(Redirected from Autoroute 15 (Quebec))
'Autoroute 15' (also called the 'Decarie Expressway' (English) or 'Autoroute Décarie' (French) between the
Turcot and
Decarie Interchanges in
Montreal and the 'Laurentian Autoroute' (English) 'Autoroute des Laurentides' (French) north of
Autoroute 40) is a
highway in western
Quebec,
Canada. It is currently the only constructed north-south Autoroute to go out of Montreal on both sides (until a new bridge is built to connect both ends of A-25), running from the
United States border at
Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle (where it continues as
Interstate 87) to
Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts with an eventual continuation beyond
Mont-Tremblant. The total length of A-15 is currently 164 km (102 miles), including a short concurrency (4 kilometers/2.5 miles) with Autoroute 40 (Boulevard/Autoroute Métropolitan) that connects the two main sections.
The southern section of A-15 connects the south shore suburbs of
Montreal and is also the primary trade corridor between
New York and Montreal. 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 Montreal. The A-10 splits off almost immediately after crossing the bridge to head into downtown Montreal 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
Decarie Interchange (''échangeur Décarie'') with the A-40 at the point where it turns from the
Trans-Canada into the Metropolitan Expressway.
After its concurrency with A-40, the northern section of A-15 is the main
freeway route to the
Laurentians until it downgrades to
Route 117. It also links up to the northern suburbs of Montreal, as well as provides a connection to the
A-440 and the
A-50 in
Mirabel. It was opened in the 1960s as a
toll road, although the tolls were later removed. 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
Saint-Jovite 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.
The route is also connected to
Autoroute 30 in
Candiac which will be completed to
Autoroute 20 in 2009 providing a quicker access to the south shore of Montreal, to southern communities located alongside Highway 15 and to the US-Canadian border in
Lacolle. It will also give a quicker access from there to areas west of Montreal and also
Ottawa and
Gatineau.
Exit list
| Location | # | Destinations | Notes |
|---|
| Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle | 1 | Montée Glass, Montée Guay |
| 6 | |
| 11 | Montée Henrysburg |
| 13 | Chemin Murray | Southbound exit only |
| Saint-Patrice-de-Sherrington, Saint-Jacques-le-Mineur | 21 | |
| Saint-Édouard | 29 | Saint-Édouard, Saint-Jacques |
| Saint-Mathieu | 38 | Saint-Mathieu, Saint-Philippe |
| Candiac | 42 | | South end of Route 132 overlap |
| 44 | Boulevard Montcalm - Candiac |
| 45 | | Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| La Prairie | 46 | Boulevard Salaberry - La Prairie |
| 47 | Rue Saint-Henri - La Prairie | Northbound exit and entrance |
| 47 | Parc de la Marina | Southbound exit and entrance |
| Brossard | 50 | Boulevard Matte |
| 51 | Boulevard Rivard | Southbound exit is via exit 50 |
| 51 | Rue Riviera | Southbound exit and entrance |
| 52 | Boulevard Rome |
| | North end of Route 132 overlap; south end of A-20 overlap |
| Boulevard Marie-Victorin | Exits only |
| , Vermont | South end of A-10 overlap |
| Champlain Bridge over the Saint Lawrence River |
|---|
| Montreal | ||
| 57 | ÃŽle de Soeurs |
| 58 | | North end of A-10 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| 60 | |
| 61 | Avenue Atwater, Rue Saint-Patrick |
| 62 | Boulevard de La Vérendrye - Verdun |
| 63 | , Toronto | North end of A-20 overlap; signed as exits 63-E (east) and 63-O (west) southbound |
| 64 | |
| 66 | Chemin Côte Saint-Luc, Chemin Queen-Mary |
| 69 | Rue Jean-Talon, Rue de la Savane, Avenue Van Horne |
| 70-O | , Ottawa | South end of A-40/TCH overlap |
| 67 | |
| 68 | Rue Stinson, Chemin Rockland, Boulevard de L'Acadie |
| 1-E | |
| 2 | Chemin Côte-Vertu - Saint-Laurent |
| 2 | Boulevard de L'Acadie | Northbound exit and entrance |
| 3 | Boulevard Henri-Bourassa | No northbound exit |
| 4 | Rue de Salaberry | Signed as exits 4-E (east) and 4-O (west) southbound |
| Médéric Martin Bridge over the Rivière des Prairies |
|---|
| Laval | ||
| 7 | Boulevard de la Concorde, Boulevard Cartier, Boulevard Notre Dame |
| 8 | | Southbound exit is via exit 10 |
| 10 | |
| 14 | | Signed as exits 14-N (north) and 14-S (south) southbound |
