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Quebec's Highways

Started by Stojko, February 04, 2010, 06:56:42 PM

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oscar

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, 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.

-- Plans have been approved for a northward extension of A-25 to Sainte-Julienne. Work is scheduled to begin in 2022.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html


Richard3

Quote from: oscar on November 20, 2020, 04:46:55 PM
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, 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.

-- Plans have been approved for a northward extension of A-25 to Sainte-Julienne. 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.
- How many people are working in here?
- About 20%.

- What Quebec highways and Montreal Canadiens have in common?
- Rebuilding.

States/provinces/territories I didn't went in: AB, AK, AL, BC, HI, KS, LA, MB, MN, MS, MT, ND, NL, NT, NU, RI, SD, SK, WA, WI, YT.  Well, I still have some job to do!

kphoger

Quote from: Richard3 on November 23, 2020, 11:39:29 AM
- 1,5 G$

$1.5 Billion

(For those who didn't know.  I had to look it up myself.)
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

Richard3

Quote from: mrsman on August 12, 2020, 04:50:50 PM
This may be a silly question, but why are the road signs bilingual in Ontario, but only in French in Quebec?

In some provinces, like Ontario, and Nova Scotia, road signs are bilingual in areas where strong french-speaking communities are present. In other provinces, like New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, all signage is pretty much bilingual.

The case of province of Quebec is particular.  As cbeach40 said, there's many issues about that situation, but essentially, on freeways, signs are bilingual on Federal-owned roadways, like Champlain and Jacques-Cartier Bridges, and Pierre-Elloitt-Trudeau Airport.  About everything else is in french only.  On smaller signage, there is some exceptions, like into First Nations reserves, where some local languages are used.  I always remember when the MTQ renovated R-132/138 in Kahnawake; they rebuilt it with 4-lanes undivided, plus a bus-reserved lane eastbound.  Go figure why, the bus-reserved lane signage was in French, in Mohawk language, but not in English. Knowing that the Mohawk people use mostly English and Mohawk languages, it may be almost insulting for those people.
- How many people are working in here?
- About 20%.

- What Quebec highways and Montreal Canadiens have in common?
- Rebuilding.

States/provinces/territories I didn't went in: AB, AK, AL, BC, HI, KS, LA, MB, MN, MS, MT, ND, NL, NT, NU, RI, SD, SK, WA, WI, YT.  Well, I still have some job to do!

Richard3

- How many people are working in here?
- About 20%.

- What Quebec highways and Montreal Canadiens have in common?
- Rebuilding.

States/provinces/territories I didn't went in: AB, AK, AL, BC, HI, KS, LA, MB, MN, MS, MT, ND, NL, NT, NU, RI, SD, SK, WA, WI, YT.  Well, I still have some job to do!

Alps

Quote from: Richard3 on November 23, 2020, 11:39:29 AM
Quote from: oscar on November 20, 2020, 04:46:55 PM
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, 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.

-- Plans have been approved for a northward extension of A-25 to Sainte-Julienne. 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.
I smell some road meets coming up!

Stephane Dumas

The final gap of A-410 will open soon but some signs doesn't make everyone happy from what I saw on this French article. https://www.latribune.ca/actualites/sherbrooke/suivre-les-indications-de-coaticook-pour-trouver-sherbrooke-6764cef8301a6f8646d21609c3137b57

Ketchup99

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.

Stephane Dumas

Quote from: Ketchup99 on December 03, 2020, 01:51:13 PM
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.

There was talk about it for years, I don't have great hope about it....  :(

cbeach40

Quote from: Ketchup99 on December 03, 2020, 01:51:13 PM
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 would imagine they're waiting to see what happens with Ontario's 110 km/h trial (which is about halfway done now). When the neighbour with whom they have the most ties ups their limit - particularly on one of the main roads between the two provinces - it would be surprising if they didn't at least consider the same.
and waterrrrrrr!

