Quebec Autoroute 15
Autoroute 15 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route Transcanadienne | ||||
| Autoroute Décarie Autoroute des Laurentides | ||||
 | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Transports Québec | ||||
| Length | 164 km[1][2] (102 mi) | |||
| Existed | 1958 [2][3]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  I-87 in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle | |||
  A-30 / A-930 in Candiac  A-10 / A-20 in Brossard A-10 in Montréal A-20 / R-136 in Montréal  A-40 (TCH) in Montréal A-440 in Laval A-640 in Boisbriand A-50 in Mirabel | ||||
| North end |  R-117 (TCH) in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | Canada | |||
| Province | Québec | |||
| Major cities | Brossard, Montréal, Laval, Blainville, Saint-Jérôme | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Autoroute 15 (also called the Décarie Expressway (English) or Autoroute Décarie (French) between the Turcot and Décarie Interchanges in Montréal and the Laurentian Autoroute (English) or Autoroute des Laurentides (French) north of Autoroute 40) is a highway in western Quebec, Canada. It was, until the extension of Autoroute 25 was opened in 2011, the only constructed north-south autoroute to go out of Montréal on both sides. A-15 begins at the end of Interstate 87 at the United States border at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle and extends via Montréal to Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts with an eventual continuation beyond Mont-Tremblant. The total length of A-15 is currently 164 km (101.9 mi), including a short concurrency (4 km or 2.5 mi) with Autoroute 40 (Boulevard/Autoroute Métropolitan) that connects the two main sections. This is one of the few autoroutes in Quebec that does not have any spinoff highways.
Road description
Southern section
The southern section of A-15 connects the south shore suburbs of Montréal and is also the primary trade corridor route between Montréal and New York City linking Quebec Autoroute 15 to Interstate 87 at the Canada-United States border at the Champlain-St. Bernard de Lacolle Border Crossing. This was the former Route 9, and connected with US 9 on the western shore of Lake Champlain. In Brossard, it joins up with A-10 and A-20 across the Champlain Bridge into Montréal. The A-10 splits off almost immediately after crossing the bridge to head into downtown Montréal at the Bonaventure Expressway and the A-20 splits off shortly after at the Turcot Interchange (échangeur Turcot), leaving the A-15 to continue northward as Autoroute Décarie until the Décarie Interchange (échangeur Décarie) with the A-40 at the point where it turns from the Trans-Canada into the Metropolitan Expressway.
The route is also connected to Autoroute 30 in Candiac which was completed to Autoroute 20 in 2012 providing quick access to the south shore of Montréal, to southern communities located alongside Autoroute 15 and to the Canada–US border in Lacolle. It will also give quicker access from there to areas west of Montréal and also Ottawa and Gatineau.
Décarie Autoroute
The Décarie Autoroute is a sunken highway between the northbound and southbound lanes of Decarie Boulevard from the Metropolitan Autoroute at its northern end to Monkland Avenue and the Villa Maria Metro station at its southern end. It was built on a wide expanse of vacant land, donated to the city by the Décarie estate on the condition that a streetcar line would be established. The decommissioning of the streetcar system in 1959 left the right-of-way as an obvious choice for a highway and so the Décarie Autoroute was dug there. South of Queen Mary Road, however, were a significant number of houses that were demolished.
To avoid demolishing Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Church, the highway makes a slight westerly jog below Côte-Saint-Luc Road and runs through a short tunnel, before emerging between Addington and Botrel Streets and running down to Sherbrooke Street and Saint Jacques Street, where it spectacularly goes from being below the ground to well above the ground as it intersects with Autoroute 20 and Route 136 in the infamous Turcot Interchange. Following the conversion from streetcar line to the highway, the Décarie estate sued the city but was unable to prevail because it did not document its case well enough for the nevertheless sympathetic court.
