Quebec Autoroute 50
Encyclopedia
Autoroute 50 is an Autoroute
in western Quebec
. Once completed, it will link the Outaouais region to the Greater Montreal area.
Currently, there are two distinct sections of A-50: one section running eastward from the central part of Gatineau
to just north of Thurso
, and the other section from Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours
to Mirabel
just beyond an interchange (Route 117
) with A-15
. It is expected that the gap will be filled by 2012, as a planned two-lane freeway
is under construction. Once completed, A-50 will be 159 km (98.8 mi) long and will provide a faster and safer alternative to Route 148
.
It was originally envisioned that A-50 would be a long freeway running all the way from L'Isle-aux-Allumettes
at the Ontario
border all the way to Joliette along the Route 148 and 158
corridors; however, the long extensions are unlikely to ever be constructed, especially in the western part. (The exit numbers are based on that original plan.) Construction was completed in the fall of 2007 on the road that connects Highway 148 west of the Aylmer and Hull sectors to the A-50 at the Boulevard des Allumettières interchange. There are no other plans to connect the two highways as a continuous autoroute.
One short section of Route 158 around Joliette was originally signed as A-50 as well until the project was abandoned. In addition, west of the current terminus, a four-lane at-grade expressway continues as Route 148 into the Aylmer
section of Gatineau; it may become part of A-50 in the future.
A-50 is a four- to six-lane freeway through Gatineau up to Buckingham
, the remainder is mostly a two-lane freeway. However, there have been demands for a four-lane highway for the new segment so it can be safer. The first two segments were built with only two lanes and a recent multi-fatality accident occurred on highway 148 near Buckingham, a section of highway that A-50 would bypass.
There is some support to rename the highway to Autoroute Maurice-Richard after historic Montreal Canadiens
hockey
player Maurice Richard
, but the Commission de toponymie du Québec
has chosen to wait until the section between Buckingham
and Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours
is finished before making a decision.
would be installed in various no-passing zones along Autoroute 50. This will be the first installation of its kind in Quebec and serve as a pilot project.
Autoroute (Quebec)
The Autoroute system is a network of expressways in the province of Quebec, Canada, operating under the same principle of controlled access as the Interstate Highway System in the United States or the 400-Series Highways in neighbouring Ontario. The Autoroutes are the backbone of Quebec's highway...
in western Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Once completed, it will link the Outaouais region to the Greater Montreal area.
Currently, there are two distinct sections of A-50: one section running eastward from the central part of Gatineau
Gatineau
Gatineau is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is the fourth largest city in the province. It is located on the northern banks of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario, and together they form Canada's National Capital Region. Ottawa and Gatineau comprise a single Census...
to just north of Thurso
Thurso, Quebec
Thurso is a city in the Papineau Regional County Municipality in the Outaouais region of western Quebec. It is located on the Ottawa River, and is within Canada's National Capital Region...
, and the other section from Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours
Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours, Quebec
Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours is a municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. It is located along the Ottawa River, about east of Gatineau. It is the least populated municipality in the Papineau Regional County Municipality....
to Mirabel
Mirabel, Quebec
Mirabel is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is an off-island suburb north-west of Montreal.Mirabel is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality and census division of Quebec, coextensive with the city of Mirabel. Its geographical code is 74.Mirabel's population was...
just beyond an interchange (Route 117
Quebec route 117
Route 117 is a provincial highway within the Canadian province of Quebec, running between Montreal and the Quebec/Ontario border where it continues as Highway 66 east of Kearns, Ontario...
) with A-15
Quebec Autoroute 15
Autoroute 15 is a highway in western Quebec, Canada...
. It is expected that the gap will be filled by 2012, as a planned two-lane freeway
Two-lane freeway
A two-lane expressway is an expressway with only one lane in each direction, and usually no median barrier. It may be built that way because of constraints, or may be intended for expansion once traffic volumes rise. The term super two is often used by roadgeeks for this type of road, but traffic...
is under construction. Once completed, A-50 will be 159 km (98.8 mi) long and will provide a faster and safer alternative to Route 148
Quebec route 148
Route 148 is a major east-west highway in Quebec, Canada. It runs from Autoroute 25 in Laval in the Montreal region to the Ontario-Quebec border in L'Isle-aux-Allumettes in western Quebec. For most of its length, Route 148 follows the north shore of the Ottawa River where it acts as the principal...
.
