still reported as "on planning" in the PQI (Plan québécois des infrastructures, or Quebec's Infrastructural Plan), but is on the list of bill 66, accelerating some government projects, adopted in 2020, so it will probably begin in 2023 or 2024, in order to upgrade the last part of the actual QC-133 (the divided part) to interstate standards.
Regarding the wide range of autoroute extensions that are of debatable relevance, and the funding problem, whether it's the FORT (fund for the maintenance of the road network, supplied with declining income from gasoline taxes) or the rise of interest rates, choices will have to be made, are being made or have already been made. I do not think A-35 phase IV is one of them, for reasons previously mentionned. And when this leg of highway will be built, it will comply not to interstate standards, but to the MTQ design manuals (http://www3.publicationsduquebec.gouv.qc.ca/produits/ouvrage_routier.fr.html). The latter differs greatly from the FHWA prescriptions.
Is it just me, or the "3rd link between Quebec City and Lévis" webpage had completely disappeared from the MTQ website?
Is it just me, or the "3rd link between Quebec City and Lévis" webpage had completely disappeared from the MTQ website?
It's not your imagination, the 3rd link is gone.
Is it just me, or the "3rd link between Quebec City and Lévis" webpage had completely disappeared from the MTQ website?
It's not your imagination, the 3rd link is gone.
Is this referring to the highway tunnel that was proposed to go under the river between these two cities downstream of the existing two bridges?
Is Québec pro-congestion or something? Between this and the small size (relative to AADT) of the Pont Champlain makes it seem like they tolerate higher congestion levels than we would in the US.
Is Québec pro-congestion or something?Yes. I would know, I've been stuck countless times in traffic in this damn city.
I looked at the Google Maps traffic around 3:30 today. A-73 sud was colored mauve for a bit over a km around the A-540 merge approaching the bridge. This is "too little traffic to justify another crossing"? The Capital District is around the same size and the idea of anything being mauve at 3:30 without a crash is unthinkable here.
OK, that explains a lot of that, although I don't usually expect construction-related delays to be THAT bad. I'll have to check it in the morning to see what the other side is like.I looked at the Google Maps traffic around 3:30 today. A-73 sud was colored mauve for a bit over a km around the A-540 merge approaching the bridge. This is "too little traffic to justify another crossing"? The Capital District is around the same size and the idea of anything being mauve at 3:30 without a crash is unthinkable here.
The last time I was in Quebec City, that section of A-73 has major long-term construction going on, so it makes sense why it would be mauve-coloured. If I remember correctly, on the approach to the bridge, the lanes are narrowed, shoulders removed, and on-ramps have no acceleration space at all.
edit: ah yes I found the link to the project: https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/projets-infrastructures/reseau-routier/projets-routiers/capitale-nationale/aut73-refection-tete-des-ponts/Pages/aut73-refection-tete-des-ponts.aspx
Finally remembered to check this morning. Looks like a long line of mauve on A-73 and some red on the ramps from A-20 and A-20 approaching those ramps (not including the red on both directions of A-20 through Lévis).OK, that explains a lot of that, although I don't usually expect construction-related delays to be THAT bad. I'll have to check it in the morning to see what the other side is like.I looked at the Google Maps traffic around 3:30 today. A-73 sud was colored mauve for a bit over a km around the A-540 merge approaching the bridge. This is "too little traffic to justify another crossing"? The Capital District is around the same size and the idea of anything being mauve at 3:30 without a crash is unthinkable here.
The last time I was in Quebec City, that section of A-73 has major long-term construction going on, so it makes sense why it would be mauve-coloured. If I remember correctly, on the approach to the bridge, the lanes are narrowed, shoulders removed, and on-ramps have no acceleration space at all.
edit: ah yes I found the link to the project: https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/projets-infrastructures/reseau-routier/projets-routiers/capitale-nationale/aut73-refection-tete-des-ponts/Pages/aut73-refection-tete-des-ponts.aspx
Now, here's my honest opinion on this: Montréal isn't the only city in the province, so they shouldn't decide for the rest of the province. However, most changes seem okay... except the idea of making construction zones "more appealing to the eyes in tourist-heavy zones". Isn't the entire point of construction signage the idea that it's VISIBLE???
Now, here's my honest opinion on this: Montréal isn't the only city in the province, so they shouldn't decide for the rest of the province. However, most changes seem okay... except the idea of making construction zones "more appealing to the eyes in tourist-heavy zones". Isn't the entire point of construction signage the idea that it's VISIBLE???
