- Quebec Autoroute 15
-
- Autoroute Décarie, Décarie Autoroute, Décarie Expressway, Quebec Route 9 and Decarie Boulevard redirect here.
Autoroute 15
Autoroute Décarie, Autoroute des Laurentides 
Route information Maintained by Transports Québec Length: 164 km[3][1] (101.9 mi) Existed: 1958 [1][2] – present Major junctions South end: 
I-87 towards Champlain, New York
A-30 in Candiac
A-10 / A-20 / A-720 / A-40 in Montreal
A-440 in Laval
A-640 in Boisbriand
A-50 in MirabelNorth end: 
Route 117 / Route 329 / TCH in Sainte-AgatheLocation Major cities: Candiac, La Prairie, Brossard, Montreal, Laval, Boisbriand, Blainville, Saint-Jérôme, Saint-Sauveur, Sainte-Adèle, Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts Highway system ← 
A-13A-19 
→Autoroute 15 (also called the Décarie Expressway (English) or Autoroute Décarie (French) between the Turcot and Décarie Interchanges in Montreal and the Laurentian Autoroute (English) Autoroute des Laurentides (French) north of Autoroute 40) is a highway in western Quebec, Canada. It was, until May 2011, the only constructed north-south autoroute to go out of Montreal on both sides. A-15 begins at the end of Interstate 87 at the United States border at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle 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/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.
Contents
Road description
Southern section
The southern section of A-15 connects the south shore suburbs of Montreal and is also the primary trade corridor route between Montreal & New York City linking Quebec Autoroute 15 to Interstate 87 at the Canada-United States border. 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 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 will be completed to Autoroute 20 in 2009 providing a quicker access to the south shore of Montreal, to southern communities located alongside Autoroute 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.
Autoroute Décarie
- Autoroute Décarie, Décarie Autoroute, Décarie Expressway, Quebec Route 9 and Décarie Boulevard redirect here.
Autoroute 15 (Autoroute Décarie) in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, looking north.
The Autoroute Décarie is a sunken highway between the northbound and southbound lanes of Décarie Boulevard (hence the name); from boulevard Métropolitain 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 only a streetcar line 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 which were demolished. In order to avoid demolishing the Notre-Dame-de-Grâces 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 below-ground to well above ground as it intersects with Autoroutes 20 and 720 in the infamous Turcot Interchange (dubbed "Spaghetti Junction" by train crews operating the former CN Rail Turcot Yard). Following the conversion from streetcar line to highway, the Décarie Estate unsuccessfully sued the city but was unable to prevail because they did not document their case well enough for the nevertheless sympathetic court.
This part of the highway was the site of a spectacular event on the 14th of July 1987. During the Montreal Flood of 1987, over 100 mm fell over the central part of the Montreal island and a large part of it ended up in the sunken highway, transforming it into a river. One person died from drowning.
Decarie Boulevard itself continues from Monkland Avenue south to Saint Jacques Street and from Autoroute 40 north into Ville Saint-Laurent past Du College Station and Côte-Vertu Station/Norgate shopping centre. It is considered by some to be Montreal's historically worst urban planning fiascos.[4]
See also
Northern section
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, A-640 and the A-50 in Mirabel. The first section from A-40 to Saint-Jérome was opened in 1958 as a toll road, although the tolls were later removed. This section was also the first to be designed as an autoroute in the province. It was named Autoroute Montréal-Laurentides during the 1960s.[5]
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, Mont-Gabriel 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 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.
