Quebec Autoroute 55

Autoroute 55 shield

Autoroute 55
Autoroute Joseph-Armand Bombardier
Autoroute de l'Énergie
Route information
Maintained by Transports Québec
Length: 247.0 km[1][2] (153.5 mi)
Existed: 1964[2] – present
Major junctions
South end: I91 in Stanstead, Quebec
 

A-10 in Magog
A-10, A-410, A-610 in Sherbrooke
A-20 (TCH) in Drummondville
A-955 in Sainte-Eulalie
A-30, Route 132 in Bécancour

A-40, Route 138 in Trois-Rivières
North end: Route 155 in Shawinigan, Quebec
Highway system

Quebec provincial highways

A-50A-70

Autoroute 55 (also called Autoroute de l'Énergie north of the Autoroute 20 and Autoroute Joseph-Armand Bombardier south of it) is an important north-south Autoroute and the only one running in that direction in central Quebec. It is the longest north-south Autoroute, beginning as the continuation of I-91 at the Canada-United States border near Stanstead and continuing to Shawinigan, where it downgrades to Route 155. The total length of A-55 is currently 247 km (153.5 mi) long, including concurrencies with Autoroutes 10, 20 and 40.

This Autoroute connects the mid-sized communities of Sherbrooke, Drummondville, Trois-Rivières and Shawinigan and the smaller communities in between. The most notable feature on A-55 is the Laviolette Bridge between Trois-Rivières and Bécancour, which is one of the longest bridges in Quebec and in Canada.

A-55 had a short "gap" between Bécancour and Drummondville which was under construction and it was completed in October 2006. The gap results from Transports Quebec's original intention of bringing A-55 southeast towards Victoriaville along what is now Autoroute 955 before shifting southwest to rejoin existing A-55 near Richmond. However, the plans changed in the 1970s and the present routing was chosen. The southern section was originally supposed to be Autoroute 51 which was intended to continue to the planned extension of Autoroute 30 in Pierreville. A-55 was signed along Route 155 (which is not an Autoroute-standard highway) until the new route was completed.

All of the southern portion of A-55 became a full four-lane freeway by the end of October 2006. The gap being filled in the northern portion will initially be a two-lane freeway for about 20 km (12.4 mi), but it is intended to ultimately be four lanes.

The designation Autoroute Joseph-Armand Bombardier is in honour of Quebec businessman Joseph-Armand Bombardier, who lived in Valcourt, near where A-55 passes and who invented the snowmobile there. His company, Bombardier Inc., started by building snowmobiles and eventually grew into a major international manufacturer of transit vehicles and aircraft.

The designation Autoroute de l'Énergie means "Energy Highway", since it provides access to the Gentilly Nuclear Generating Station in Bécancour and the hydroelectric facilities in Shawinigan and the Haut-Saint-Maurice area, although this section north of A-30 is likely to remain at its comparatively short length to Shawinigan for the foreseeable future.

Exit list

RCM or ET Location No. Destinations Notes
Continues into Vermont as Interstate 91
Memphrémagog Stanstead Route 247 At-grade intersection
2 Route 143 Stanstead
Chemin Curtis At-grade intersection
Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley 21 Route 141 Ayer's Cliff, Coaticook
29 Route 108 Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, North Hatley, Lennoxville
Magog 32 Rue-Saint-Patrice, Boulevard Industriel
33 Route 112 Magog, Omerville
34/121 A-10 Montréal Signed as exits 34-E (East) and 34-O (West) northbound / Signed as 121 southbound / South end of A-10 overlap
123 Route 112 to Route 249 Magog, Omerville, Saint-Denis-de-Brompton
Sherbrooke Sherbrooke Route 112 west to A-10 west / A-55 south Magog, Montréal Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
128 Route 112 (Boulevard Bourque) Deauville, Rock Forest, Sherbrooke
133 Rock Forest, Saint-Élie-d'Orford
137 Route 220 (Boulevard Industriel) Saint-Élie-d'Orford
140 A-410 Sherbrooke
141 Chemin Saint-Joseph
143 A-610 east / Route 112 east Fleurimont, East Angus, Lac-Mégantic North end of A-10 overlap
58 Route 222 Saint-Denis-de-Brompton, Valcourt
60 Bromptonville
Le Val-Saint-François Windsor 71 Route 249 Windsor, Saint-Grégoire-de-Greenlay, Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton Signed as exits 71N (north) and 71S (south) northbound
Melbourne 85 Route 243 Racine, Valcourt, Melbourne
88 Route 116 Acton Vale, Richmond, Asbestos
Ulverton 98 Chemin Mooney
Drummond L'Avenir 103 Lefebvre, L'Avenir, Ulverton, Durham-Sud
Drummondville 111 Route Caya
116 Route 139 Wickham, Acton Vale, Granby, Saint-Nicéphore
122 Boulevard Jean-de-Brébeuf - Drummondville
125 Route 122 Saint-Germain-de-Grantham, Drummondville
128 A-20 (TCH) west Montréal South end of A-20/TCH overlap
See Autoroute 20
Nicolet-Yamaska Sainte-Eulalie 145 A-20 (TCH) east / A-955 south / Route 161 Québec, Saint-Valère Signed as exits 145-O (west) and 145-E (east) southbound / North end of A-20/TCH overlap
Saint-Wenceslas 153 9e Rang - Saint-Léonard-d'Aston, Saint-Wenceslas
Saint-Célestin (Municipality) Route 226 Saint-Célestin (Village) at-grade intersection
Bécancour Bécancour Rang Prince at-grade intersection
Chemin Forest - Précieux-Sang, Quebec at-grade intersection
Chemin Thibodeau at-grade intersection
Route 132 Saint-Grégoire, Nicolet, Wôlinak at-grade intersection
176 A-30 / Route 132 Bécancour, Sainte-Angèle
Laviolette Bridge over the St. Lawrence River
Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières 181 Route 138 (Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Boulevard Gene-H.-Kruger)
182 A-40 east Trois-Rivières South end of A-40 overlap
183 Boulevard Jean-XXIII
186 A-40 west / Boulevard des Forges Montréal * North end of A-40 overlap
* Access to Boulevard des Forges via Boulevard des Chenaux and Boulevard du Rochon, approximately a 3 kilometre drive from A-55
191 Boulevard Industriel, Boulevard Saint-Michel
196 Boulevard des Forges - Saint-Thomas-de-Caxton
Maskinongé Saint-Étienne-des-Grès
202 Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, Saint-Barnabé
206 Saint-Boniface
Saint-Boniface 211 Route 153 Saint-Boniface, Shawinigan
Shawinigan Shawinigan 216 Rue Burrill
217 Route 351 (Rue Garnier) Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc
220 Boulevard Hubert-Biermans, Boulevard Vallée-du-Parc
223 5e avenue, 25e rue
226 8e rue, 4e rue - Grand-Mère, Saint-Jean des Piles
Continues as Route 155

Gallery

References

  1. Ministère des transports, "Distances routières", page (?), Les Publications du Québec, 2005
  2. 1 2 "Répertoire des autoroutes du Québec" (in French). Transports Québec. Retrieved 2008-02-23.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

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