Quebec Autoroute 15

Autoroute 15
Autoroute Décarie, Autoroute des Laurentides
Route information
Maintained by Ministère des Transports du Québec
Length:	164.0 km[1][2] (101.9 mi)
Existed:	1958 [2][3] – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-87 / US 9 towards Champlain, New York
	A-30 / A-930 in Candiac A-10 / A-20 in Brossard A-10 / A-20 / A-40 (TCH) / A-720 in Montreal A-440 in Laval A-640 in Boisbriand and Sainte-Thérèse A-50 in Mirabel
North end:	Route 117 (TCH) / Route 329 in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts
Location
Major cities:	Candiac, La Prairie, Brossard, Montreal, Laval, Boisbriand, Blainville, Saint-Jérôme, Saint-Sauveur, Sainte-Adèle, Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts
Highway system
Quebec provincial highways ← A-13 A-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) 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 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 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

Autoroute 15 in Montreal, facing southwards at the Autoroute 20 junction (Exit 63)

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 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 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 was completed to Autoroute 20 in 2012 providing a quicker access to the south shore of Montreal, to southern communities located alongside Autoroute 15 and to the Canada–US 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 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 elderly person died from drowning in an underpass while trapped in his car.

Decarie Boulevard itself continues; from Monkland Avenue south to Saint Jacques Street and McGill University Health Centre Glen Campus superhospital; and from Autoroute 40 north into Ville Saint-Laurent past Du College Station and Côte-Vertu Station/Norgate shopping centre.

