WB on Rue Peel (QC 112) in Montréal. The old cracked assembly is at Rue Notre-Dame, and may very well have originally had an A-20 shield on top from back when Québec was ambitious and thought it could complete the freeway.

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Le Pont Victoria was named for the queen of England at the time, to give you an idea of its age (1860 was the year). This was the first bridge to cross to Montréal, a critical link in the Grand Trunk lines across the region. Originally, as seen on The Montréal Hub, only the center portion of the bridge existed, a steel tube designed to carry trains; after being replaced in the 1880's by a series of trusses (which were built outside the frame of the tube) to mitigate air pollution inside the bridge, trains have used the structure to this day.
In 1899, two roadways were cantilevered off each side of the bridge, to accomodate automotive traffic, and a second track was added to the main span. At the same time, an odd hump occurred about 3/4 of the way across from Montreal, where the second track crosses underneath the side spans. The automotive lanes (which I am told were once two eight-feet lanes on each side, with one side for streetcars only, though I have found little evidence for this) were tolled until 1962.


To get to the bridge from the east (non-Montréal) side, one must follow a convoluted, very narrow set of ramps. This bridge would only suit one-way traffic on U.S. roads - and its clearance is far too low for trucks on Interstate highways. But here, it serves two 7- or 8- foot lanes. Even weirder, you are on the left!!
There are, in fact, two separate sets of ramps for each side, ending up in the same place. This supports the theory that each side might once have been two-way, for then there would be a reason to have both the eight-foot lanes through the ramps and the entire second set of ramps at all.
Notice from the aerial that half of the EB/outbound roadway follows the first set of tracks all the way across the main span, but then veers off and joins the second track across a much smaller channel. This is to facilitate the lane moving through the maze of ramps.


Views of the cantilevered side lanes, showing the central truss structure of the bridge as well as the way the second set of tracks departs from the bridge almost to the east side.


You can see in this picture the original steel-mesh/wire nameplate on the bridge.


The new style of wide shields, westbound about to enter the bridge ramps. Notice that even at this late hour, the right lane is a diamond lane for buses. The yellow sign indicates that there is no travel into the city from 3 PM until 7:15 PM on weekdays. By the way, despite the juxtaposition with USA, Québec refers to the city and not the province.

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Typical slippery when freezing sign on the indicated duplex.


A-10 Sortie 115 in Magog was under heavy reconstruction when I visited in 2008, apparently to replace bridges and not to alter the elongated traffic circle that is the "northern" end of QC 141. In the first photo, the EB bridge temporarily carries two-way traffic because the WB bridge is closed. The direct ramp to Chemin Miletta, where the A-10 EB entrance is, is closed to keep traffic patterns simple. Thus where the extremely new sign with wide shields meets the extremely old with the named Autoroute trailblazer, both signs aren't looking their best. Kudos to Québec for finding a blue patch for that sign; click for closeup that shows you the detail of the triangular shield. In the second photo, QC 141 SB heads due north to Orford, and then loops around to A-10's next exit (118).


On the east side of Magog, A-10/55 lies right in the middle of QC 112. This was clearly QC 112 first, and the 10/55 freeway was probably built here and around Magog some time after the Sherbrooke bypass was completed. This is between A-10/55 Sorties 128 and 123.


On the other end of Sherbrooke, at the former end of A-10, which now ends duplexed with A-55 at the point that A-610 begins. That's a great idea for pork-barrel legislation - change all the route numbers on your federally maintained highways! It necessitated two patches to get all the shields on there, and so the shields don't match up. Also, a VERS and/or TO would be of great help.

Another bridge, Pont Jacques-Cartier (on QC 134)
Another bridge, Pont Honoré-Mercier (on QC 138
Onto A-720
Onto A-20
Onto QC 132
Onto QC 223
Onto A-10
Onto A-610
To A-55
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