| 16 | Boulevard Sainte-Rose |
| Rivière des Mille Îles |
|---|
| Boisbriand | ||
| 19 | |
| Boisbriand, Sainte-Thérèse | 20 | | Signed as exits 20-E (east) and 20-O (west) |
| 23 | Rue Saint-Charles - Mirabel, Saint-Augustin |
| Mirabel, Blainville | 25 | Blainville |
| Mirabel | 31 | Mirabel, Saint-Janvier, Sainte-Monique |
| 35 | |
| 39 | |
| Saint-Jérôme | 41 | Rue Brière |
| 43 | Saint-Jérôme, Bellefeuille, Saint-Colomban | Signed as exits 43-E (east) and 43-O (west) |
| 45 | |
| 51 | Aire de Service La Porte du Nord (rest area) |
| Prévost | 55 | Prévost | Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs | 57 | Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs | Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| 58 | Chemin Avila - Piedmont |
| Saint-Sauveur | 60 | |
| Sainte-Adèle | 64 | Chemin du Mont-Gabriel |
| 67 | | Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| 69 | |
| 72 | Montée à Séraphin, Chemin du Mont-Sauvage - Sainte-Adèle | Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| Val-Morin | 76 | | Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| Val-David | 80 | 7e Rang - Val-David | Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts | 83 | | Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| 86 | |
| 88 | Rue Demontigny | Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| 89 | |
2000 Overpass Collapse
On
June 18,
2000, the southern portion of the Boulevard du Souvenir
overpass, which crosses the Autoroute, collapsed into the roadway, killing one and injuring two when cars were crushed underneath the structure. Sixteen
beams weighing about 70 tons each fell. The highway was closed for several days while workers removed the fallen debris. The remains of the structure were later demolished as well for safety reasons according to then Quebec Transport Minister
Guy Chevrette. A new overpass was built less than three years later. A similar incident occurred on September 30, 2006 also in
Laval, on
Autoroute 19 where five were killed.
The overpass was under construction at the time the incident occurred. The company in charge of the project was
Beaver Ridge, a company that was under bankruptcy protection and was without a construction license for about 4 months. Dessau-Soprin was an engineering firm that was supervising the project operations.
[1] [2]
[3]
The city of
Laval affirmed that there discoveries prior to the collapsed that there were problems with some of the beams of the overpass but haven't mentioned the exact nature of it. Beaver Ridge president
Mario D'Errico told
Le Devoir that the collapse was caused by a rupture of one of the beams which was later confirmed by
Transports Quebec employee citing an instability of one of them which caused the collapse of every one on the south side. Generally, beams are fixed together in the form of an X.
[4] [5]
Inspectors from the Commission de la sante et de la securite du Quebec (CSST) noticed some irregularities in the workplace several months before the incident.The
CSST blamed Beaver Ridge for security flaws and had demanded changes in regards to the beam and
formwork structures . In a report published in 2003, they had also discovered that there were communication problems at the site.
[6] [7]
Public audiences started in late 2000 with
Coroner Gilles Perron in charge of the case. After the inquest, Beaver Ridge was severely blamed for constructions flaws. In 2003, an engineer had mentioned that he a presented incomplete and inadequate plans for the project. No criminal charges were laid in the case.
[8].
Soon after the Souvenir incident, a study by the
Montreal Gazette along with
Transports Quebec and the City of
Montreal discovered that several overpasses of the
Décarie Expressway were in poor condition
[9] which required extensive repairs and renovations during the following years.
1987 flash flood event
On
July 14,
1987, a sudden torrential downpour caused by an HP
supercell thundertstorm dumped over 100 millimetres (4 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 was nearly 4 meters deep on the roadway. Over 300 vehicles were abandoned when they were submerged. 2 people were killed by the storm
[10] including one on the Expressway.
On
July 5,
2005, another torrential downpour flooded portions of the Expressway after several manhole covers blew over.
[11]
External links
★
A-15 at Exitlists.com
★
A-15 at Quebec Autoroutes