It was originally envisioned that A-50 would be a long freeway running all the way from L'Isle-aux-Allumettes
L'Isle-aux-Allumettes, Quebec
L'Isle-aux-Allumettes is a municipality in the Outaouais region, part of the Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The municipality consists primarily of Allumette Island , and also includes Morrison Island, Marcotte Island, and some minor islets, all in the Ottawa River north of...
at the Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
border all the way to Joliette along the Route 148 and 158
Quebec route 158
Route 158 is an east-west arterial road running between Lachute and Berthierville, north of the Ottawa and Saint Lawrence rivers, in the Laurentides region....
corridors; however, the long extensions are unlikely to ever be constructed, especially in the western part. (The exit numbers are based on that original plan.) Construction was completed in the fall of 2007 on the road that connects Highway 148 west of the Aylmer and Hull sectors to the A-50 at the Boulevard des Allumettières interchange. There are no other plans to connect the two highways as a continuous autoroute.
One short section of Route 158 around Joliette was originally signed as A-50 as well until the project was abandoned. In addition, west of the current terminus, a four-lane at-grade expressway continues as Route 148 into the Aylmer
Aylmer, Quebec
Aylmer is a former city in Quebec, Canada. It became a sector of the City of Gatineau on January 1, 2002. Located on the Ottawa River and Route 148 it is a part of the National Capital Region. The population in 2006 was 41 882 — approx. 16% of Gatineau...
section of Gatineau; it may become part of A-50 in the future.
A-50 is a four- to six-lane freeway through Gatineau up to Buckingham
Buckingham, Quebec
Buckingham was a city located in the Outaouais region of the province of Quebec. Since January 1, 2002, it has been part of the amalgamated city of Gatineau which merged five former municipalities, including Masson-Angers, Buckingham, Hull, Aylmer and Gatineau, into a single entity...
, the remainder is mostly a two-lane freeway. However, there have been demands for a four-lane highway for the new segment so it can be safer. The first two segments were built with only two lanes and a recent multi-fatality accident occurred on highway 148 near Buckingham, a section of highway that A-50 would bypass.
There is some support to rename the highway to Autoroute Maurice-Richard after historic Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
player Maurice Richard
Maurice Richard
Joseph Henri Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, Sr., was a French-Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League from 1942 to 1960. The "Rocket" was the most prolific goal-scorer of his era, the first to achieve the feat of 50 goals in 50...
, but the Commission de toponymie du Québec
Commission de toponymie du Québec
The Commission de toponymie du Québec is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicize Québec's place names and their origins according to the province's toponymy rules.It also provides recommendations to the government with regards to...
has chosen to wait until the section between Buckingham
Buckingham, Quebec
Buckingham was a city located in the Outaouais region of the province of Quebec. Since January 1, 2002, it has been part of the amalgamated city of Gatineau which merged five former municipalities, including Masson-Angers, Buckingham, Hull, Aylmer and Gatineau, into a single entity...
and Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours
Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours, Quebec
Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours is a municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. It is located along the Ottawa River, about east of Gatineau. It is the least populated municipality in the Papineau Regional County Municipality....
is finished before making a decision.
Safety improvements
Following a series of fatal collisions in 2007, it was announced that centerline rumble stripsRumble Strips
Rumble Strips may refer to:* Rumble strip, the road safety feature* The Rumble Strips, the British band...
would be installed in various no-passing zones along Autoroute 50. This will be the first installation of its kind in Quebec and serve as a pilot project.
