Quebec Autoroute 55

Autoroute 55 (also called Autoroute de l'Énergie north of the Autoroute 20 and Autoroute Joseph-Armand Bombardier south of it) is an important north–south Autoroute and the only one running in that direction in central Quebec. It is the longest north-south Autoroute, beginning as the continuation of I-91 at the Canada–United States border near Stanstead and continuing to Shawinigan, where it downgrades to Route 155. The total length of A-55 is currently 247 km (153.5 mi) long, including concurrencies with Autoroute 10, Autoroute 20 and Autoroute 40.

Autoroute 55
Autoroute Joseph-Armand Bombardier Autoroute de l'Énergie
Route information
Maintained by Transports Québec
Length	247.0 km[1][2] (153.5 mi)
Existed	1964[2]–present
Major junctions
South end	I-91 at the Canada–United States border in Stanstead, Quebec
	A-10 in Magog A-410 in Sherbrooke A-10 / A-610 in Sherbrooke A-20 (TCH) in Drummondville A-20 (TCH) / A-955 in Sainte-Eulalie A-30 / Route 132 in Bécancour Route 138 in Trois-Rivières A-40 in Trois-Rivières
North end	Route 155 in Shawinigan, Quebec
Location
Major cities	Sherbrooke, Drummondville, Trois-Rivières, Shawinigan
Highway system
Quebec provincial highways Autoroutes List Former ← A-50 → A-70

Route description

Autoroute 55 connects 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 one of the longest bridges in Quebec and in Canada.

A-55 had a short "gap" between Bécancour and Drummondville until October 2006. The gap resulted 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, plans changed in the 1970s, and the present routing was chosen. The southern section was originally supposed to be Autoroute 51 and was intended to continue to the planned extension of Autoroute 30 in Pierreville. A-55 was signed along Route 155 (which is not an Autoroute-standard highway) until the new route was completed.

All of the southern portion of A-55 became a full four-lane freeway by the end of October 2006. The gap being filled in the northern portion will initially be a two-lane freeway for about 20 km (12.4 mi), but it is intended to ultimately be four lanes.

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 Inc., started by building snowmobiles and eventually grew into a major international manufacturer of transit vehicles and aircraft.

The designation Autoroute de l'Énergie means "Energy Highway" since it provides access to the Gentilly Nuclear Generating Station in Bécancour and the hydroelectric facilities in Shawinigan and the Haut-Saint-Maurice area, but the section north of A-30 is likely to remain at its comparatively short length to Shawinigan for the foreseeable future.