Stephane Dumas

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


Richard3

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on December 12, 2020, 05:52:25 PM
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

That was almost 45 years ago. Today, except for connecting A-955 to A-20 up north, nothing more was done. It looks like the Drummondville lobby won the battle.

It's funny to read the small article, saying that June 18th was the fifth anniversary of the A-55 (called at that time "Autoroute Transquebecoise") building beginning announcement, in Victoriaville, made then by two ministers, Bernard Pinard and Gilles Masse. That new north-south axis, that was supposed to connect Stanstead, Sherbrooke, Windsor, Asbestos (official name-changing process of the town, from Asbestos to Val-des-Sources, is to be completed by the end of 2021), Victoriaville, Trois-Rivieres, Shawinigan and La Tuque (about halfway between Trois-Rivieres and the Lac-Saint-Jean area), was being a priority for the Victoriaville-Asbestos area development.  The author, Jean-Luc Boutin, continued by saying that despite the hard work of a board, with Me Pierre Denault as chairman, the Trans-Quebec Highway, in the region, is just connecting St. Albert to St. Samuel, and in the hard way. The section between St. Samuel and A-20 was to open about two years later, in 1978.

Boutin closed his article by saying that considering the importance of developing that north-south axis, instead of the already developed east-west axis created with Trans-Canada Highway, and the importance to connect many secondary Quebec regions together, in order to slow down the centralization of the economic and industrial development, we want to know when the Quebec government will really and seriously act in this way.

The fact is that between Richmond and Drummondville, along the former A-51, now the actual A-55, there's no real towns big enough to support some industrial development.  On the former A-55 axis, there are Asbestos and Warwick, that have quite interesting industrial parks.

But don't worry.  The Quebec government just adopted Bill 66, leading the way to begin, among other works, the twinning of the A-55 between Becancour and A-20, as soon as 2022.
- How many people are working in here?
- About 20%.

- What Quebec highways and Montreal Canadiens have in common?
- Rebuilding.

States/provinces/territories I didn't went in: AB, AK, AL, BC, HI, KS, LA, MB, MN, MS, MT, ND, NL, NT, NU, RI, SD, SK, WA, WI, YT.  Well, I still have some job to do!

Fugazi

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on December 12, 2020, 05:52:25 PM
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

The same spot in 2018:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@46.0075829,-72.0819465,3a,37.5y,131.19h,88.99t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgs8W_Exn8zGRU4nwxuIq5w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Stephane Dumas


Stephane Dumas


MikeTheActuary


Stephane Dumas

This might be close to fictionnal highways but one guy on Skyscraperpage forum imagined which path an upgraded PQ-117 from Labelle to Mont-Laurier will use.
https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=237363&page=10
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1qnwBirasGfPMgoIQ4n7Yqa8FQHkbGBlF&ll=46.31249588240957%2C-74.7471927086426&z=13

Stephane Dumas

A old news from earlier December I saw via a post on Skyscraperpage about the proposed Quebec-Levis tunnel. The old ramps from the Dufferin-Montmorency autoroute who was demolished might be rebuilt to link with the proposed tunnel from what I saw on that article.
https://www.fm93.com/nouvelles/politique/355027/primeur-un-acces-direct-au-3e-lien-par-dufferin-montmorency

froggie

^ If I'm reading the FM93 map correctly, the tunnel would also tie directly into A-973?

Stephane Dumas

Quote from: froggie on January 02, 2021, 09:34:39 AM
^ If I'm reading the FM93 map correctly, the tunnel would also tie directly into A-973?


Yes, the tunnel will link with A-973/PQ-175 as well.

webfil

#495
The article is not quite right on the fact that the tunnel was supposed to serve a new bridge over the Saint Lawrence, but since this media is advocating for a new link, factual info here is just a mere illusion...

