Quebec Autoroute 15
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| Autoroute 15 |
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| Decarie Expressway Laurentian Autoroute |
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| Length: | 164 kilometres (102 miles) |
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| Formed: | 1958 |
| Direction: | North/South |
| From: | Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec |
| To: | Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec |
| Major cities: | Longueuil, Montreal, Laval, Mirabel,Saint-Jérôme, Saint-Sauveur |
Autoroute 15 (also called the Decarie Expressway (English) or Autoroute Décarie (French) in Montreal and the Laurentian Autoroute (English) Autoroute des Laurentides (French) north of Highway 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 will be 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 intentions to continue beyond Mont-Tremblant. The total length of A-15 is currently 164 km (102 miles), including a short multiplex (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 Quebec 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 and the A-20 splits off shortly after at a stack interchange, leaving the A-15 to continue northward as Autoroute Décarie until the A-40 interchange.
After its multiplex 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 was a different route. The northern route is also part of the Trans-Canada Highway.
The route is also connected to Quebec Autoroute 30 in Candiac which will be completed to Quebec 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.
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[edit] Interchanges from south to north on southern section
| Municipality | Exit Number | Intersecting Roads |
|---|---|---|
| Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle | 1 | Montée Glass /  Quebec route 217 |
| Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle | 6 |  Quebec route 202 |
| Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle | 11 | Montée Henrysburg |
| Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle | 13 | Chemin Murray / Chemin Noël (southbound only) |
| Saint-Patrice-de-Sherrington - Saint-Jacques-le-Mineur Boundary | 21 |  Quebec route 219 /  Quebec route 221 |
| Saint-Jacques-le-Mineur - Saint-Édouard Boundary | 29 | Montée St-Jacques / Montée du Moulin |
| Saint-Mathieu | 38 | Montée Monette |
| Candiac | 42 |  Autoroute 30 /  Quebec Route 132 West |
| Candiac | 44 | Boulevard Montcalm |
| Candiac | 45 | Boulevard Taschereau (  Quebec route 134) (northbound only) |
| La Prairie | 46 | Rue Salaberry |
| La Prairie | 47 | Rue St-Henri ( Quebec route 104) (northbound only) |
| La Prairie | 48* | Parc de la Marina (southbound only) |
| Brossard | 50 | Boulevard Matte |
| Brossard | 51 | Boulevard Rivard (northbound) / Boulevard St-Laurent (southbound) |
| Brossard | 52 | Boulevard Rome (northbound only) |
| Brossard | 53 |  Autoroute 10 East (Autoroute des Cantons de l'Est) /  Autoroute 20 North / Route 132 East |
| Saint Lawrence Seaway / Saint Lawrence River / Champlain Bridge (Montreal) | ||
| Montreal | 57 | Boulevard de l'Île-des-Soeurs |
| Montreal | 58 | Highway 10 West (Bonaventure Expressway) |
| Montreal | 60 | Henri-Duhamel St. |
| Montreal | 61 | Atwater Ave. |
| Montreal | 62 | de de la Vérendrye Blvd. |
| Montreal | 63 | Highway 20 West /  Ville-Marie Expressway |
| Montreal | 64 | Sherbrooke St. ( Route 138) |
| Montreal | 66 | Côte-St-Luc Rd./ Queen Mary Rd. |
| Montreal | 69 | Jean-Talon St. |
| Montreal | 70 |  Highway 40 West (Metropolitain Expressway) / Decarie Blvd. / Boulevard Marcel-Laurin ( Quebec route 117) |
- *Exit number not signed, based on kilometre post
- between marker 63 and marker 70, the autoroute is in a man-made canyon and is called Autoroute Décarie (Decarie Expressway)
[edit] Interchanges shared with 