Exit list

Region	RCM or ET	Location	km	mi	Old exit	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Estrie	Memphrémagog	Stanstead					I-91 south – St. Johnsbury	Continues in Vermont
					Canada–United States border Derby Line–Rock Island Border Crossing South end of Autoroute Joseph-Armand Bombardier
							Boulevard Notre-Dame (Route 247 west)	At-grade intersection; traffic signals
						2	Route 143 – Stanstead
		Stanstead-Est				6	Montée Baie Saint-Thomas
							Chemin Curtis	At-grade intersection
		Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley				21	Route 141 – Ayer's Cliff, Coaticook
						29	Route 108 – Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, North Hatley, Lennoxville
		Magog				32	Rue-Saint-Patrice, Boulevard Industriel
						33	Route 112 – Magog (Centre-Ville)
					71[lower-roman 1]	34 121[lower-roman 1]	A-10 west – Montréal	A-55 branches east; south (west) end of A-10 concurrency; northbound signed as exits 34-E (east) and 34-O (west); southbound signed as 121
	Memphrémagog / Magog – Sherbrooke boundary				72[lower-roman 1] 36	123[lower-roman 1]	Rue Sherbrook (Route 112) to Route 249 – Magog (Centre-Ville), Saint-Denis-de-Brompton
	City of Sherbrooke				41	128[lower-roman 1]	Boulevard Bourque (Route 112)
					46	133[lower-roman 1]	Chemin Saint-Roch Nord
					50	137[lower-roman 1]	Route 220 (Boulevard Industriel), Chemin de Saint-Élie
					54	140[lower-roman 1]	A-410 east (Autoroute Jacques-O'Bready) to Route 108 (Rue King)
					55	141[lower-roman 1]	Boulevard de Monseigneur-Fortier
						143[lower-roman 1]	A-610 east (Autoroute Louis-Bilodeau) to Route 112 – Centre-Ville Sherbrooke, East Angus, Lac-Mégantic	A-55 turns north; north (east) end of A-10 concurrency
						58	Chemin des Écossais (Route 222) – Saint-Denis-de-Brompton, Valcourt
						60	Rue Laval
	Le Val-Saint-François	Windsor				71	Route 249 – Windsor, Saint-Grégoire-de-Greenlay, Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton	Signed as exits 71N (north) and 71S (south) northbound
		Melbourne				85	Route 243 – Racine, Valcourt, Melbourne
						88	Route 116 – Acton Vale, Richmond, Val-des-Sources
		Ulverton				98	Chemin Mooney
Centre-du-Québec	Drummond	L'Avenir				103	Lefebvre, L'Avenir, Ulverton, Durham-Sud
		Drummondville				111	Route Caya
						116	Route 139 – Wickham, Acton Vale, Granby, Saint-Nicéphore
						122	Boulevard Jean-de-Brébeuf - Drummondville
						125	Route 122 – Saint-Germain-de-Grantham, Drummondville
						128 173[lower-roman 2]	A-20 (TCH) west – Montréal	A-55 branches east; south (west) end of A-20 concurrency
					North end of Autoroute Joseph-Armand Bombardier
						175[lower-roman 2]	Boulevard Lemire (Route 143 north) – Saint-Bonaventure, Saint-François-du-Lac	South (west) end of Route 143 concurrency
						177[lower-roman 2]	Route 143 south – Saint-Majorique-de-Grantham, Drummondville	North (east) end of Route 143 concurrency
						179[lower-roman 2]	Chemin du Golf
		Saint-Charles-de-Drummond				181[lower-roman 2]	Saint-Charles-de-Drummond, Drummondville, Saint-Joachim-de-Courval
		Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover				185[lower-roman 2]	Route 255 – Baie-du-Febvre, Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover, Saint-Félix-de-Kingsey
		Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil				191[lower-roman 2]	Sainte-Brigitte-des-Saults
						196[lower-roman 2]	Route 259 – Nicolet, Sainte-Perpétue, Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil, Quebec
	Drummond – Nicolet-Yamaska boundary	Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil – Saint-Léonard-d'Aston boundary				200[lower-roman 2]	Saint-Léonard-d'Aston
	Nicolet-Yamaska	Saint-Léonard-d'Aston				202[lower-roman 2]	Rang du Moulin-Rouge
		Sainte-Eulalie				204[lower-roman 2]	Rang des Cédres, Rang des Plaines
						210[lower-roman 2] 145	A-955 south – Victoriaville, Saint-Albert, Warwick, Bécancour A-20 (TCH) east to Route 161 – Quebec, Sainte-Eulalie, Saint-Valère	A-55 branches north; north (east) end of A-20 concurrency; A-955 exit 15
					South end of Autoroute de l'Énergie
		Saint-Wenceslas				153	9e Rang - Saint-Léonard-d'Aston, Saint-Wenceslas
		Saint-Célestin (Municipality)					Route 226 – Saint-Célestin (Village)	At-grade intersection; traffic signals
	Bécancour	Bécancour					Rang Prince	At-grade intersection
							Chemin Forest - Précieux-Sang	At-grade intersection
							Chemin Thibodeau	At-grade intersection
						173	Saint-Grégoire, Nicolet, Wôlinak
						176	A-30 to Route 132 – Bécancour, Sainte-Angèle	Exit 209 on A-30
Saint Lawrence River					Laviolette Bridge
Mauricie	City of Trois-Rivières					181	Rue Notre-Dame, Boulevard Gene-H.-Kruger (Route 138)
						182	A-40 east – Trois-Rivières Centre-Ville, Quebec	South end of A-40 concurrency; exit 197 on A-40
						183	Boulevard Jean-XXIII
						186	A-40 west / Boulevard des Forges – Montreal	North end of A-40 concurrency; exit 196 on A-40
						191	Boulevard Industriel, Boulevard Saint-Michel
						196	Boulevard des Forges - Saint-Thomas-de-Caxton
	Maskinongé	Saint-Étienne-des-Grès				202	Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, Saint-Barnabé
						206	Saint-Boniface
		Saint-Boniface				211	Route 153 – Saint-Boniface, Shawinigan
	City of Shawinigan					181	Rue Notre-Dame, Boulevard Gene-H.-Kruger (Route 138)
						216	Rue Burrill
						217	Rue Garnier (Route 351) – Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc
						220	Boulevard Hubert-Biermans, Boulevard Vallée-du-Parc
						223	5e avenue, 25e rue
						226	8e rue, 4e rue - Grand-Mère, Saint-Jean des Piles
							To Route 153 / 90e Avenue – Saint-Tite Route 155 north – Grandes-Piles, La Tuque	Roundabout; A-55 northern terminus, continues north as Route 155
					North end of Autoroute de l'Énergie
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

1. A-10 exit number
2. A-20 exit number

Gallery

• 
  Autoroute 55 southbound
• 
  Southbound view, showing super-2 undivided highway
• 
  Multiplex of Autoroutes 20 and 55
• 
  Southbound from Trois-Rivières at exit 181, approaching the Laviolette Bridge

References

1. Ministère des transports, "Distances routières", page (?), Les Publications du Québec, 2005
2. "Répertoire des autoroutes du Québec" (in French). Transports Québec. Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2008-02-23.

External links

• A-55 at Exitlists.com
• A-55 at Quebec Autoroutes
• Transports Quebec Map