Quebec Autoroute 31

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
Quebec provincial highways Autoroutes List Former
← A-30 → A-35

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
		11.9	7.4	12	Rue Ernest-Harnois / Rue Nazaire-Laurin	Northbound exit and entrance
	Joliette	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       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

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.
3. Ferland, Mathieu (24 July 2014). "Une pétition circule pour modifier la route 158". Le Journal de Joliette (in French). Retrieved 18 March 2016.
4. "Quebec Autoroute 31" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved April 17, 2023.

External links

Template:Attached KML/Quebec Autoroute 31

KML is from Wikidata

• Transports Quebec Map (in French)