Autoroute 20, as originally conceived, was to follow the north shore of the Fleuve St-Laurent (St. Lawrence River) to the north of Montréal and Longueuil, and then cross the Pont-Tunnel Louis H. Lafontaine. To the east of that bridge-tunnel, the Autoroute Transcanadienne is indeed A-20. However, it magically becomes Autoroute 25 at QC 132, and 25 then continues into Montréal and... ends. Very abruptly. Two things went wrong here. Firstly, A-25 was meant to continue northwestward as a freeway to A-440 and then north toward Terrebonne. There remains plenty of room to do this, and Wikipedia tells me there will shortly be construction on a new toll bridge to link the two portions. Until this bridge is open, 25 uses Blvd. Henri-Bourassa Est (east) to Blvd. Pie-IX, a temporary arrangement that includes traffic signals and driveways. The second thing that went wrong is that A-20 never did follow the north shore. After passing A-10/A-15 and the Pont Champlain, the freeway dips into two tunnels and then ends into Rue Notre Dame Est (east). Then there's a short Ave. Souligny freeway that connects to a highly overpowered interchange with A-25 just west of the Pont-Tunnel. The link between those two pieces is unlikely to be constructed, though it has not been officially scrapped; I wonder whether, if it is ever constructed, the completed freeway would take A-20 back onto the route it was supposed to follow. The longer piece of freeway (through the tunnels) has been redesignated A-720, and A-20 is routed across Pont Champlain and up QC 132. A-25 may have been intended to start at the A-10/A-15 interchange and continue north along the path of what is now A-20, then cross the Pont-Tunnel in a multiplex - otherwise, it would have started at the A-20/25 interchange (at Ave. Souligny).


A-20 WB where it enters Ontario as Highway 401, courtesy Averill Hecht.


An ancient, patched BGS still lives at Sortie 2. Clearly it's a Québec shield on the right, ruling out ON 2, and there isn't any other provincial route within 10 km - the nearest one is QC 340. Could it be that?


Westbound to the west of the infamous Ile Perrot (this page stops there in a moment), first some early mentions of ON 417 via A-40 (and this is truly the best way to reach all of those destinations, even Mirabel, since the alternative to head east is to go through Ile Perrot), and then some font size confusion. Usually, since "de" means "of," Salaberry would be the place name and Valleyfield would be insignificant, but apparently the city goes by Valleyfield in the common parlance.


Despite the Reine de Laiterie sign from back when apparently DQ couldn't be arsed to learn French, Ile Perrot is still rotten. It sticks A-20 with far too many traffic signals, and the artificially low speed limit is heavily enforced. I traveled A-20 here in the name of clinching, but regardless of destination, the casual traveler will want to use A-540, A-40, and A-13 for a freeway-speed bypass. Because of the shape of l'Ile de Montréal, A-20 and A-40 come within a kilometer of each other during that bypass, and are barely 5 km apart at either end. One proposal would have added an unnumbered Autoroute (A-38 for QC 138?) between them on the east side of Montréal, which seems wildly unnecessary - but if Québec can't even finish A-20 through the city (see A-720, linked below), what hope was there for a third parallel freeway?


Westbound across the Galipeault Bridge. The eastbound, or awesomely cool, side was constructed as a unique cable-stayed bridge in 1964. This predates the Papineau-Leblanc Bridge on A-19 by five years, and very well may be the oldest cable-stayed bridge ever constructed in North America - the modern style began only nine years before in Europe. Like other early cable-stayed bridges, this (and the Papineau-Leblanc too) has a paucity of supporting cables, and thus a more substantial structure. The westbound side was built in 1924, but rehabbed in 1991; the whole structure is due for an extensive makeover, removing those nifty red towers, starting this year (2008).


Where there is construction, and ugly construction shields, there is Frédéric Laflèche (I just named him, so if you steal it, you owe me money). Pay attention, be responsible, slow down, and for Pete's sake connect his hands back to his body! Before he stops smiling! Frédéric was posing for Lou Corsaro.


Older version of the angry cloud that I have a photo of on my A-35 page, on A-20 eastbound nearing Montréal courtesy Averill Hecht.


Not button copy, but clearly an older sign that was once probably for Rue Cardinal. Everything else here is newer - this is the airport formerly known as Dorval, as many signs around the area still call it. This photo is Sortie 1 on A-520 SB, right before the signalized traffic circle at A-20 that marks its end. A-19 also ends at a traffic circle, at A-40, but it wasn't a freeway for several kilometers prior.


Boulevard Lasalle WB at Rue Wellington, and the turn for Rue Woodland to the bridge (Pont), in Verdun. Thanks to SPUI for remembering the location. The shield may be for A-20, but the little blue sign is for the Autoroute des Cantons de l'Est - the Eastern Counties Autoroute, which can only be A-10 (since A-20 and A-40 head northeast). Yes, following A-20 will take you to A-10 and Pont Champlain, but those are many, many kilometres to the east.


WB Sortie (Exit) 60, the southern beginning of Autoroute 13. This ramp is artfully carved below the rest of the interchange to provide a direct connection without yields and weaves or excess property takings.


As the Sortie 63 ramps to QC 138 fly over from the right, the westbound side of A-20 flies over from the left, and A-20 EB ends up on the north side of the freeway for a few kilometers. I don't know why the sides switch over, but as I postulate on my A-720 page, I think it's just to make the A-15 interchange look much cooler. Photos do pick up on the 720 page, linked at bottom, so please follow there and then return here to head east from Montreal. Or follow A-20 via the A-15 page, also linked at bottom. Assuming you've done both of those tasks, continue below.

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The remainder of the photos on this page are taken westbound, and therefore start at Drummondville.


A lot of older signs, with the exit arrow still inside the tab, and then life imitates art around St.-Hyacinthe. I'm guessing A-20 originally transitioned into QC-116 here before the St.-Hyacinthe bypass was constructed. So why the freshly painted double yellow line on an exit ramp that's clearly one way?


Westbound past some more older BGS's to an unusual blemish on the flat plains of Québec, Mont St.-Hilaire. Mont St.-Bruno is a smaller irregular hump, a few kilometers to the west. There are two more humps to the southeast (Mont Rougemont and Mont Yamaska), and then nothing more in any direction. These unusual humps, the Monteregian Hills, also contain several unusual minerals not found anywhere else. As I've learned by reading (yay knowledge), these aren't so much protrusions from the ground as they are more durable remnants of a mountainous (or at least hilly area) that has otherwise eroded away.


Nearing Montréal. The first is an apparently patented Montréal blank sign - they're on every highway approaching the city, almost as if they're placeholders for variable message signs. The second, along with the photo to follow, is on the QC 132 duplex. It's the Stade Olympique, where Les Expos used to play, possibly the only stadium that feels/felt even smaller than Fenway Park.


Even though I'm on A-20, this exit number is from A-15. The exit number of the crossing freeway, coming off of Pont Champlain, is also 53, and the only one I have to verify is A-10 West (it may be Sortie 6, sadly). The way this interchange works, the ramps are all the exits regardless of through route, so the only highways that don't follow an exit (or Sortie 53, for that matter) are A-10 and QC 132, the through routes, even though most traffic is following the other highways.

Onto Autoroute 15 and A-20/15/10
A-720, would-be A-20

Into Ontario on Highway 401
To Autoroute 40 via A-540
To Ontario Highway 417
To Pont Mercier and QC 138
Follow QC 132 at Sortie 53
Sortie 53 to A-10
Sortie 53 to I-87 in New York
Back to Québec Roads
Back to Roads