A-73 in St.-Georges QC, and construction between St.-Georges and Beauceville

Started by oscar, October 31, 2014, 04:29:40 PM

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oscar

Here are some photos I took earlier this month of the newer 5-km-long St.-Georges segment of Autoroute 73, and some of the construction between St.-Georges and Beauceville to connect that segment to the rest of A-73.  The segment under construction is about 13 km long, with a planned completion date in August 2015.



^   The southern end of A-73's St.-Georges segment is at this roundabout with QC 204, which connects A-73 to QC 173 to complete the trip to the border.  It's a rather lengthy detour to get from QC 173 to A-73 and back again.  For most travelers, is not worth doing that only to bypass part of downtown St.-Georges.  However, once the St.-Georges segment is connected to the rest of A-73. travelers will need to go only one way between QC 173 and A-73, and the opportunity to bypass not only part of St.-Georges but also the congested and speed camera-infested part of QC 173 through Beauceville will be totally worth it.



^   This looks like a fenced-off right of way, south of the QC 204 roundabout, for a planned southward A-73 extension.  However, there are no stubs or other provisions in the newly-constructed roundabout for A-73 to be extended south of QC 204.  Since the QC 173/US 201 border crossing is not real busy, and St.-Georges is the southernmost major community along QC 173, I would be surprised if MTQ in the foreseeable future ever follows through on its apparent original plan (as suggested by A-73's exit numbering and km-markers) to complete A-73 all the way to the border.  It would not be silly to extend A-73 south a few km for a full bypass of St.-Georges, but that seems not to be in the cards.



^   This sign, alerting southbound motorists to the upcoming end of A-73 at the QC 204 roundabout, is just north of the 90e Rue overpass.  There are no ramps connecting that road to A-73.  A-73's St.-Georges segment has no intersections other than the QC 204 roundabout, and the interchange at the north end.



^   An exit sign for that interchange, which is marked as exit 48.  There is no exit number signed for the QC 204 roundabout.



^   The A-73 overpass of 74e Rue, from the west next to the exit ramp from 74e Rue to southbound A-73.



^   This bridge under construction will carry A-73 traffic over the Riviere Gilbert and 34e Rue east of Notre-Dame-des-Pins.



^   34e Rue, approaching the construction site for that new bridge, passes through a residential neighbourhood, and gets a heavy dose of traffic calming, including several closely-spaced stop signs as well as a few pedestrian crossings marked like this.




^   These two photos were taken from the overpass carrying 20e Rue, between Notre-Dame-des-Pins and St.-Simon-les-Mines, over the A-73 construction zone, viewed to the north then the south.  These is no indication that there will be ramps connecting 20e Rue, or 34e Rue, to A-73.  I'm not aware of any interchanges planned in other places between exit 48 and exit 61, though I didn't do enough poking around to confirm that.

Another construction viewing site, which I visited but did not take photographs, is just south of A-73 exit 61.  There's a frontage road peeling off from the ramp to northbound A-73 from Route du Golf north of Beauceville, which will give you some views of the construction zone, including a pair of new bridges under construction.  I turned around where frontage road pavement ended, but the unpaved part of the frontage road may offer additional viewing opportunities.

Looking at the map, there might be other viewing sites I didn't visit, such as where Rang St. Charles (between Route du Golf and 74e Rue) crosses the construction zone.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
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AsphaltPlanet

AsphaltPlanet.ca  Youtube -- Opinions expressed reflect the viewpoints of others.

Fugazi

Quote from: oscar on October 31, 2014, 04:29:40 PM
These two photos were taken from the overpass carrying 20e Rue, between Notre-Dame-des-Pins and St.-Simon-les-Mines, over the A-73 construction zone, viewed to the south then the north.  These is no indication that there will be ramps connecting 20e Rue, or 34e Rue, to A-73.  I'm not aware of any interchanges planned in other places between exit 48 and exit 61, though I didn't do enough poking around to confirm that.
Thanks for the great pictures! According to the project map there should/will be an exit about 500 m north of 20e Rue, connecting with a new segment of Route Petite-Pierrette which will diverge from 20e Rue to the east of A-73. The planned route can actually be seen on Google Maps if you zoom in far enough.

Quote from: oscar on October 31, 2014, 04:29:40 PM

Hmm I wonder what is blanked out on that sign, it looks to me like they're planning for a right turn at the roundabout at some point!

oscar

Quote from: Fugazi on October 31, 2014, 07:57:19 PM
According to the project map there should/will be an exit about 500 m north of 20e Rue, connecting with a new segment of Route Petite-Pierrette which will diverge from 20e Rue to the east of A-73. The planned route can actually be seen on Google Maps if you zoom in far enough.