Exit list
Note: exit numbers in parentheses are not signed, but are based on kilometre posts.| Municipality | No. Exit number An exit number is a number assigned to a road junction, usually an exit from a freeway. It is usually marked on the same sign as the destinations of the exit, as well as a sign in the gore.... |
Intersecting roads | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gatineau Gatineau Gatineau is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is the fourth largest city in the province. It is located on the northern banks of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario, and together they form Canada's National Capital Region. Ottawa and Gatineau comprise a single Census... |
(133) | Rue Montcalm | At-grade intersection Western terminus of the western segment |
| 134 | Boulevard des Allumettières (formerly Boulevard Saint-Laurent) (Route 148 Quebec route 148 Route 148 is a major east-west highway in Quebec, Canada. It runs from Autoroute 25 in Laval in the Montreal region to the Ontario-Quebec border in L'Isle-aux-Allumettes in western Quebec. For most of its length, Route 148 follows the north shore of the Ottawa River where it acts as the principal... ) |
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only | |
| 135 |  Autoroute 5Quebec Autoroute 5 Autoroute 5 is a short Autoroute in the Outaouais region of western Quebec. It connects the central urban area of Gatineau with the recreational areas of Gatineau Park and the exurban rural areas of Chelsea and La Pêche... (Autoroute de la Gatineau) / Ottawa Ottawa Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario... / Boulevard Maisonneuve (downtown Gatineau) |
||
| 138 | Rue Saint-Louis (Route 307 Quebec Route 307 Route 307 is a provincial road located in the Outaouais region of Quebec. The road runs mostly parallel to the Gatineau River on the eastern side of it. It starts at the corner of Rue Jacques-Cartier and Boulevard Greber in the Gatineau sector of the city of Gatineau... ) |
||
| 139 | Boulevard Maloney (Route 148 Quebec route 148 Route 148 is a major east-west highway in Quebec, Canada. It runs from Autoroute 25 in Laval in the Montreal region to the Ontario-Quebec border in L'Isle-aux-Allumettes in western Quebec. For most of its length, Route 148 follows the north shore of the Ottawa River where it acts as the principal... ) |
Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only | |
| 140 | Boulevard de la Gappe | ||
| 141 | Boulevard de La Vérendrye | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only | |
| 145 | Montée Paiement | ||
| 147 | Boulevard Labrosse | ||
| 150 | Boulevard Lorrain (Route 366 Quebec Route 366 Route 366 is a secondary highway in the Outaouais region of Quebec. It runs from Route 301 near Creemorne in the Pontiac to Route 148 in the city of Gatineau.... ) |
||
| 154 | Boulevard de l'Aéroport | ||
| 159 | Rue des Laurentides | ||
| 165 | Rue Georges | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only | |
| 166 | Avenue de Buckingham (Route 315 Quebec route 315 Route 315 is a road in the Canadian province of Quebec that connects the Gatineau sector of Masson-Angers to Namur. Initially, the road started in Buckingham on Rue Joseph at the city's Main Street just a few kilometres further north, but when A-50 was extended further east as a Buckingham... & Route 148 Quebec route 148 Route 148 is a major east-west highway in Quebec, Canada. It runs from Autoroute 25 in Laval in the Montreal region to the Ontario-Quebec border in L'Isle-aux-Allumettes in western Quebec. For most of its length, Route 148 follows the north shore of the Ottawa River where it acts as the principal... ) |
Transition from 4 to 2 lanes or vice-versa | |
| 171 | Chemin Lépine | ||
| L'Ange-Gardien L'Ange-Gardien, Outaouais, Quebec L'Ange-Gardien is a municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. It constitutes the eastern-most part of the Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality, north of the Buckingham Sector of the City of Gatineau.The municipality straddles both sides of the Du Lièvre River... |
174 | Chemin Doherty (Route 309 Quebec Route 309 Route 309 is a provincial highway located in the Outaouais region in western Quebec. It starts at the junction of Autoroute 50 in the Buckingham sector, in the city of Gatineau's east end... ) |
|
| Lochaber Lochaber, Quebec Lochaber is a township in the Canadian province of Quebec, located within the Papineau Regional County Municipality. The township had a population of 497 in the Canada 2006 Census.-Demographics:Population:* Population in 2006: 497... - Thurso Thurso, Quebec Thurso is a city in the Papineau Regional County Municipality in the Outaouais region of western Quebec. It is located on the Ottawa River, and is within Canada's National Capital Region... |
187 | Route 317 Quebec route 317 Route 317 is a provincial highway in the Papineau County of the Outaouais region east of Gatineau, Quebec. The 36-kilometer highway connects Thurso, at the junction of Route 148, to Ripon at the junction of Route 321... |
Eastern terminus of the western segment |
| Plaisance Plaisance, Quebec Plaisance is a village located in the Regional County Municipality of Papineau in western Quebec. The village is situated on the Ottawa River near the mouth of the Petite-Nation River, 70 km from Gatineau and 160 km from Montreal on Route 148.... |
