Quebec Autoroute 50

Autoroute 50 (Autoroute de l'Outaouais) is an Autoroute in western Quebec, Canada. It links the City of Gatineau and Canada's National Capital Region to the Greater Montreal area.

Autoroute 50
Autoroute de l'Outaouais
Route information
Maintained by Transports Québec
Length159 km (99 mi)
Existed1975[1]–present
Major junctions
West endRue Montcalm in Gatineau
  Route 148 in Gatineau (Hull)

A-5 in Gatineau (Hull)
Route 344 in Grenville-sur-la-Rouge

A-15 (TCH) in Mirabel
East end Route 117 near Mirabel
Location
Major citiesGatineau, L'Ange-Gardien, Lachute, Mirabel
Highway system
← A-40→ A-55
Autoroute 50 between Fassett and Calumet in the Ottawa River Valley

Until November 2012, there were two distinct sections of A-50: one section running eastward from Hull and the other westward from Mirabel. The gap in the highway was filled on November 26, 2012, and the two-lane freeway opened for traffic on the full 159 km (98.8 mi) length.[2][3]

The route provides a freeway alternative to Route 148 that does not require crossing into Ontario, unlike the main Trans-Canada Highway route (A-40 / Hwy 417) from metropolitan Montreal.

History

Oswald Parent (a Liberal MP from Hull) originally proposed construction of the A-50 in 1962. Eight years later, Quebec Premier Jean-Jacques Bertrand announced plans for construction. It was originally envisioned that the A-50 would extend over 400 km from L'Isle-aux-Allumettes at the Ontario border through Saint-Jérôme and Joliette along the Route 148 and 158 corridors to Berthierville and a junction with the A-40. The primary purpose of the A-50 was to connect Ottawa and the Outaouais with Montréal–Mirabel International Airport.

At the time, the Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport was not yet built, and the national capital lacked highway access to an international air hub. Mirabel's rapid decline as an air hub as well as the Quebec government's decision in the 1970s to impose a moratorium on new autoroute construction resulted in a significantly truncated route for the A-50. Plans for extending the A-50 west of Hull and east of the A-15/TCH were abandoned. The exit numbers, however, are based on that original projected length of the autoroute.

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.

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. Many overpasses are built to accommodate a fully divided, four-lane highway in the future such that only one portion of the overpass is currently used. 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 2007 multi-fatality accident occurred on highway 148 near Buckingham, a section of highway that A-50 would bypass.[4]

Unusual for a limited-access highway, the A-50 contains two railway crossings at grade, both of the Quebec Gatineau Railway (QGRY). The first crosses the QGRY Lachute Subdivision between exits 260 and 272, at 45.651008°N 74.229047°W / 45.651008; -74.229047, while the second crosses the QGRY St-Jerome Spur about 1 km west of exit 279, at 45.682948°N 74.125982°W / 45.682948; -74.125982.

There has been some support to rename the highway Autoroute Maurice-Richard after historic Montreal Canadiens hockey player Maurice Richard, but the Commission de toponymie du Québec chose to wait until the section between Buckingham and Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours was finished before making a decision, and to date no renaming has happened.[5]

Safety improvements

Following a series of fatal collisions in 2007, it was announced that centreline rumble strips would be installed in various no-passing zones along Autoroute 50. This is the first installation of its kind in Quebec and serves as a pilot project.

The two at-grade intersections at km 281 and 283 were removed in 2016.

Exit list

Note: exit numbers in parentheses are unsigned.

RCMLocationkmmiExitDestinationsNotes
OutaouaisGatineau(133)Rue MontcalmAt-grade intersection; western terminus
134 Boulevard des Allumettières (formerly Boulevard Saint-Laurent) (Route 148 west)Westbound exit and eastbound entrance;
signed as exits 134-O (west) and 134-E (east)
west end of Route 148 concurrency
135 A-5 (Autoroute de la Gatineau) / Boulevard Maisonneuve – Centre-Ville, Ottawa, ManiwakiExit 2 on A-5 (Autoroute de la Gatineau)
138 Rue Saint-Louis (Route 307)
139 Boulevard Maloney (Route 148 east)Eastbound exit, westbound entrance;
east end of Route 148 concurrency
140Boulevard de La GappeWestbound access to Route 148 east (Boulevard Maloney)
141Boulevard de La VérendryeEastbound exit, westbound entrance
145Montée Paiement
147Boulevard Labrosse
150 Route 366 (Boulevard Lorrain)
154Boulevard de l'AéroportAccess to Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport
159Avenue des Laurentides
165Rue GeorgesEastbound exit, westbound entrance
166 Route 315 (Chemin de Masson / Avenue de Buckingham) to Route 148Transition from 4 to 2 lanes or vice versa
171Chemin Lépine
L'Ange-Gardien174 Route 309 north / Chemin Doherty – Mont-Laurier
Thurso187 Route 317 – Ripon
Plaisance197Montée Papineau
Plaisance205 Route 321 – Saint-André-AvellinTransition from 2 to 4 lanes or vice versa
Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours210 Route 323 – Montebello, Mont-TremblantTransition from 4 to 2 lanes or vice versa
Fassett216Montée Fassett
LaurentidesGrenville-sur-la-Rouge226Chemin Avoca
233Chemin Kilmar
239 Route 344 south (Scotch Road / Chemin Scotch) to Route 148 – Grenville, HawkesburyConnects to Ontario Highway 34
Brownsburg-Chatham252Montée Labranche
254 Route 148 (Rue Principale) – LachuteTransition from 2 to 4 lanes or vice versa
Lachute258 Route 327 (Avenue d'Argenteuil) – Saint-André-d'Argenteuil
260 Route 329 (Chemin Béthanie) – Centre-Ville, Mirabel (Saint-Hermas)Transition from 4 to 2 lanes or vice versa
Mirabel272 Route 148 (Route Arthur-Sauvé) – Saint-Eustache
279Chemin St-Simon
285 Boulevard Henri-Fabre – Mirabel International AirportSigned as exits 285-N (north) and 285-S (south) westbound;
transition from 2 to 4 lanes or vice versa
288Boulevard Henri-Fabre
292 A-15 (TCH) (Autoroute des Laurentides) – Saint-Jérôme, MontrealSigned as exits 292-N (north) and 292-S (south);
exit 35 on A-15
(293) Route 117 (Boulevard Curé-Labelle) – Saint-Jérôme, Mirabel (Saint-Janvier)At-grade intersection; eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References
  1. "Répertoire des autoroutes du Québec" (in French). Transports Québec. Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  2. "Ouverture du dernier tronçon de l'autoroute 50 | Ottawa–Gatineau" (in French). Radio-Canada. 2012-11-26. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  3. "L'autoroute 50 est bel et bien une autoroute, soutient le MTQ | Ottawa–Gatineau" (in French). Radio-Canada. 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  4. "Gatineau man, 61, dies in 14-vehicle crash". CBC News. 2007-03-15.
  5. Communiqué: L'Autoroute 50 - Commission de toponymie Archived April 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved September 3, 2007

Resources

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