Maybe they're using L'Ile de Montreal as a starting point or something.
You know we're in a NYC situation, where the government of Québec sees Montréal as the only inhabited place while neglecting the rest of the province (besides maybe Québec City).
Now, here's my honest opinion on this: Montréal isn't the only city in the province, so they shouldn't decide for the rest of the province. However, most changes seem okay... except the idea of making construction zones "more appealing to the eyes in tourist-heavy zones". Isn't the entire point of construction signage the idea that it's VISIBLE???
Maybe they're using L'Ile de Montreal as a starting point or something.
I don't trust that government anymore.
You know we're in a NYC situation, where the government of Québec sees Montréal as the only inhabited place while neglecting the rest of the province (besides maybe Québec City).
Now, here's my honest opinion on this: Montréal isn't the only city in the province, so they shouldn't decide for the rest of the province. However, most changes seem okay... except the idea of making construction zones "more appealing to the eyes in tourist-heavy zones". Isn't the entire point of construction signage the idea that it's VISIBLE???
Maybe they're using L'Ile de Montreal as a starting point or something.
I don't trust that government anymore.
Well, I'll be damned. You brought actual facts. I gotta admit, I was talking out of my ass there, and probably shouldn't have been taken seriously.You know we're in a NYC situation, where the government of Québec sees Montréal as the only inhabited place while neglecting the rest of the province (besides maybe Québec City).
Now, here's my honest opinion on this: Montréal isn't the only city in the province, so they shouldn't decide for the rest of the province. However, most changes seem okay... except the idea of making construction zones "more appealing to the eyes in tourist-heavy zones". Isn't the entire point of construction signage the idea that it's VISIBLE???
Maybe they're using L'Ile de Montreal as a starting point or something.
I don't trust that government anymore.
Looking at the 2023-2024 expenditures, the proportion of investments to proportion of population ratio is a whopping 5.24:1 for Côte-Nord, 2.50:1 for Gaspésie―ÃŽles-de-la-Madeleine and 1.62:1 in Bas-Saint-Laurent. Montréal, Montérégie, Laval and Capitale-Nationale regions all have a ratio smaller than 1:1 (respectively 0.67:1, 0.12:1, 0.59:1, 0.63:1). With a 1:1 ratio, the region with the highest expenditures outside Montreal is Chaudière-Appalaches, the crying baby that didn't have its unnecessary toy, who will receive more or less half a billion in the next year ― that's 5% of the whole infrastructure budget at the MTQ. Combine Capitale-Nationale, Lanaudière, Laurentides, Laval, Montréal, Montérégie and Outaouais (rounds up pretty much to Montreal, Québec and Gatineau-Ottawa metro areas); they get 31% of the investment, while housing 76% of the population.
But the population figures skew the numbers because in outlying regions, population is concentrated in small areas that are sparsely distributed ― so let's look a the FORT (the fund dedicated to the maintenance of the road network), funded with gas and license plate taxes : the expenditures are twice the income. That means that people not owing a car and/or are not using one pay as much for roads as the people who use it ― typical free-rider problem, driving the maintenance level of the network into a wall. With vehicle registration fees being twice as high in the metro areas compared to Côte-Nord and GÃŽM, and with fuel taxes being 50 % higher, the metro area population pays double for each km of road they get, let alone they get less road investments per capita. On top of that, the motor vehicle to population ratio is 1.16 on Côte-Nord and 1.23 in GÃŽM while under 1 in Québec, Montréal and Gatineau metro regions (even under 0,7 in Laval, Montréal and Montérégie). MOREOVER, the GDP per capita is really higher in Montreal (100k$) than in GÃŽM (38 k$), and somewhat higher than Côte-Nord (87 k$). Soooo, people in the metro areas pay more income taxes (they produce more goods), pay more gas taxes for each litre they consume, have less cars (i.e. use less roads) and get WAY less investments in transportation infrastructure in their region than people in outlying regions ― and yet, the former pays for the latter. That seems like a damn sweet deal to me.
Stop your conspiracy theories and get your shit straight. This government is dedicated to roads outside Montreal and Quebec.
EDITED : adjusted figures
Wish they were that dedicated to getting A-35 finished...Talking about A-35 works, some bad news fell down last May.