197 | Montée Papineau | |
| Papineauville Papineauville, Quebec Papineauville is a town and municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Papineau Regional County Municipality and part of Canada's National Capital Region... |
203 | Route 321 Quebec route 321 Route 321 is a regional road in Papineau Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada, that runs from Papineauville to Duhamel.The portion north of Chénéville is still unmarked on some maps, but it is signed on the road, and is very sinuous. On most of the Chénéville-Duhamel part, it is impossible... |
|
| Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours, Quebec Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours is a municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. It is located along the Ottawa River, about east of Gatineau. It is the least populated municipality in the Papineau Regional County Municipality.... |
210 | Route 323 Quebec route 323 Highway 323 is a highway in Quebec that runs from the junction of Route 148 in Montebello to the junction of Route 117 in Mont-Tremblant. This highway is along the main route between Ottawa and the ski resort of Mont-Tremblant. Before the bypass was built in 2008, road conditions were often critiqued... |
Western terminus of the eastern segment |
| Fassett Fassett, Quebec Fassett is a municipality and village in the Papineau Regional County Municipality in Quebec, Canada, located on the north shore of the Ottawa River east of Montebello.Its main access road is Route 148... |
216 | Montée Fassett | |
| Grenville-sur-la-Rouge Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Quebec Grenville-sur-la-Rouge is a municipality in the Argenteuil Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. It is a predominantly Francophone municipality situated along the southern border of Quebec between Montreal and Ottawa... |
226 | Chemin Avoca | |
| 233 | Chemin Kilmar | ||
| 239 | Chemin Scotch (Route 344 Quebec route 344 Route 344 is an east/west highway on the north shore of the Ottawa River in Quebec, Canada. Its western terminus is in Grenville-sur-la-Rouge at the junction of Route 148, and its eastern terminus is in L'Assomption at the junction of Route 343... ) |
||
| Brownsburg-Chatham | 252 | Montée Labranche | |
| 254 | Route du Canton (Route 148 Quebec route 148 Route 148 is a major east-west highway in Quebec, Canada. It runs from Autoroute 25 in Laval in the Montreal region to the Ontario-Quebec border in L'Isle-aux-Allumettes in western Quebec. For most of its length, Route 148 follows the north shore of the Ottawa River where it acts as the principal... ) |
Transition from 2 to 4 lanes or vice-versa | |
| Lachute | 258 | Avenue d'Argenteuil (Route 327 Quebec Route 327 Route 327 is a provincial highway located in the Laurentides region of Quebec. The 90-kilometer highway runs from St-André-d'Argenteuil at the junction of Route 344 to Mont-Tremblant just west of the Provincial Park of the same name. The route serves as the main connection between Argenteuil county... ) |
|
| 260 | Chemin Bethany (Route 329 Quebec Route 329 Route 329 is a provincial highway located in the Laurentides and Lanaudière region of Quebec and serves a large portion of the popular touristic area as well as numerous lakes and cottage areas in the Middle and Upper Laurentians... ) |
Transition from 4 to 2 lanes or vice-versa | |
| Mirabel Mirabel, Quebec Mirabel is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is an off-island suburb north-west of Montreal.Mirabel is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality and census division of Quebec, coextensive with the city of Mirabel. Its geographical code is 74.Mirabel's population was... |
272 | Boulevard Arthur-Sauvé | |
| 279 | Chemin St-Simon | ||
| (281) | Rue Helen-Bristol | At-grade intersection | |
| (283) | Rue Louis-Bisson | At-grade intersection | |
| 285 | Mirabel International Airport Montréal-Mirabel International Airport Montréal-Mirabel International Airport, originally called Montréal International Airport and widely known simply as Mirabel is an airport located in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, northwest of Montreal and was opened October 4, 1975... |
Transition from 2 to 4 lanes or vice-versa | |
| 288 | Boulevard Henri-Fabre | ||
| 292 |  Autoroute 15Quebec Autoroute 15 Autoroute 15 is a highway in western Quebec, Canada... (Autoroute des Laurentides) |
||
| (293) | Boulevard Curé-Labelle (Route 117 Quebec route 117 Route 117 is a provincial highway within the Canadian province of Quebec, running between Montreal and the Quebec/Ontario border where it continues as Highway 66 east of Kearns, Ontario... ) |
At-grade intersection Eastern terminus of the eastern segment |
Resources
- Google Maps: western section of Autoroute 50 from Gatineau to Thurso
- Google Maps: eastern section of Autoroute 50 from Grenville to Mirabel
- Transports Quebec Autoroute 50 Project Description and Timeline (in French)
- Transports Quebec Outaouais Projects Description and Timeline (in French)
- A-50 at Exitlists.com
- A-50 at Quebec Autoroutes
- Transports Quebec Map