Exit list
Location No. Destinations Notes Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle I-87 south - New York1 Montée Glass, Montée Guay 6 
Route 202 – Hemmingford, Lacolle11 Montée Henrysburg 13 Montée Murray Southbound exit only Saint-Patrice-de-Sherrington, Saint-Jacques-le-Mineur 21 
Route 217 / Route 219 / Route 221 – Napierville, SherringtonSaint-Édouard 29 Saint-Édouard, Saint-Jacques Saint-Mathieu 38 Saint-Mathieu, Saint-Philippe Candiac 40 A-30 west – Châteauguay, Honoré-Mercier bridgeNew exit opened in November 2010 42 
A-30 east / Route 132 west – Châteauguay, Sorel, Québec, Salaberry-de-ValleyfieldSouth end of Route 132 overlap 44 Boulevard Montcalm, Candiac 45 
Route 134 east (Boulevard Taschereau) – La PrairieNorthbound exit and southbound entrance La Prairie 46 Boulevard Salaberry, La Prairie 47 Rue Saint-Henri, La Prairie Northbound exit and entrance 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 A-20 east / Route 132 east – LongueuilNorth end of Route 132 overlap; south end of A-20 overlap Boulevard Marie-Victorin Exits only 
A-10 east to A-30 / I-89 – Sherbrooke, Québec, VermontSouth end of A-10 overlap Champlain Bridge over the St. Lawrence River Montreal 57 Île de Sœurs 58 A-10 west – MontrealNorth end of A-10 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance 60 Wellington Street, A-10 west – Montreal, Verdun61 Rue Atwater, Saint Patrick Street 62 Boulevard de La Vérendrye, Avenue de l'Église 63 A-20 west / A-720 east (Autoroute Ville-Marie) – Montreal, Aéroport P.E. Trudeau, Pont Mercier, TorontoNorth end of A-20 overlap; signed as exits 63-E (east) and 63-O (west) southbound 64 
Route 138 (Rue Sherbrooke) / Rue Saint-Jacques66 Chemin Côte-Saint-Luc, Chemin Queen-Mary 69 Rue Jean-Talon, Rue de la Savane, Avenue Van Horne 70-O 
A-40 west / TCH west to A-520 – Aéroport P.E. Trudeau, Gatineau, OttawaSouth end of A-40/TCH overlap 67 Route 117 north (Boulevard Marcel-Laurin) / Boulevard Décariesouthbound exit and northbound entrance only 68 Rue Stinson, Chemin Rockland, Boulevard de L'Acadie northbound exit and southbound entrance only 1-E A-40 east / TCH east / Boulevard de L'Acadie – QuébecNorth end of A-40/TCH overlap; southbound exit and northbound entrance only 2 Chemin de la Côte-Vertu, Saint-Laurent Southbound exit and northbound entrance 2 Boulevard de L'Acadie Northbound exit and entrance 3 Boulevard Henri-Bourassa No northbound exit, southbound entrance and exit via Jules-Poitras Boulevard 4 Rue de Salaberry Signed as exits 4-E (east) and 4-O (west) southbound, no southbound entrance Médéric Martin Bridge over the Rivière des Prairies Laval 7 Boulevard de la Concorde, Boulevard Cartier, Boulevard Notre-Dame 8 
Route 148 (Boulevard Saint-Martin)Southbound exit is via exit 10 10 A-440 (Autoroute Laval) / Boulevard le Carrefour14 Route 117 (Boulevard Curé Labelle) / Boulevard DagenaisSigned as exits 14-N (north) and 14-S (south) southbound 16 Boulevard Sainte-Rose, Av. de la Renaissance Gédéon-Ouimet Bridge over the Rivière des Mille Îles Boisbriand 19 
Route 344 – Boisbriand, RosemèreBoisbriand, Sainte-Thérèse 20 
A-640 to A-13 / Boulevard Desjardins – Repentigny, Québec, Aéroport P.E. Trudeau, Saint-EustacheSigned as exits 20-E (east) and 20-O (west) 23 Rue Saint-Charles, Mirabel, Saint-Augustin Mirabel, Blainville 25 Blainville 28 Blainville, Mirabel New exit opened in August 2009 Mirabel 31 Mirabel, Saint-Janvier, Sainte-Monique 35 A-50 – Aéroport Mirabel, Lachute, Gatineau39 
Route 158 – Mirabel, Saint-Antoine, Sainte-Sophie, Saint-CanutSaint-Jérôme 41 Boulevard du Grand-Héron 43 Saint-Jérôme, Bellefeuille, Saint-Colomban Signed as exits 43-E (east) and 43-O (west) 45 Route 117 / Montée Sainte-Thérèse – Prévost, Lafontaine, Saint-Hippolyte51 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 