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-Jérôme was opened in 1958 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, 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	Exit/ Sortie	Destinations	Notes
Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle		I-87 south (Adirondack Northway) / US 9 south – New York, Albany, New York City	United States border at Champlain, New York
	1	Montée Glass, Montée Guay
	6	Route 202 – Hemmingford, Lacolle
	11	Montée Henrysburg
	13	Montée Murray	Southbound exit only
Saint-Patrice-de-Sherrington, Saint-Jacques-le-Mineur	21	Route 217 / Route 219 / Route 221 – Napierville, Sherrington
Saint-Édouard	29	Saint-Édouard, Saint-Jacques
Saint-Mathieu	38	Saint-Mathieu, Saint-Philippe
Candiac	40	A-30 west – Châteauguay, Honoré-Mercier bridge	New exit opened in November 2010
	42	A-930 east to A-30 east / Route 132 west – Sainte-Catherine, Saint-Constant, Sorel-Tracy, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	Southern end of Route 132 concurrency
	44	Candiac, Boulevard Montcalm
	45	Route 134 east (Boulevard Taschereau) – La Prairie	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
La Prairie	46	La Prairie, Boulevard Salaberry
	47	Rue Saint-Henri	Northbound exit and entrance
	49	Rue du Quai	Southbound exit and entrance, to Parc de la Marina
Brossard	50	Boulevard Matte
	51	Boulevard Rivard	Southbound exit is via exit 50
	51	Rue Riviera	Southbound exit and entrance
	52	Boulevard Rome
	53	A-20 east / Route 132 east – Longueuil	Northern end of Route 132 concurrency; southern end of A-20 concurrency
		Boulevard Marie-Victorin	Exits only
		A-10 east to A-30 / I-89 – Sherbrooke, Québec, Vermont	Southern end of A-10 concurrency
	Champlain Bridge over the St. Lawrence River
Montreal
	57	Île de Sœurs	Northbound only
	57-N	Chemin de la Pointe-Nord Road	Southbound only
	57-S	Boulevard de l'Île des Sœurs blvd.	Southbound only
	58	A-10 west – Montreal downtown	Northern end of A-10 concurrency; northbound exit and southbound entrance
	60	A-10 west downtown, Wellington Street, Verdun
	61	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, Toronto	Northern end of A-20 concurrency; signed as exits 63-E (east) and 63-O (west) southbound
	64	Route 138 (Rue Sherbrooke) / Rue Saint-Jacques
	66	Chemin Côte-Saint-Luc, Chemin Queen-Mary, Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine
	69	Rue Jean-Talon, Rue de la Savane, Avenue Van Horne, Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine
	70-O	A-40 (TCH) west to A-520 – Aéroport P.E. Trudeau, Gatineau, Ottawa	Southern end of A-40/TCH concurrency
	67 (A-40)	Route 117 north (Boulevard Marcel-Laurin) / Boulevard Décarie	southbound exit and northbound entrance only
	68 (A-40)	Rue Stinson, Chemin Rockland, Boulevard de L'Acadie	northbound exit and southbound entrance only
	1-E	A-40 (TCH) east / Boulevard de L'Acadie – Québec	Southern end of TCH concurrency. Northern end of A-40/TCH concurrency; southbound exit and northbound entrance only
	2	Boulevard de la Côte-Vertu, Saint-Laurent	Southbound exit and northbound entrance only
	2	Rue Sauvé, Boulevard Henri-Bourassa, Boulevard de L'Acadie	Northbound exit and entrance only
	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 Cartier, Boulevard de la Concorde, Boulevard Notre-Dame	Northbound entrance and exit via Le Corbusier Boulevard
	8	Boulevard Saint-Martin	Southbound exit is via exit 10
	10	A-440 (Autoroute Laval) / Boulevard le Carrefour
	14	Route 117 (Boulevard Curé Labelle) / Boulevard Dagenais Ouest	Signed as exits 14-N (north) and 14-S (south) southbound
	16	Boulevard Sainte-Rose, Av. de la Renaissance
	Gedeon Ouimet Bridge over the Rivière des Mille Îles
Boisbriand
	19	Route 344 – Boisbriand, Rosemère
Boisbriand, Sainte-Thérèse	20	A-640 to A-13 – Repentigny, Québec, Boisbriand, Saint-Eustache, Sainte-Thérèse Centre-ville, Aéroport P.E. Trudeau	Signed as exits 20-E (east) and 20-O (west)
	23	Mirabel (Saint-Augustin), Rue Saint-Charles, Sainte-Thérèse Centre-ville
Blainville	25	Blainville, Boulevard de la Seigneurie
Mirabel, Blainville	28	Mirabel, Chemin Notre-Dame, Blainville, Boulevard Michèle-Bohec
Mirabel	31	Mirabel, (Saint-Janvier), (Sainte-Monique)
	35	A-50 / Route 117 – Gatineau, Lachute, Aéroport Mirabel	To route 117 and Mirabel (Saint-Janvier) via autoroute 50 east
	39	Route 158, Route Sir-Willfrid-Laurier, Mirabel (Saint-Canut), Sainte-Sophie
Saint-Jérôme	41	Boulevard du Grand-Héron
	43	Saint-Jérôme Centre-ville (43-E), Rue De Martigny Ouest, Saint-Colomban, Mille-Isles (43-O)	Signed as exits 43-E (east) and 43-O (west)
	45	Route 117 / Route 333 / Boulevard de La Salette – Prévost, Saint-Hippolyte
	51	Aire de Service La Porte du Nord (service centre)
Prévost	55	Prévost	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs	57	Route 117, Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs	Northbound exit, northbound entrance and southbound entrance
	58	Piedmont, Chemin Avila
Saint-Sauveur	60	Route 364 – Saint-Sauveur, Morin-Heights, Piedmont, Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard
Sainte-Adèle	64	Chemin du Mont-Gabriel
	67	Route 117 – Sainte-Adèle Centre-ville	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	69	Route 370 (Chemin Pierre-Péladeau) – Sainte-Adèle, Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson, Estérel
	72	Sainte-Adèle, Montée à Séraphin, Chemin du Mont-Sauvage	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Val-Morin	76	Route 117 – Val-Morin, Val-David	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Val-David	80	Val-David, 7^e Rang	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts	83	Route 329 south / Montée Alouette – Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	86	Route 117 – Val-David, Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts Centre-ville
	88	Rue Demontigny	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	89	Route 117 south (Boulevard Morin) / Route 329 – Saint-Donat, Lanaudière, St-Adolphe-d'Howard Route 117 (TCH) north (Route Transcanadienne)
Next exits belong to Route 117 (TCH)
Saint-Faustin–Lac-Carré	107*	Rue Principale - Saint-Faustin–Lac-Carré, Lac-Supérieur
Mont-Tremblant	116*	Route 327 Rue Léonard - Huberdeau, Lachute
	117*	Route 323 Chemin de Brébeuf - Montebello, Brébeuf
	119*	Mont-Tremblant, Montée Ryan	To village and ski station
La Conception	126*	La Conception, Rue des Tulipes
Labelle	140*	Boulevard du Curé-Labelle Sud
	143*	Labelle, La Macaza
	145*	Boulevard du Curé-Labelle Nord	North exit and entrance
Rivière-Rouge	162*	Rivière-Rouge Centre-ville, La Macaza, Aéroport International La Macaza - Tremblant	To L'Annonciation (sector of city of Rivière-Rouge)

Disasters

On June 18, 2000, the southern portion of the Boulevard du Souvenir overpass in Laval, which crosses Quebec Autoroute 15, 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 contractor was faulted for shoddy work.

The expressway has also seen flooding. 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.^[5] 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 open from the storm sewers below them being overloaded.^[6]

See also

• Decarie Boulevard
• Gibeau Orange Julep

References

1. Ministère des transports, "Distances routières", page (?), Les Publications du Québec, 2005
2. "Répertoire des autoroutes du Québec" (in French). Transports Québec. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
3. 1958
4. Autoroute Montréal-Laurentides
5. Environment Canada - Water - Main page
6. Canoe – Infos – Québec-Canada: 30 millimètres d’eau en deux minutes sur l’autoroute Décarie

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• 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