Quebec Autoroute 720

Infobox road
province=QC
type=Autoroute
route=720
highway_name = Autoroute 720
marker_

alternate_name = Ville-Marie Expressway
length_km = 8.5
direction_a = West
direction_b = East
starting_terminus =
junction = in downtown Montreal
ending_terminus = Notre Dame St. in downtown Montreal
cities = Montreal
established = 1972
system = City highway
previous_type=A
previous_route=640
next_type=A
next_route=740

Autoroute 720 (or A-720, known as the Ville-Marie Expressway (English) or Autoroute Ville-Marie (French) is a spur route of Autoroute 20. Part of this multilane highway runs underground (below-grade) through downtown Montreal. Its western end starts at the Turcot Interchange, a junction with Autoroute 15 and Autoroute 20. Its eastern terminus is at the Jacques Cartier Bridge (Route 134) where the highway merges with Notre-Dame Street.

A-720's tunneled section begins from the west at Rue de la Montagne/Atwater Avenue (Exit 4) and remains underground to its current eastern end, except for a short section between Bleury St. and Saint-Laurent St. The tunnelled section west of this gap is known as Ville-Marie Tunnel, and the section east of it is known as Viger Tunnel. However, locals regard both tunnels as one and the same, and the term "Ville-Marie Tunnel" is often used to refer to both tunnels at once.

Future plans from the provincial transport ministry (Le ministère des Transports du Québec, or MTQ) are to extend this tunnel to Autoroute 25 at its Souligny Avenue interchange. The right-of-way has existed since the original layout of the 720, and buildings along the extension were demolished at that time, even though the 720 was not completed due to cost constraints. The citizens and government of Montreal would instead convert the portion of Notre Dame east of the Jacques Cartier bridge into a six-lane "urban boulevard", instead of a sunken limited access expressway. It is currently an undivided four-lane city street. It was originally envisioned that Autoroute 20 would extend from the Turcot Interchange, along the route of the 720, to the Lafontaine Tunnel.

The Autoroute Ville-Marie designation is named after the downtown borough of Ville-Marie, through which the expressway is routed

In 2007, working crews for Transports Quebec discovered major cracks in a support pillar and closed several lanes of the expressway. Transports Quebec announced on August 10, 2007, major repair projects for a large section of the Expressway west of the Ville-Marie tunnel. [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/08/10/commuter-traffic.html] In addition, the full reconstruction of the Turcot Interchange in the next several years will also affect portions of the 720.

Interchanges from West to East

* *Exit number not signed, based on kilometre post

Looking east

External links

* [http://www.exitlists.com/exitlists/lists/autoroutes/A720.html A-720 at Exitlists.com]
* [http://webfil_92.tripod.com/autoroutes_en/id26.html A-720 at Quebec Autoroutes]
* [http://www.inforoutiere.qc.ca/fr/carte_routiere/index.asp Transports Quebec Map] fr icon