I would joke about A-35's original intended completion date (for Expo 67), but I'm not gonna kick a dead horse here.Wish they were that dedicated to getting A-35 finished...Talking about A-35 works, some bad news fell down last May.
One of the contractors in the consortium who won the call for tenders, CRT Construction, from Levis, have to deal with the bankruptcy of one of his subcontractors, who have to furnish and install the steel beams supporting the bridge over rivière aux Brochets (Pike River). The CRT Construction's executive vice-president, Jean-François Turgeon, told that they found a new steel provider in province of Quebec, but didn't told a lot about delays this situation will occur.
The MTQ, throught a spokeperson, confirmed that some delays will occur about the bridge, but the rest of the works are going on time.
It's sure that this bridge is essential to the opening of that part of A-35, between Saint-Sebastien and Saint-Armand, about 3 miles north of the QC-VT border.
The original article (in French) is here. (https://www.lesoleil.com/actualites/le-fil-des-coops/2023/05/22/des-difficultes-retardent-le-prolongement-de-lautoroute-35-YMEQ2SQFYZEZFOZNTF7ZPCGSJQ/)
I would joke about A-35's original intended completion date (for Expo 67), but I'm not gonna kick a dead horse here.Wish they were that dedicated to getting A-35 finished...Talking about A-35 works, some bad news fell down last May.
One of the contractors in the consortium who won the call for tenders, CRT Construction, from Levis, have to deal with the bankruptcy of one of his subcontractors, who have to furnish and install the steel beams supporting the bridge over rivière aux Brochets (Pike River). The CRT Construction's executive vice-president, Jean-François Turgeon, told that they found a new steel provider in province of Quebec, but didn't told a lot about delays this situation will occur.
The MTQ, throught a spokeperson, confirmed that some delays will occur about the bridge, but the rest of the works are going on time.
It's sure that this bridge is essential to the opening of that part of A-35, between Saint-Sebastien and Saint-Armand, about 3 miles north of the QC-VT border.
The original article (in French) is here. (https://www.lesoleil.com/actualites/le-fil-des-coops/2023/05/22/des-difficultes-retardent-le-prolongement-de-lautoroute-35-YMEQ2SQFYZEZFOZNTF7ZPCGSJQ/)
Welcome in province of Quebec.You're exactly 25 years late on that. :spin:
*Sigh*, some NIMBYs had decided to oppose A-25 northern extension. :angry:Gotta love the usual "induced demand" bullshit. Also gotta love how the Mon Joliette article is obviously biased towards this nonsense.
https://monjoliette.com/le-crel-et-des-groupes-citoyens-sopposent-au-prolongement-de-lautoroute-25/
https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2023/06/20/lanaudiere-des-groupes-ecologiques-sopposent-au-prolongement-de-lautoroute-25
*Sigh*, some NIMBYs had decided to oppose A-25 northern extension. :angry:Is the current proposal even an autoroute? Last I saw there were roundabouts and traffic lights instead of interchanges.
https://monjoliette.com/le-crel-et-des-groupes-citoyens-sopposent-au-prolongement-de-lautoroute-25/
https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2023/06/20/lanaudiere-des-groupes-ecologiques-sopposent-au-prolongement-de-lautoroute-25
Is the current proposal even an autoroute? Last I saw there were roundabouts and traffic lights instead of interchanges.
https://transportologie.wordpress.com/2022/08/21/en-bref-prolongement-de-la-125-mise-a-jour-aout-2022/
So an expressway with roundabouts? Ew.
Is the current proposal even an autoroute? Last I saw there were roundabouts and traffic lights instead of interchanges.
https://transportologie.wordpress.com/2022/08/21/en-bref-prolongement-de-la-125-mise-a-jour-aout-2022/
Not an autoroute to be exact unless it's on the same definition as A-955, it like be more of an "rural expressway" like PQ-117 north of Ste-Agathe-des-Monts.
So an expressway with roundabouts? Ew.
Is the current proposal even an autoroute? Last I saw there were roundabouts and traffic lights instead of interchanges.
https://transportologie.wordpress.com/2022/08/21/en-bref-prolongement-de-la-125-mise-a-jour-aout-2022/
Not an autoroute to be exact unless it's on the same definition as A-955, it like be more of an "rural expressway" like PQ-117 north of Ste-Agathe-des-Monts.