Route 364 – Saint-Sauveur, Morin-Heights, Piedmont, Saint-AdolpheSainte-Adèle 64 Chemin du Mont-Gabriel 67 Route 117 – Sainte-AdèleNorthbound exit and southbound entrance 69 
Route 370 (Chemin Pierre-Péladeau) – Sainte-Adèle, Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson, Estérel72 Montée à Séraphin, Chemin du Mont-Sauvage, Sainte-Adèle Northbound exit and southbound entrance Val-Morin 76 Route 117 – Val-Morin, Val-DavidNorthbound exit and southbound entrance Val-David 80 7e Rang, Val-David Northbound exit and southbound entrance Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts 83 To Route 329 south / Montée Alouette – Saint-Adolphe-d'HowardNorthbound exit and southbound entrance 86 Route 117 – Val-David, Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts88 Rue Demontigny Northbound exit and southbound entrance 89 Route 117 south (Boulevard Morin) / Route 329 – Saint-Donat, St-Adolphe-d'Howard
2000 overpass collapse
Main article: 2000 Boulevard du Souvenir overpass collapseFlooding
On July 14, 1987, a sudden torrential downpour caused by an HP supercell thunderstorm 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 reached a maximum of 3.6 metres 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.
On July 5, 2005, another torrential downpour flooded portions of the Expressway after several manhole covers blew over.[7]
See also
- Decarie Boulevard
- Gibeau Orange Julep
References
- ^ a b "Répertoire des autoroutes du Québec" (in French). Transports Québec. http://www1.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/fr/repertoire_autoroute/autoroute.asp. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
- ^ 1958
- ^ Ministère des transports, "Distances routières", page (?), Les Publications du Québec, 2005
- ^ MUSGRAVE, Sarah (2002-08-08), "Great ball of fire", Montreal Mirror, http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2002/080802/resto.html
- ^ Autoroute Montréal-Laurentides
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
External links
- A-15 at Exitlists.com
- A-15 at Quebec Autoroutes
- Steve Anderson's MontrealRoads.com: Decarie Autoroute (A-15)
- Steve Anderson's MontrealRoads.com: Laurentian Autoroute (A-15)
- Transports Quebec Map (French)
Preceded by
Route 117Trans-Canada Highway
Autoroute 15Succeeded by
Autoroute 40
Portions of the Trans-Canada Highway
British Columbia: Highway 1 • Highway 5 • Highway 16 | Alberta: Highway 1 • Highway 16
Saskatchewan: Highway 1 • Highway 16 | Manitoba: Highway 1 • Highway 16 • Highway 100
Ontario: Highway 17 • Highway 69 • Highway 400 • Highway 12 • Highway 7 • Highway 71 • Highway 11 • Highway 66 • Highway 417
Quebec: Autoroute 40 • Autoroute 25 • Autoroute 20 • Autoroute 85 • Route 185 • Route 117 • Autoroute 15
New Brunswick: Route 2 • Route 16 | Confederation Bridge | Prince Edward Island: Route 1 | Nova Scotia: Highway 104 • Highway 105 • Highway 106
Newfoundland: Route 1Expressways of Quebec Autoroutes: 5 · 10 · 410 · 610 · 13 · 15 · 19 · 20 · 520 · 720 · 25 · 30 · 31 · 35 · 40 · 440 (Laval) · 440 (Québec) · 540 (Vaudreuil-Dorion) · 540 (Québec) · 640 · 740 · 50 · 55 · 955 · 70 · 73 · 573 · 973 · 85
Future 530 · Former 430 · 550 · 51 · 755 · Unbuilt 6 · 415 · 16 · 18 · 65 · Other routes: 112 · 116 · 117 · 132 · 134 · 138 · 158 · 201 · 335
Roads in CanadaCategories:- Quebec Autoroutes
- Trans-Canada Highway
- Transportation in Brossard
- Transportation in Laval, Quebec
- Transportation in Montreal
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