Quebec Autoroute 31
Highway in Quebec
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Autoroute 31 (A-31) is an Autoroute in the region of Lanaudière in Quebec. Constructed in 1966, A-31 primarily links Joliette with A-40 and in turn to Montreal, Trois-Rivières, and other points served by Quebec's autoroute system. A-31 is only 14 km (8.7 mi) long, making it one of the shortest autoroutes in the province. It is multiplexed with Route 131 for its entire length.
 Autoroute 31 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autoroute Antonio-Barrette | ||||
 A-31 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Transports Québec | ||||
| Length | 14 km[1][2] (8.7 mi) | |||
| Existed | 1966[2]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   A-40 / R-131 in Lavaltrie | |||
| North end |  R-131 / R-158 in Joliette | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | Canada | |||
| Province | Quebec | |||
| Major cities | Joliette, Lavaltrie, Saint-Thomas | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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A-31 carries the name Autoroute Antonio-Barrette, named for a politician from Joliette who briefly served as Premier of Quebec in 1960.
Route description
A-31 begins just south of its interchange with A-40 in Lavaltrie. Motorists exiting A-40 can choose to head north on A-31/Route 131 or south on Route 131 alone to Lavaltrie's city centre. The A-31/A-40 interchange has an unusual configuration, built to accommodate tollbooths that were dismantled.
The freeway runs through farmland for much of its length, with exits at km 2, km 7 and km 12 to serve local roads.
A-31 ends at km 15 at a cloverleaf interchange with Route 158. Plans for Quebec's autoroute system initially called for A-31 to meet A-50 at this interchange. Anticipating this outcome, Route 158 in the immediate vicinity of the interchange was constructed as a limited-access highway and signed as A-50. Once plans to extend the A-50 east of the A-15 were abandoned in the 1980s, this stretch of highway was redesignated Route 158. A series of deadly accidents on Route 158 prompted a 2014 petition drive to reconstruct the highway to Autoroute standards and return the designation of A-50.[3]
Motorists exiting A-31 at km 15 may continue on Route 158 west to Saint-Esprit, Route 158 east to Berthierville, or Route 131 north to Saint-Félix-de-Valois. Past this interchange, A-31 ends and becomes Boulevard Dollard, which continues into downtown Joliette.
Exit list
| RCM | Location | km[4] | mi | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D'Autray | Lavaltrie | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | R-131 south – Lavaltrie | Southern terminus of concurrency with R-131 |
| 1 | A-40 / Rang Saint-François – Québec, Montréal | Partial at-grade intersection; A-40 exit 22 | ||||
| 1.6 | 0.99 | 2 | Rang Saint-Henri / Rang du Point-du-Jour | |||
| Joliette | Saint-Thomas | 7.3 | 4.5 | 7 | Saint-Thomas, Saint-Paul | |
| Joliette | 11.9 | 7.4 | 12 | Rue Ernest-Harnois / Rue Nazaire-Laurin | Northbound exit and entrance | |
| 13.4 | 8.3 | 14 | R-131 north / R-158 – Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Berthierville, Saint-Jérôme | Northern terminus of concurrency with R-131; signed as exits 14E (east) and 14O (west) | ||
| 14.0 | 8.7 | – | Boulevard Dollard / Rue Calixa-Lavalleé / Rue Joseph-Arthur – Joliette Centre-Ville | Roundabout; continuation beyond R-158 | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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