Gotta love the usual "induced demand" bullshit. Also gotta love how the Mon Joliette article is obviously biased towards this nonsense.
https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/projets-infrastructures/reseau-routier/projets-routiers/laurentides-lanaudiere/prolongement-autoroute-25-amelioration-route-125/Pages/prolongement-autoroute-25-amelioration-route-125.aspx
Translated:
In addition, for the past 20 years, traffic volumes have been increasing on Route 125. Thus, demographic projections allow us to anticipate a continuous growth in vehicle demand on this axis: between 1996 and 2016, the population growth in the northern Lanaudière region was 37%, compared to the Quebec average of 12%.
As a result, periods of congestion lengthen at peak times, especially on weekends. The growth of the population and vacationers therefore contributes to the deterioration of traffic and safety conditions on the axis as well as in the municipality of Sainte Julienne.
I saw this French article published late August then the current mayor of Nicolet is opposed to A-30 extension from Becancour to Nicolet for a more green image.
https://www.lenouvelliste.ca/actualites/actualites-locales/2023/08/29/nicolet-demande-a-quebec-dabandonner-le-prolongement-de-lautoroute-30-W4XV32LMLJEF7FORJCIINGIGFY/
Not a good idea with more traffic (and more trucks) on PQ-132.
https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/adm/min/transports/transports/projets_routiers/Outaouais/Aut-5-prolongement/CA_A5_Racc_Mai2023.pngA-5 was supposed to go quite a bit farther north, but this eliminates the existing stub end for good. I disagree with what they did here though, they had every opportunity to resurrect prior plans for A-5 and not completely redo surface streets.
Autoroute 5's northern terminus currently ends at an at-grade intersection with an odd jog for Route 105. It will be replaced with a roundabout to make Route 105 more straight.
https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/adm/min/transports/transports/projets_routiers/Outaouais/Aut-5-prolongement/CA_A5_Racc_Mai2023.pngIs there a timetable for when this is to happen? I had been hoping to re-clinch A-5 next year... but perhaps it would be prudent to wait.
Autoroute 5's northern terminus currently ends at an at-grade intersection with an odd jog for Route 105. It will be replaced with a roundabout to make Route 105 more straight.
In the spring of 2023, the government is continuing the preparation of section 3, which includes several essential stages before starting work : geotechnical studies, preparation of plans and specifications, land acquisitions, relocation of public services and obtaining environmental authorizations.https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/adm/min/transports/transports/projets_routiers/Outaouais/Aut-5-prolongement/CA_A5_Racc_Mai2023.pngIs there a timetable for when this is to happen? I had been hoping to re-clinch A-5 next year... but perhaps it would be prudent to wait.
Autoroute 5's northern terminus currently ends at an at-grade intersection with an odd jog for Route 105. It will be replaced with a roundabout to make Route 105 more straight.
https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/adm/min/transports/transports/projets_routiers/Outaouais/Aut-5-prolongement/CA_A5_Racc_Mai2023.pngA-5 was supposed to go quite a bit farther north, but this eliminates the existing stub end for good. I disagree with what they did here though, they had every opportunity to resurrect prior plans for A-5 and not completely redo surface streets.
Autoroute 5's northern terminus currently ends at an at-grade intersection with an odd jog for Route 105. It will be replaced with a roundabout to make Route 105 more straight.
The next segment of A-70 is under construction. Construction of the whole project is scheduled to last through 2028.
https://www.quebec.ca/transports/projets-routiers/saguenay-lac-saint-jean/autoroute-70-grande-anse-la-baie-construction
Construction industry, at least in province of Quebec, is not the same than it was some decades ago; this section of freeway is about 4.3 miles, and will take over 5 years to be completed.
Seems as though A-915 was commissioned on the Sortie 45 spur of A-15 in Saint-Jérôme, per the Atlas des Transports (https://geoegl.msp.gouv.qc.ca/igo2/apercu-qc/?context=mtq&visiblelayers=bgr_v_sous_route_res_sup_act). I can confirm that it's unsigned as of last month, though.
Seems as though A-915 was commissioned on the Sortie 45 spur of A-15 in Saint-Jérôme, per the Atlas des Transports (https://geoegl.msp.gouv.qc.ca/igo2/apercu-qc/?context=mtq&visiblelayers=bgr_v_sous_route_res_sup_act). I can confirm that it's unsigned as of last month, though.
What was it referred to before A-915? I remember seeing this on the map and wondering what it was called