Hmm.  Maybe this closeup (blown up from part of one of the photos above) shows that interchange under construction?  I'd first thought the bridge was probably just a stream crossing, and even in the closeup it doesn't quite look like a future interchange, but maybe not.



Also interesting that (a) the bridge, and the road beyond it, look like they're only two lanes wide, unless what looks like a center stripe is actually a concrete divider, and (b) the road beyond the bridge looks already paved.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
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Fugazi

Quote from: oscar on October 31, 2014, 04:29:40 PM

I don't know, somehow the above picture matches the map I have better (see below), but it would mean that you have the south- and north-facing pictures mixed. The gravel mounds veering off to the right might be the first signs of a ramp?

For some reason 20e Rue is known here as Route Veilleux.

oscar

Quote from: Fugazi on October 31, 2014, 10:15:59 PM
Quote from: oscar on October 31, 2014, 04:29:40 PM

I don't know, somehow the above picture matches the map I have better (see below), but it would mean that you have the south- and north-facing pictures mixed. The gravel mounds veering off to the right might be the first signs of a ramp?

Re-reviewing my notes, I indeed did switch the north-facing and south-facing photos.  I've revised the OP, and the filenames of the relevant photos, accordingly.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
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vdeane

Quote from: oscar on October 31, 2014, 04:29:40 PM
It would not be silly to extend A-73 south a few km for a full bypass of St.-Georges, but that seems not to be in the cards.
It would be logical.  When A-73 is done as currently planned, not only will thru traffic have to shimmy over, it will have to backtrack due to the routing of QC 204.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Fugazi

Indeed, and the St-Georges bypass as it stands today actually bypasses less than half of the urbanized stretch of R-173.

Chris


oscar

Quote from: Chris on November 11, 2015, 01:25:35 PM
The Saint-Georges - Notre-Dame-des-Pins section (about 5 km) has opened to traffic today.

http://www.enbeauce.com/actualites/faits-divers/279245/autoroute-73-le-troncon-de-notre-dame-des-pins-maintenant-ouvert

Thanks! Note that this doesn't close the entire gap between the St-Georges segment and the rest of A-73. Completion of the rest of A-73 is expected in autumn 2016.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
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vdeane

Looks all screwy on Google Maps.  They show it as single carriageway in some portions, not a freeway in its entirety, open in its entirety, and having an interchange to nowhere (where it currently ends).
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

webfil

Quote from: vdeane on November 11, 2015, 05:21:46 PM
Looks all screwy on Google Maps.  They show it as single carriageway in some portions, not a freeway in its entirety, open in its entirety, and having an interchange to nowhere (where it currently ends).

I did the drawing of this some years ago on MapMaker. I'm surprised that this is published as-is. The  interchange to knowhere is good; a road parallel to 20e rue has been built to accommodate freeway connection, as the latter was deemed unsafe (17% slope, hidden driveways and intersections, narrow ROW that prevents geometry correction)

Duke87

Quote from: vdeane on November 01, 2014, 11:21:56 PM
Quote from: oscar on October 31, 2014, 04:29:40 PM
It would not be silly to extend A-73 south a few km for a full bypass of St.-Georges, but that seems not to be in the cards.
It would be logical.  When A-73 is done as currently planned, not only will thru traffic have to shimmy over, it will have to backtrack due to the routing of QC 204.

Backtracking can be avoided by using 127e Rue instead of QC 204. Google will route you that way if you ask for directions.

But yeah, that's a residential street that's probably going to start seeing some cut-through traffic once the gap is closed.

The green-out on the sign is interesting as an indication that something is planned to the right. Currently, no plans for anything beyond there have been announced (as far as I know). Won't be a full freeway with the roundabout in the way, but traffic counts dwindle enough towards the border that it really doesn't need to be. And Quebec wouldn't hesitate to sign it as A-73 anyway even with intersections.
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

oscar

Quote from: Duke87 on November 15, 2015, 06:33:46 PM
Backtracking can be avoided by using 127e Rue instead of QC 204. Google will route you that way if you ask for directions.

But yeah, that's a residential street that's probably going to start seeing some cut-through traffic once the gap is closed.

And soon thereafter, perhaps a heavy dose of the "traffic calming" shown in my photo upthread from 34e Rue. Or they could get some speed cameras from Beauceville, once that town is bypassed.

Or, more constructively, MTQ could just put a road in what looks like fenced-off future ROW south of the A-73/QC 204 roundabout.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html



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