Decarie Boulevard
Decarie Boulevard itself continues; from Monkland Avenue south to Saint Jacques Street past the McGill University Health Centre Glen Campus superhospital; and from Autoroute 40 north into Montréal past Du College Station and Côte-Vertu Station/Norgate shopping centre to Poirier Street. Between Monkland Avenue and A-40, Decarie Boulevard serves as sort of a service road on both sides of the autoroute.
Northern section
After its concurrency with A-40, the northern section of A-15 is the main highway route to the Laurentians or Laurentides, until it downgrades to Route 117. It also links up to the northern suburbs of Montréal, as well as provides a connection to the A-440, A-640 and the A-50 in Mirabel. The first section from A-40 to Saint-Jérôme was opened on August 29, 1959 (source Montréal Star Aug. 29, 1959, page 3) as a toll road, although the tolls were removed in 1985. This section was also the first to be designed as an autoroute in the province. It was named Autoroute Montréal-Laurentides during the 1960s.[4]
Over the next years, it was extended north to Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts as a new connection to touristic and skiing destinations in the Laurentides including in Saint-Sauveur, Sainte-Adèle and Estérel. In the future, it is possible that the A-15 may continue even farther north, past Mont-Tremblant, as Route 117 is already an at-grade expressway with a freeway bypass of Mont-Tremblant completed, and the name Autoroute des Laurentides is also recognized on the freeway bypass (and exit numbers continue). This section is numbered separately from the southern section as if it were a different route. The northern route is also part of the Trans-Canada Highway.
Exit list
Exit numbering resets at the two interchanges with Autoroute 40 in Montréal.
| RCM | Location | km | mi | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Jardins-de-Napierville | Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle | 0.00 | 0.00 | – |     I-87 south (Adirondack Northway) to US 9 south – Albany, New York | Continues into New York |
| Canada–United States border at Champlain–St. Bernard de Lacolle Border Crossing | ||||||
| 1.08 | 1.74 | 1 | Montée Glass / Montée Guay | Also signed as a u-turn | ||
| 3.73 | 2.32 |  Jardins-de-Napierville Rest Stop (Northbound) | ||||
| 6.50 | 10.46 | 6 |  R-202 – Hemmingford, Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Lacolle | |||
| 11.05 | 17.78 | 11 | Montée Henrysburg | |||
| 13.11 | 21.10 | 13 | Montée Murray | Southbound exit only | ||
| Saint-Patrice-de-Sherrington– Saint-Jacques-le-Mineur | 20.91 | 33.65 | 21 |   R-219 / R-221 – Napierville, Saint-Patrice-de-Sherrington | Also serves R-217 | |
| Roussillon | Saint-Édouard | 29.83 | 48.01 | 29 | Saint-Édouard, Saint-Jacques-le-Mineur | Via Montée du Moulin |
| Saint-Mathieu | 38.14 | 61.38 | 38 | Saint-Mathieu, Saint-Philippe | Via Montée Monette | |
| Candiac | 40.73 | 65.55 | 40 | A-30 west (Autoroute de l'Acier) – Pont Honoré-Mercier, Vaudreuil-Dorion | Exit 55 on A-30; opened December 2010 | |
| 42.92 | 69.07 | 42 |  A-930 east to A-30 east / R-132 west – Sorel-Tracy, Québec, Saint-Constant, Sainte-Catherine | South end of R-132 concurrency; shared ramp with exit 40 northbound | ||
| 45.08– 45.73 | 72.55– 73.60 | 44 | Boulevard Montcalm – Candiac | |||
| 45.28 | 72.87 | 45 |  R-134 east (Boulevard Taschereau) – La Prairie | Northbound exit and southbound entrance; R-134 southern terminus | ||
