Quebec Autoroute 55
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| Autoroute 55 |
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| Autoroute Joseph-Armand Bombardier Autoroute Transquébécoise |
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| Length: | 247 kilometres (153 miles) |
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| Formed: | 1964 |
| Direction: | North/South |
| From: | Stanstead, Quebec |
| To: | Shawinigan, Quebec |
| Major cities: | Sherbrooke, Drummondville, Trois-Rivières, Shawinigan |
| System: | City/Rural highway |
Autoroute 55 (also called Autoroute Transquébécoise (North of the Autoroute 20) and Autoroute Joseph-Armand Bombardier (South part) is an important north-south Autoroute and the only one running in that direction in central Quebec. It is the longest north-south Autoroute, running from the United States border at Stanstead (where it continues as Interstate 91) to Shawinigan where it downgrades to Route 155. The total length of A-55 is currently 247 km (153 miles), including multiplexes with Autoroutes 10, 20 and 40.
The main purpose of this Autoroute is to connect 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 the longest bridge in Quebec and one of the longest 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 Pierreville. A-55 will be signed currently along Route 155 (which is not an Autoroute-standard highway) until the new route is complete.
All of the southern portion of A-55 is soon to be a full four-lane freeway to be completed by the end of October 2006. The gap being filled in the northern portion will initially be a two-lane freeway for about 15 miles (20 km), but it is intended to ultimately be four lanes.
While some people hope that A-55 will be extended further north towards La Tuque and Roberval, there are currently no plans to extend the route.
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, started by building snowmobiles and eventually grew into a major international manufacturer of transit vehicles and aircraft.
The designation Autoroute Transquébécoise means "Trans-Quebec", although this section north of A-20 is likely to remain at its comparatively short length to Shawinigan for the foreseeable future.
[edit] Interchanges from South to North
| Municipality | Exit Number | Intersecting Roads |
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| Stanstead |  (Interstate 91) (U.S./Canada Border) |
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| Stanstead | 1* | Boulevard Notre-Dame  (Route 247) (currently an at-grade intersection) |
| Stanstead | 2 |  Route 143 |
| Stanstead | 5* | Chemin Curtis (currently an at-grade intersection) |
| Ayer's Cliff - Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley Boundary | 21 | Rue Main  (Route 141) |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley | 29 | Chemin de Magog  (Route 108) |
| Magog | 32 | Boulevard Industriel (southbound) / Rue St-Patrice (northbound) |
| Magog | 33 | Boulevard Bourque  (Route 112) |
| Magog | 34 |  Autoroute 10 West |
| Magog - Sherbrooke Boundary | 123 (36*) | Boulevard Bourque (Route 112) West / Chemin Rang XI  Route 249 (A-10 multiplex begins) |
| Sherbrooke | 128 (42*) | Boulevard Bourque Route 112 East / Chemin Légare |
| Sherbrooke | 133 (47*) | Chemin St-Roch |
| Sherbrooke | 137 (51*) | Chemin St-Élie  Route 220 |
| Sherbrooke | 140 (54*) |  Autoroute 410 |
| Sherbrooke | 141 (55*) | Chemin St-Joseph |
| Sherbrooke | 143 (57*) |  Autoroute 610 East (A-10 ends) |
| Sherbrooke | 58 | Chemin des Écossais  Route 222 |
| Sherbrooke | 60 | Rue Laval |
| Windsor | 71 | Rue Principale Route 249 |
| Richmond | 85 |  Route 243 |
| Richmond | 88 |  Route 116 |
| L'Avenir | 103 | Route Ployant |
| Saint-Nicéphore | 111 | Route Caya |
| Saint-Nicéphore | 116 |  Route 139 |
| Saint-Nicéphore - Drummondville Boundary | 122 | Boulevard Jean-de-Brébeuf |
| Drummondville | 125 | Rue St-Pierre  Route 122 |
| Drummondville | 128 |  Autoroute 20 West (A-20 multiplex begins) |
| Sainte-Eulalie | 145 | Autoroute 20, autoroute 955 South (A-20 multiplex ends) |
| Saint-Wenceslas | 153 | 9e Rang |
| Saint-Célestin | 164* |  Route 226 |
| Bécancour | 176 |  Autoroute 30 / Boulevard Bécancour  Route 132 |
| Bécancour - Trois-Rivières | Laviolette Bridge Saint Lawrence River | |
| Trois-Rivìeres | 181 | Rue Notre-Dame  Route 138 |
| Trois-Rivières | 182 |  Autoroute 40 East |
| Trois-Rivières | 183 | Boulevard Jean-XXII |
| Trois-Rivières | 186 | Autoroute 40 West |
| Trois-Rivières | 191 | Boulevard St-Michel |
| Trois-Rivières - Saint-Étienne-des-Grès Boundary | 196 | Boulevard des Forges / Chemin Marcotte |
| Saint-Étienne-des-Grès | 202 | Rue des Dalles |
| Saint-Étienne-des-Grès | 206 | Avenue Omer-Bourassa / Avenue Ringuette |
| Saint-Boniface-de-Shawinigan | 211 | Boulevard Trudel  Route 153 |
| Shawinigan | 216 | Rue Burrill |
| Shawinigan | 217 | Rue Garnier  Route 351 |
| Shawinigan | 220 | Boulevard Biermans |
| Shawinigan | 223 | 6e Avenue |
| Shawinigan | 226 | 4e Rue |
- *Exit number not signed, based on kilometre post
- On multiplexed sections using another route's exit numbers, the posted exit number is shown first followed by the A-55 kilometre post in brackets.
[edit] Resources
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Spur Autoroutes |
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Routes Partially Built to Autoroute Standards: |
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