Metropolitain Expressway
| Municipality | Exit Number | Intersecting Roads |
|---|---|---|
| Montreal | 66 | Autoroute 15 South (Autoroute Décarie) |
| Montreal | 67 | Boulevard Décarie/Boulevard Marcel-Laurin (Quebec route 117) (westbound only) |
| Montreal | 68 | Service road access (eastbound only) |
| Montreal | 70 | Autoroute 15 North (Autoroute des Laurentides) |
[edit] Interchanges from south to north on northern section
- Laurentian Autoroute (Autoroute des Laurentides)
| Municipality | Exit Number | Intersecting Roads |
|---|---|---|
| Montreal | 1 | Highway 40 East |
| Montreal | 2 | Sauvé St./ Côte-Vertu Blvd. |
| Montreal | 3 | Henri-Bourassa Blvd. |
| Montreal | 4 | de Salaberry St. |
| Rivière des Prairies / Médéric Martin Bridge | ||
| Laval | 7 | Boulevard Cartier / Boulevard de la Concorde / Boulevard Notre-Dame |
| Laval | 8 | Boulevard St-Martin ( Quebec route 148) |
| Laval | 10 |  Autoroute 440 (Laval freeway) |
| Laval | 14 | Boulevard Curé-Labelle (Quebec route 117) |
| Laval | 16 | Boulevard Ste-Rose |
| Rivière des Mille Îles | ||
| Boisbriand | 19 | Chemin de la Grande-Côte ( Quebec route 344) |
| Boisbriand - Sainte-Thérèse Boundary | 20 |  Autoroute 640 |
| Boisbriand - Sainte-Thérèse Boundary | 23 | Chemin de la Côte-Nord / Rue Sicard |
| Mirabel - Blainville Boundary | 25 | Boulevard de la Seigneurie |
| Mirabel | 31 | Rue Charles |
| Mirabel | 35 |  Highway 50 |
| Mirabel | 39 | Route Sir-Wilfred-Laurier ( Quebec route 158) |
| Saint-Jérôme | 41 | Rue Brière |
| Saint-Jérôme | 43 | Rue de Martigny |
| Saint-Jérôme | 45 | Boulevard de la Salette / Quebec route 117 |
| Saint-Jérôme | 51 | La Porte du Nord rest area |
| Prévost | 55 | Rue Louie-Morin (northbound only) |
| Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs | 57 | Chemin de Ste-Anne-des-Lacs (northbound only) |
| Saint-Sauveur | 60 | Rue Robert / Chemin Jean-Adam (  Quebec route 364) |
| Sainte-Adèle | 64 | Chemin du Mont-Gabriel |
| Sainte-Adèle | 67 | Boulevard de Sainte-Adèle (Quebec route 117) |
| Sainte-Adèle | 69 | Chemin Pierre-Péladeau ( Quebec route 370) |
| Sainte-Adèle | 72 | Chemin du Mont-Sauvage / Séraphin (northbound only) |
| Val-Morin | 76 | Boulevard Labelle (Quebec route 117) (northbound only) |
| Val-David | 80 | 7e Rang (northbound only) |
| Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts | 83 | Avenue des Alouettes (northbound only) |
| Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts | 86 | Rue Principale (Quebec route 117) |
| Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts | 88 | Chemin du Château-Bleu (northbound only) |
| Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts | 89 | Quebec route 117 /  Quebec route 329 |
- *Exit number not signed, based on kilometre post
[edit] 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 on Quebec Autoroute 19 where five were killed.
The overpass was under extensive renovations at the time the incident occurred. The company in charged 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.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by:QC Route 117 |
 Trans-Canada HighwayQC HIghway 15 |
Succeeded by:QC Highway 40 |
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Autoroutes of Quebec
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|---|---|---|
| Principal Autoroutes: 5 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 19 | 20 | 25 | 30 | 31 | 35 | 40 | 50 | 55 | 70 | 73 | 85 | ||
| Spur Autoroutes: 410 | 440 (Laval) | 440 (Quebec City) | 520 | 530 (Future) 540 (Vaudreuil-Dorion) | 540 (Quebec City) | 573 | 610 | 640 | 720 | 740 | 920 | 955 | 973 |
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| Routes partially built to Autoroute standards: 105 | 112 | 116 | 117 | 125 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 138 | 148 | 157 | 158 | 173 | 175 | 185 | 201 | ||
| See also: Routes | Autoroutes | ||