| La Prairie | 45.73– 47.29 | 73.60– 76.11 | 46 | Boulevard Salaberry – La Prairie | ||
| 47.95 | 77.17 | 47 | Rue Saint-Henri – La Prairie | Northbound exit and entrance | ||
| 48.61 | 78.23 | 49 | Rue du Quai | Southbound exit and entrance; to Parc de la Marina | ||
| Longueuil | Brossard | 49.83– 51.20 | 80.19– 82.40 | 50 | Boulevard Matte; Boulevard Rivard | Boulevard Rivard appears on southbound signage |
| 50.71– 52.27 | 81.61– 84.12 | 51 | Boulevard Rivard; Rue Riviera | Boulevard Rivard on northbound signage; Rue Riviera on southbound signage | ||
| 51.71 | 83.22 | 52 | Boulevard Rome | No southbound exit | ||
| 52.91– 54.06 | 85.15– 87.00 | 53 6 |  A-10 east (Autoroute des Cantons-de-l'Est) to A-30 / I-89 – Sherbrooke, Vermont A-20 east (Autoroute René-Lévesque) / R-132 east – Longueuil, Varennes | North end of R-132 concurrency; south end A-10 / A-20 concurrency; northbound signed as exit 53; southbound signed as exit 6; A-10 exit 6; A-20 west exit 75 | ||
| St. Lawrence River | 54.74– 57.62 | 34.01– 35.80 | Pont Champlain | |||
| Montréal | Montréal | 57.90– 58.41 | 93.18– 94.00 | 57 | Boulevard de Île des Sœurs, Chemin de la Pointe Nord | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; signed as 57S for Île des Sœurs and 57N for Chemin de la Pointe Nord |
| 58 | A-10 west – Montréal Centre-ville, Île des Sœurs | Northbound exit and southbound entrance; west end of A-10 concurrency; A-10 exit 5 | ||||
| 71.8 | 115.6 | 60 | To A-10 west / Boulevard Gaétan-Laberge, Rue Wellington – Montréal Centre-ville | A-10 exit 4; southbound access to A-10 west (unsigned) | ||
| 60.76 | 97.78 | 61 | Rue Saint Patrick / Avenue Atwater | |||
| 62.00 | 99.78 | 62 | Boulevard de La Vérendrye / Avenue de l'Église | |||
| 63.58 | 102.32 | 63 |  A-20 west (Autoroute du Souvenir) / R-136 east (Autoroute Ville-Marie) – Centre-Ville, Aéroport P.-E.-Trudeau, Toronto | Turcot Interchange Northern terminus of concurrency with A-20; signed as exits 63E (east) and 63O (west) southbound; A-20 exit 68; R-136 exit 1 | ||
| Southern terminus of Autoroute Décarie | ||||||
| 64.27– 65.02 | 103.43– 104.64 | 64 |  Rue Sherbrooke (R-138) / Rue Saint-Jacques | |||
| 65.38– 67.24 | 105.22– 108.21 | 66 | Chemin Côte-Saint-Luc / Chemin Queen-Mary / Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine | |||
| 68.32– 69.34 | 109.95– 111.59 | 69 | Rue Jean-Talon / Rue de la Savane / Avenue Van Horne / Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine | |||
| 70.50 | 113.46 | 70 66[lower-roman 1] |  A-40 (TCH) west (Autoroute Félix-Leclerc) to A-520 – Aéroport P.-E.-Trudeau, Gatineau, Ottawa | Décarie Interchange A-15 branches east; southern terminus of concurrency with of A-40 | ||
| Boulevard Marcel-Laurin (R-117 north) / Boulevard Décarie | Northbound exit, southbound entrance | |||||
| Northern terminus of Autoroute Décarie | ||||||
| 71.35 | 114.83 | 68[lower-roman 1] | Rue Stinson / Chemin Rockland / Boulevard de L'Acadie | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| 73.00 | 117.48 | 70[lower-roman 1] 1 |  A-40 (TCH) east (Autoroute Métropolitaine) to R-335 (Rue Saint-Denis) / Boulevard Saint-Laurent – Québec | A-15 branches north; northern terminus of concurrency with A-40 | ||
| Boulevard Marcel-Laurin (R-117 north) / Chemin Rockland / Boulevard de L'Acadie | Southbound exit | |||||
| Southern terminus of Trans-Canada Highway designation and Autoroute des Laurentides | ||||||