At the time of the construction, the tunnel's unused ramps are likely a provision for a rapid Parliament hill arterial towards Saint-Cyrille [René-Lévesque] boulevard and Saint-Jean/D'Aiguillon streets, through loop ramps, following recommandations from the Vandry-Jobin report. There have been talks over reusing these ramps as tunnel entrances for a tunnel leading to an eventual new bridge, but it's clear that was not the purpose of the ramps. It would have been total nonsense in 1970 to build a tunnel linking towns east of downtown to suburbs south of the river.

However, the ovebuilt C/D system between Capucins and D'Estimauville is more likely to have been designed with an eventual new bridge in mind, linking A-440 in the area of Henri-Bourassa boulevard to A-20 in the vicinity of Monseigneur-Bourget interchange and bearing number A-520. The ramps would have drained traffic from Haute-Ville and Basse-Ville towards the bridge, not only from Lévis to Beauport and vice-versa ― and it still does not make sense with actual and projected traffic figures to do so, mainly because you have tens of thousands of jobs downtown, and tens of thousands of homes in Beauport and Lévis.




Stephane Dumas


webfil

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on January 05, 2021, 04:50:00 PM
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/
https://www.lesoleil.com/archives/une-autoroute-sous-la-ville-quebec-metropole-millionnaire-de-beton-12c2e58141e6fa0c912d3ad2074d9ac8
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.

The Québec-Lévis tunnels studied in 1968 are rather Dorchester+Couronne/Lévis or Marie-de-l'Incarnation/Champlain/Lévis, not Dufferin-Montmorency/Lévis, but the group of engineers recommended a bridge just east of downtown over tunnels. Official press release : http://www.bv.transports.gouv.qc.ca/mono/0573398.pdf

Stephane Dumas

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/

As I mentionned in that blog, about the 4-lanes divided highway orphan gap on PQ-148 between Luskville and Heyworth in Pontiac county. Maybe PQ-148 could had got an upgrade similar to PQ-117 from Ste-Agathe-des-Monts (where A-15 ends) to Labelle with interchange at the most important intersections or agglomerations like Shawville, Bryson and Fort-Coulonge.

webfil

#499
Quote from: Stephane Dumas on January 10, 2021, 05:59:16 PM
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/

This routing is undated, though it is likely ulterior to the construction of the 4-lane section in Pontiac, as a 1979 aerial image already shows a divided highway in that area.

It's interesting to note that a-50 has known multiple planned routings and truncations along it history, with stubs and artifacts that remain visible (analogously to A-30) :

  • The Gréber plan proposed 2 expressways serving Hull, with one following from the actual A-50 routing north of Gatineau : Gréber boulevard, Maisonneuve, Portage, Alexandre-Taché and McConnell, onward to the western townships; the other would have bypassed Hull via pont Alonzo-Wright, promenade de la Gatineau, Saint-Raymond with connection to Ottawa expressway network at Chaudière bridge
  • An undated map I have (though it is likely in the late 60's) shows a possible expressway along old light rail line (actual boulevard Lucerne) connecting with a northern bypass around Deschênes corridor;
  • The 1971 autoroute master plan has provisions for a routing of A-50 more or less along actual Allumettières Boulevard a bit north of the western section, in fact), whereas A-450 would have bypassed Hull and would have followed the Deschênes corridor.
The latter case shows an western end of A-50 at the western limit of the Communauté régionale de l'Outaouais (actual Gatineau), and shows on the map a theoretical long-term possible extension along R-148, spanning westerly not further than Bristol (I doubt it was ever planned to serve Pembroke via the Québec autoroute network, though the kilometre posting proves me wrong). In the same 1971 document, A-15 and A-25 long-term extensions were shown the same way reaching Mont-Tremblant and Saint-Donat, and both R-117 and R-125 south of these destinations were also eventually upgraded to 4-lane divided highways, akin to the short stretch of R-148 around Luskville.

Funny note : 1976 Topographical Map shows this strectch of highway numbered as "50".



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