Quebec Autoroute 31

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Autoroute 31

Autoroute Antonio-Barrette
A-31 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Transports Québec
Length14 km[1][2] (8.7 mi)
Existed1966[2]–present
Major junctions
South end A-40 / R-131 in Lavaltrie
North end R-131 / R-158 in Joliette
Location
CountryCanada
ProvinceQuébec
Major citiesJoliette, Lavaltrie, Saint-Thomas
Highway system
A-30 A-35

Autoroute 31 (A-31) is an Autoroute in the region of Lanaudière in Quebec. Constructed in 1966, A-31 primarily links Joliette with A-40 and in turn to Montreal, Trois-Rivières, and other points served by Quebec's autoroute system. A-31 is only 14 km (8.7 mi) long, making it one of the shortest autoroutes in the province. It is multiplexed with Route 131 for its entire length.

A-31 carries the name Autoroute Antonio-Barrette, named for a politician from Joliette who briefly served as Premier of Quebec in 1960.

Route description

A-31 begins just south of its interchange with A-40 in Lavaltrie. Motorists exiting A-40 can choose to head north on A-31/Route 131 or south on Route 131 alone to Lavaltrie's city centre. The A-31/A-40 interchange has an unusual configuration, built to accommodate tollbooths that were dismantled.

The freeway runs through farmland for much of its length, with exits at km 2, km 7 and km 12 to serve local roads.

A-31 ends at km 15 at a cloverleaf interchange with Route 158. Plans for Quebec's autoroute system initially called for A-31 to meet A-50 at this interchange. Anticipating this outcome, Route 158 in the immediate vicinity of the interchange was constructed as a limited-access highway and signed as A-50. Once plans to extend the A-50 east of the A-15 were abandoned in the 1980s, this stretch of highway was redesignated Route 158. A series of deadly accidents on Route 158 prompted a 2014 petition drive to reconstruct the highway to Autoroute standards and return the designation of A-50.[3]

Motorists exiting A-31 at km 15 may continue on Route 158 west to Saint-Esprit, Route 158 east to Berthierville, or Route 131 north to Saint-Félix-de-Valois. Past this interchange, A-31 ends and becomes Boulevard Dollard, which continues into downtown Joliette.

Exit list

RCMLocationkm[4]miExitDestinationsNotes
D'AutrayLavaltrie0.00.0 R-131 south – LavaltrieSouthern terminus of concurrency with R-131
1 A-40 / Rang Saint-François – Québec, MontréalPartial at-grade intersection; A-40 exit 22
1.62.62Rang Saint-Henri / Rang du Point-du-Jour
JolietteSaint-Thomas7.311.77Saint-Thomas, Saint-Paul
11.919.212Rue Ernest-Harnois / Rue Nazaire-LaurinNorthbound exit and entrance
Joliette13.421.614 R-131 north / R-158 – Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Berthierville, Saint-JérômeNorthern terminus of concurrency with R-131; signed as exits 14E (east) and 14O (west)
14.022.5Boulevard Dollard / Rue Calixa-Lavalleé / Rue Joseph-Arthur – Joliette Centre-VilleRoundabout; continuation beyond R-158
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. ^ Ministère des transports, "Distances routières", page (?), Les Publications du Québec, 2005
  2. ^ a b "Répertoire des autoroutes du Québec". Transports Québec. Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  3. ^ Ferland, Mathieu (24 July 2014). "Une pétition circule pour modifier la route 158". Le Journal de Joliette. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  4. ^ Google (April 17, 2023). "Quebec Autoroute 31" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved April 17, 2023.

External links