| 74.25 | 119.49 | 2 | Boulevard de la Côte-Vertu / Boulevard Lebeau | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| Rue Sauvé / Boulevard Henri-Bourassa / Boulevard de L'Acadie | Northbound exit and entrance | |||||
| 75.73 | 121.88 | 3 | Boulevard Henri-Bourassa | Northbound exit is via exit 2 | ||
| 77.22 | 124.27 | 4 | Rue de Salaberry | Signed as exits 4E (east) and 4O (west) southbound; no southbound entrance | ||
| Rivière des Prairies | 78.02– 78.30 | 48.48– 48.65 | Pont Médéric-Martin | |||
| Laval | 79.05– 81.10 | 127.22– 130.52 | 7 | Boulevard Cartier / Boulevard de la Concorde / Boulevard Notre-Dame | Northbound entrance and exit via Le Corbusier Boulevard | |
| 80.19 | 129.05 | 8 | Boulevard Saint-Martin | No direct southbound exit; southbound exit is via exit 10; former R-148 | ||
| 81.93– 84.13 | 131.85– 135.39 | 10 | A-440 (Autoroute Jean-Noël-Lavoie) / Boulevard le Carrefour | Exit 22 on A-440 | ||
| 86.41 | 139.06 | 14 | R-117 (Boulevard Curé Labelle) / Boulevard Dagenais west | Signed as exits 14N (north) and 14S (south) southbound | ||
| 88.47 | 142.38 | 16 | Boulevard Sainte-Rose / Avenue de la Renaissance | |||
| Rivière des Mille Îles | 89.64– 90.64 | 55.70– 56.32 | Gedeon Ouimet Bridge | |||
| Thérèse-De Blainville | Boisbriand | 91.26 | 146.87 | 19 |  R-344 – Boisbriand, Rosemère | |
| Boisbriand– Sainte-Thérèse | 92.81 | 149.36 | 20 |  A-640 to A-13 – Repentigny, Québec, Boisbriand, Saint-Eustache, Sainte-Thérèse, Aéroport P.-E.-Trudeau | Signed as exits 20E (east) and 20O (west); exit 20 on A-640 | |
| 95.66 | 153.95 | 23 | Rue Saint-Charles – Mirabel, Centre-Ville Sainte-Thérèse | |||
| Blainville | 97.75 | 157.31 | 25 | Boulevard de la Seigneurie – Blainville | ||
| Mirabel–Blainville line | 101.20 | 162.87 | 28 | Boulevard Michèle-Bohec / Chemin Notre-Dame – Mirabel, Blainville | ||
| Mirabel | 103.31 | 166.26 | 31 | Rue Charles / Montée Sainte-Marianne | ||
| 107.42 | 172.88 | 35 | A-50 to R-117 (Boulevard Mirabel) – Gatineau, Lachute, Aéroport Mirabel, Saint-Jerome | Exit 292 on A-50 | ||
| 111.58 | 179.57 | 39 |  R-158 / Route-Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier – Sainte-Sophie | |||
| La Rivière-du-Nord | Saint-Jérôme | 113.54 | 182.72 | 41 | Boulevard du Grand-Héron | |
| 115.67 | 186.15 | 43 | Rue De Martigny Ouest – Centre-Ville Saint-Jérôme, Saint-Colomban, Mille-Isles | Signed as exits 43E (east) and 43O (west) | ||
| 117.50 | 189.10 | 45 |  R-117 / R-333 / Boulevard de La Salette – Prévost, Saint-Hippolyte | No direct southbound access to R-117 and R-333 | ||
| 123.91 | 199.41 | 51 | La Porte-du-Nord Service Centre | Accessible in both directions | ||
| Les Pays-d'en-Haut | Prévost | 126.95 | 204.31 | 55 | Prévost | Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs | 129.22 | 207.96 | 57 | R-117 – Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs | No southbound exit | |
| 130.53 | 210.07 | 58 | Chemin Avila – Piedmont | No southbound exit or northbound entrance | ||
| Saint-Sauveur | 133.09 | 214.19 | 60 |  R-364 – Saint-Sauveur, Morin-Heights, Piedmont, Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard | ||
| Sainte-Adèle | 136.67 | 219.95 | 64 | Chemin du Mont-Gabriel | ||
| 139.4 | 224.3 | 67 | R-117 – Centre-Ville Sainte-Adèle | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| 141.61 | 227.90 | 69 |  R-370 (Chemin Pierre-Péladeau) – Sainte-Adèle, Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson, Estérel | |||
