Autoroute 10 (A-10) is an Autoroute of Quebec in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

that links greater

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

to key population centres in

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. ...

and

Estrie Estrie () is an List of Quebec regions, administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 pe ...

, including

Brossard Brossard ( , , ) is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal, Greater Montreal area. According to the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with ...

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal, located roughly halfway between Montreal and the Canada–United States border with the state of Vermont. It is sit ...

, Granby,

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

and Saint-Georges (possible). The A-10 also provides access to popular winter resorts at Bromont, Owl's Head,

Mont Sutton Mont Sutton is a four-season attraction, well known for hiking, skiing in winter, and also offering a range of summer activities: mountain biking, disc golf, chairlift ride, giant zipline and a zipline coaster. It's located in Sutton, Quebec, Can ...

and Mont Orford. Motorists travelling on the A-10 can see eight of nine

Monteregian Hills The Monteregian Hills () is a linear chain of isolated mountains in Montreal and Montérégie, between the Laurentian Mountains and the Appalachians. Etymology The first definition of the Monteregian Hills came about in 1903 when Montreal geolo ...

Mount Royal Mount Royal (, ) is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The city's name is derived from the mountain's name. The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentian M ...

, Mont Saint-Bruno,

Mont Saint-Hilaire Mont Saint-Hilaire (; English: Mount Saint-Hilaire; ;, ; see for other names) is a mountain, high, in the Montérégie region of southern Quebec. It is about thirty kilometres east of Montreal, and immediately east of the Richelieu River. It ...

, Mont Saint-Grégoire, Mont Rougemont, Mont Yamaska, Mont Shefford and Mont Brome. The ninth, Mont Mégantic is located beyond the eastern terminus of the autoroute.

Description

The A-10 carries the name Autoroute

Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; ; ; born Giovanni di Fidanza; 1221 – 15 July 1274) was an Italian Catholic Franciscan bishop, Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal, Scholasticism, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General ( ...

(''

Expressway'') from its start in Montreal's city centre to the Champlain Bridge. From there until its terminus in Sherbrooke, the A-10 is called the Autoroute des Cantons-de-l'Est (

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...

Expressway), a reference to the historic name given to the region east of Montreal and north of the U.S. border. The road's main material is

asphalt concrete Asphalt concrete (commonly called asphalt, blacktop, or pavement in North America, and Tarmacadam, tarmac or bitumen macadam in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a composite material commonly used to surface road surface, roads ...

, many parts of the highway are bordered with

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

Autoroute Bonaventure

The autoroute begins in

Downtown Montreal Downtown Montreal (French language, French: ''Centre-Ville de Montréal'') is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The district is situated on the southernmost slope of Mount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the ...

as an extension of Robert-Bourassa Boulevard near

Place Bonaventure Place Bonaventure () is an office, exhibition, and hotel complex in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, adjacent to the city's Central Station. At in size, Place Bonaventure was the second-largest commercial building in the world at the time of i ...

. Two underground ramps provide an interchange with the R-136, the Ville-Marie Autoroute. At km 1, the highway crosses the

Lachine Canal The Lachine Canal (, ) is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres (9 miles) from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroughs of Lachine (borough), L ...

. At km 2, it crosses under, but does not provide access to, Route 112 at the north end of Victoria Bridge. From there, the higwhay travels along the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

to an interchange with A-15 and A-20. This interchange is partially on the

Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (, ) is an island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, which is the site of a number of municipalities, including most of the city of Montreal, and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main island of the Hochelag ...

and partially on Nuns' Island. A-10 is

multiplexed In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource— ...

with the A-15 and A-20 across the Champlain Bridge. All three autoroutes diverge soon after reaching the southern edge of the bridge. The autoroute serves as an important link for

commuters Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...

travelling to downtown Montreal from suburban South Shore communities via the Champlain Bridge. It also provides access to the

Montreal Technoparc The Parc d'entreprises de la Pointe-Saint-Charles, formerly known as the Montreal Technoparc and Adaport Victoria, is an industrial park and former industrial dump in the Pointe-Saint-Charles neighbourhood of Montreal, between the Champlain and ...

and the Concordia Bridge. Within the city limits of Montreal the autoroute is jointly owned by the

city of Montreal Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest in Canada, and the ninth-largest in North America. It was founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", and is now named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

, Ponts Jacques Cartier et Champlain Incorporée (PJCCI), a federal

crown corporation Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...

that owns and operates the three major highway bridges over the Saint Lawrence River to the south of Montréal. Autoroute 10 is at least two lanes in each direction for the majority of its length and the speed limit is usually 100 km/h.

Autoroute des Cantons de l'Est

At km 8, the A-10 crosses

Taschereau Boulevard Taschereau Boulevard is a major suburban boulevard located on the south shore of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is a section of Quebec Route 134 and runs from Longueuil to Candiac (junction of Autoroute 15). It is named after the prominent Quebe ...

Bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, generally to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway completely dedicated for use by buses, whilst ...

s run in both directions along the median for four kilometers between the southern end of the Champlain Bridge and Milan Boulevard. Crossing Brossard, the A-10 runs along the northern edge of the

Quartier DIX30 Quartier DIX30 (also commonly referred to as ''Dix30'' in French) is a commercial lifestyle centre located in Brossard, Quebec. It is considered Canada's first lifestyle centre and occupies an area of in the L section of Brossard. Quartier DIX3 ...

shopping complex before reaching interchanges with the A-30 at km 11 and the A-35 at km 22. The A-10 crosses the

Richelieu River The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kno ...

at km 28 and enters a rich agricultural region. Between Bromont (km 74) and Magog (km 121) the A-10 passes through a mountainous region, close to two of Quebec's major ski centres (Mont Orford and Mont Brome). Near the northern end of

Lake Memphremagog Lake Memphremagog (; , ) is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport (city), Vermont, Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake spans both Quebec and Vermont, but is mostly in Quebec. Most of the watershed th ...

, the A-10 reaches an interchange with the A-55 at km 121. The A-10 continues east as a concurrency with A-55. Between km 123 and 128, Route 112 functions as a

frontage road A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. Where parallel high-speed roads are provided as part of a maj ...

. A-10 and A-55 bypass the city of Sherbrooke to the east and north, reaching interchanges with

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A Bypass route, bypass or beltway is not considered a spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the ...

s A-410 at km 140 and A-610 at km 143. The A-10 reaches its terminus at the junction with A-610, while A-55 continues north to

Drummondville Drummondville () is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville ...

. The portion east of Autoroute 55 (linking that autoroute with Route 112) was renumbered as Autoroute 610 on September 29, 2006

History

The long Autoroute de l'Est (''Eastern Expressway'') was opened to traffic in December 1964. Extending from the southern end of the Champlain Bridge to Magog, the highway replaced the old Quebec Route 1 (now Route 112) as the main road link between the two points. An official opening for the highway came one year later, in 1965. The A-10 was the second autoroute, after the Quebec Autoroute 15, Laurentian Autoroute outside Montreal, to be commissioned. Both were opened as toll highways by a Quebec government agency. The A-10 featured five toll stations (at current km 22, km 37, km 68, km 90, and km 115). Motorists were charged $1.50 to make the entire trip. The Autoroute Bonaventure through Montreal opened in 1967 to link approach roads to

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 28 to October 29, 1967. It was a category one world's fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most s ...

with the Champlain Bridge. The Autoroute des Cantons de l'Est was the first autoroute in Quebec to use exit numbers based on distance instead of in sequential order, as had previously been the case. As Canada had not yet adopted the

metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...

, exit numbers referenced the distance in

miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English f ...

from the southern end of the Champlain Bridge. The A-10 did not originally have a route number. Instead, route marker signs featured a red triangular

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

featuring the name of the route. Unusually, the directional signs were also originally red. Later, blue shields and signs replaced the red versions. In 1985, the toll system was abolished, and the use of the triangular shields was discontinued. Blue directional signs have gradually been converted to standard green signs used elsewhere in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. In 2013, motorists could still see blue signs at entrances to and exits of the autoroute. Between 1988 and 2006, A-10 departed its multiplex with A-55 at km 143 and continued eastward for 11 km to a final terminus with Route 112. In October 2006, that section of A-10 was renumbered as A-610. The city of Montreal announced in January 2013 that it would take over the SHM's responsibilities, citing concerns over transparency. The

Société du Havre de Montréal Société du Havre de Montréal (SHM) was a publicly funded, non-profit business in Montreal, Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province s ...

(SHM) transformed the autoroute into an urban thoroughfare as part of a broader project to redevelop Montreal's harbourfront. Demolition of the autoroute’s elevated stretch began in July 2016 and the new Bonaventure Park was completed in September 2017.

Proposal

A proposal to build the East-West Highway across central and northern

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

calls for the A-10 to be extended to the U.S. border at Coburn Gore where it would meet the new highway. Doing so would create a new and more direct limited-access highway link between Maine, the

Maritime Provinces The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...

through

New Brunswick Route 1 Route 1 is a highway in the southern part of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It begins west of the Canada–United States border at St. Stephen, and runs east for to Route 2 at River Glade. The entire highway is a 4-lane controlled ...

, and Quebec. Another proposal is to extend the A-10 to A-73 Saint-Georges with a crossing of A-65 in Lambton according to the 1971 plans.

References

External links

A-10 at motorways-exits.comSteve Anderson's MontrealRoads.com: Bonaventure Autoroute (A-10)Steve Anderson's MontrealRoads.com: Eastern Townships Autoroute (A-10)Transports Quebec Map

{{Quebec Autoroutes 10 Roads in Montreal Transport in Brossard Transport in Granby, Quebec Transport in Magog, Quebec Transport in Sherbrooke Former toll roads in Canada