Quebec Autoroute 55

Autoroute 55
Autoroute Joseph-Armand Bombardier Autoroute de l'Énergie
Route information
Maintained by Transports Québec
Length	247 km[1][2] (153 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

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.

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[]

This section contains a table that is missing kilometre posts for one or more junctions. Please help by .

Region	RCM or ET	Location	km	mi	Old exit	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Estrie	Memphrémagog	Stanstead	0.00	0.00			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
			0.27	0.17			Boulevard Notre-Dame (Route 247 west)	At-grade intersection; traffic signals
			2.17	1.35		2	Route 143 – Stanstead
		Stanstead-Est					Chemin Curtis	At-grade intersection
			5.71	3.55	Curtis Rest Stop (Northbound)
		Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley	20.67	12.84		21	Route 141 – Ayer's Cliff, Coaticook
			28.52	17.72		29	Route 108 – Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, North Hatley, Lennoxville
		Magog	31.99	19.88		32	Rue-Saint-Patrice, Boulevard Industriel
			33.14	20.59		33	Route 112 – Magog (Centre-Ville)
			33.92	21.08	71[i]	34 121[i]	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		35.80	22.25	72[i] 36	123[i]	Rue Sherbrook (Route 112) to Route 249 – Magog (Centre-Ville), Saint-Denis-de-Brompton
	City of Sherbrooke		39.95	24.82	41	128[i]	Boulevard Bourque (Route 112)
			45.97	28.56	46	133[i]	Chemin Saint-Roch Nord
			50.55	31.41	50	137[i]	Route 220 (Boulevard Industriel), Chemin de Saint-Élie
			54.00	33.55	54	140[i]	A-410 east (Autoroute Jacques-O'Bready) to Route 108 (Rue King)
			54.99	34.17	55	141[i]	Boulevard de Monseigneur-Fortier
			56.50	35.11		143[i]	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
			58.26	36.20		58	Chemin des Écossais (Route 222) – Saint-Denis-de-Brompton, Valcourt
			59.81	37.16		60	Rue Laval
	Le Val-Saint-François	Windsor	71.02	44.13		71	Route 249 – Windsor, Saint-Grégoire-de-Greenlay, Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton	Signed as exits 71N (north) and 71S (south) northbound
		Melbourne	84.94	52.78		85	Route 243 – Racine, Valcourt, Melbourne	Melbourne Service Centre
			88.68	55.10		88	Route 116 – Acton Vale, Richmond, Val-des-Sources
		Ulverton	97.63	60.66		98	Chemin Mooney	Northbound only
Centre-du-Québec	Drummond	L'Avenir	103.84	64.52		103	Lefebvre, L'Avenir, Ulverton, Durham-Sud
		Drummondville	111.20	69.10		111	Route Caya
			116.48	72.38		116	Route 139 – Wickham, Acton Vale, Granby, Saint-Nicéphore
			121.96	75.78		122	Boulevard Jean-de-Brébeuf - Drummondville
			125.06	77.71		125	Route 122 – Saint-Germain-de-Grantham, Drummondville
			127.57	79.27		128 173[ii]	A-20 (TCH) west – Montréal	A-55 branches east; south (west) end of A-20 concurrency
					North end of Autoroute Joseph-Armand Bombardier
						175[ii]	Boulevard Lemire (Route 143 north) – Saint-Bonaventure, Saint-François-du-Lac	South (west) end of Route 143 concurrency
						177[ii]	Route 143 south – Saint-Majorique-de-Grantham, Drummondville	North (east) end of Route 143 concurrency
						179[ii]	Chemin du Golf
		Saint-Charles-de-Drummond				181[ii]	Saint-Charles-de-Drummond, Drummondville, Saint-Joachim-de-Courval
		Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover				185[ii]	Route 255 – Baie-du-Febvre, Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover, Saint-Félix-de-Kingsey
		Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil				191[ii]	Sainte-Brigitte-des-Saults
						196[ii]	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[ii]	Saint-Léonard-d'Aston
	Nicolet-Yamaska	Saint-Léonard-d'Aston				202[ii]	Rang du Moulin-Rouge
		Sainte-Eulalie				204[ii]	Rang des Cédres, Rang des Plaines
			145.74	90.56		210[ii] 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	153.86	95.60		153	9e Rang - Saint-Léonard-d'Aston, Saint-Wenceslas
		Saint-Célestin (Municipality)	164.88	102.45			Route 226 – Saint-Célestin (Village)	At-grade intersection; traffic signals
	Bécancour	Bécancour	168.01	104.40			Rang Prince	At-grade intersection
			169.84	105.53			Chemin Forest - Précieux-Sang	At-grade intersection
			171.51	106.57			Chemin Thibodeau	At-grade intersection
			173.87	108.04		173	Saint-Grégoire, Nicolet, Wôlinak
			176.35	109.58		176	A-30 to Route 132 – Bécancour, Sainte-Angèle	Exit 209 on A-30
Saint Lawrence River					Laviolette Bridge
Mauricie	City of Trois-Rivières		181.24	112.62		181	Rue Notre-Dame, Boulevard Gene-H.-Kruger (Route 138)
			182.51	113.41		182	A-40 east – Trois-Rivières Centre-Ville, Quebec	South end of A-40 concurrency; exit 197 on A-40
			183.38	113.95		183	Boulevard Jean-XXIII
			186.10	115.64		186	A-40 west / Boulevard des Forges – Montreal	North end of A-40 concurrency; exit 196 on A-40
			190.59	118.43		191	Boulevard Industriel, Boulevard Saint-Michel
			195.99	121.78		196	Boulevard des Forges - Saint-Thomas-de-Caxton
	Maskinongé	Saint-Étienne-des-Grès	201.85	125.42		202	Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, Saint-Barnabé
			204.36	126.98	Grès Rest Stop (Northbound, seasonal)
			205.95	127.97		206	Saint-Boniface
		Saint-Boniface	211.06	131.15		211	Route 153 – Saint-Boniface, Shawinigan
	City of Shawinigan		216.00	134.22		216	Rue Burrill
			216.98	134.83		217	Rue Garnier (Route 351) – Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc
			219.49	136.38		220	Boulevard Hubert-Biermans, Boulevard Vallée-du-Parc
			222.79	138.44		223	5e avenue, 25e rue
			225.83	140.32		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

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[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Quebec Autoroute 55.

Route map:

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