| 144.45 | 232.47 | 72 | Chemin du Mont-Sauvage / Montée à Séraphin – Sainte-Adèle | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| Les Laurentides | Val-Morin | 148.12 | 238.38 | 76 | R-117 – Val-Morin, Val-David | Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| Val-David | 152.27 | 245.05 | 80 | Val-David, 7e Rang | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts | 155.65 | 250.49 | 83 |  R-329 south / Montée Alouette – Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| 158.55 | 255.16 | 86 | R-117 – Centre-Ville Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts | |||
| 160.17 | 257.77 | 88 | Rue Demontigny | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| 161.93– 162.98 | 260.60– 262.29 | 89 | R-117 south (Boulevard Morin) / R-329 – Saint-Donat | |||
| – | R-117 (TCH) north (Route Transcanadienne) – Mont-Tremblant | A-15 northern terminus; roadway and Trans-Canada Highway follows R-117 north | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Disasters
On February 19, 2020, white-out conditions caused a pile-up involving more than 200 vehicles in La Prairie, a suburb of Montréal.[5] Two persons died and more than 70 were injured.
On June 18, 2000, the southern portion of the Boulevard du Souvenir overpass in Laval (which crosses over Quebec Autoroute 15), under reconstruction, collapsed into the roadway, killing one and injuring two when cars were crushed underneath the structure. Sixteen beams weighing about 70 tonnes (69 long tons; 77 short tons) each fell. The contractor was faulted for shoddy work. The arched concrete beams were unsecured and tipped over like dominoes, many of them breaking into pieces.
The expressway has also seen flooding. On July 14, 1987, a sudden torrential downpour caused by an HP supercell thunderstorm dumped over 100 millimeters (3.9 inches) of rain in just over one hour across the city. The Décarie Expressway, which is below-grade, was heavily flooded and became a river. At some locations, the water reached a maximum of 3.6 meters (12 feet) in depth on the roadway. Over 300 vehicles were abandoned when they were submerged. Two people were killed by the storm.[6] One 80-year-old man on the Expressway drowned and another one was killed by electrical wires (electrocuted). On July 5, 2005, another torrential downpour flooded portions of the Expressway after several manhole covers blew open from the storm sewers below them being overloaded.[7]
See also
Notes
References
- ^ Ministère des transports, "Distances routières", page (?), Les Publications du Québec, 2005
- ^ a b "Répertoire des autoroutes du Québec". Transports Québec. Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
- ^ 1958 Archived 2006-04-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Autoroute Montréal-Laurentides Archived 2006-04-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Nearly 70 injured as 200 vehicles involved in pile-up in snowy Montréal". the Guardian. 2020-02-19. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
- ^ Environment Canada - Water - Main page Archived 2007-01-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Canoe – Infos – Québec-Canada: 30 millimètres d’eau en deux minutes sur l’autoroute Décarie
External links
- A-15 at motorways-exits.com
- A-15 at Quebec Autoroutes
- Steve Anderson's MontréalRoads.com: Decarie Autoroute (A-15)
- Steve Anderson's MontréalRoads.com: Laurentian Autoroute (A-15)
- Transports Quebec Map
