Autoroute 85 is a

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Autoroute and the route of the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...

in the province's

Bas-Saint-Laurent The Bas-Saint-Laurent (Lower Saint-Lawrence), is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlanti ...

region, also known as Autoroute Claude-Béchard. It is currently under construction with committed Federal and Provincial funding for its completion, with an estimated completion date of 2026. Once this upgrade is completed, it will close the last gap in the nearly continuous freeway section of the Trans-Canada between

Arnprior, Ontario Arnprior is a town in Renfrew County, in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located west of Downtown Ottawa, at the confluence of the Madawaska River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley. Arnprior has experienced sig ...

, and Sutherlands River, Nova Scotia, and for an even longer interprovincial freeway route between

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

and

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

. Running between

Rivière-du-Loup Rivière-du-Loup (; 2021 population 20,118) is a small city on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The city is the seat for the Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality and the judicial district of Kamouraska. Its one of ...

(at a junction with Autoroute 20) and a junction with

New Brunswick Route 2 Route 2 is a major provincial highway in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, carrying the main route of the Trans-Canada Highway in the province. The highway connects with Autoroute 85 at the border with Quebec and Highway 104 at the border ...

at the Quebec-

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

border, A-85 when complete will be the only

controlled access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

link between the

Maritime Provinces The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

and the rest of the country. A-85 is projected to be approximately long when construction is complete and is intended to replace Route 185, which has been called one of the deadliest highways in Canada. Currently there are two completed sections of A-85. The first section runs from Saint-Antonin (km 87) to a junction with the A-20 at Notre-Dame-du-Portage (km 100). Originally signed as Route 185 when built, it was designed as A-85 in 2005 following extensive rehabilitation. The second, newer section extends from the New Brunswick border (km 0) to

Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! () is a parish municipality in the Témiscouata Regional County Municipality of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec. The population is 1,318. Its economy is mainly agricultural. It is located southeast of Rivière-du-Lo ...

(km 48). Construction began in 2002 in the vicinity of

Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac is a municipality in Quebec, Canada, situated in the MRC of Témiscouata in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. The city was created on May 5, 2010 from the mergers of the city of Cabano and Notre-Dame-du-Lac. The new city was ...

and it was completed in 2016. The government of Quebec is currently building the final section from Saint-Antonin to Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, and it is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

Route description

Southern segment

A-85 begins at the Quebec-New Brunswick border as the continuation of New Brunswick Route 2 and the Trans-Canada Highway. In 2010, the Quebec government announced that A-85 would be named for

Claude Béchard Claude Béchard (June 29, 1969 – September 7, 2010) was a politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as Quebec Liberal Party Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for the riding of Kamouraska-Témiscouata in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region; as ...

, a longtime

Member of the National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

from Bas-Saint-Laurent. From the New Brunswick border, A-85 briefly parallels the main runway of the Edmundston Airport, which straddles the interprovincial border. The freeway travels in a northwesterly direction, following the course of the Madawaska River. The autoroute passes

Dégelis Dégelis is a city in Témiscouata Regional County Municipality within the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec. Its population in the Canada 2011 Census was 3,051. The Madawaska River flows from Lake Témiscouata, through Degelis, to join the ...

to the west with exits at km 12, km 14, and km 15. Briefly skirting the south shore of

Lake Témiscouata Lake Témiscouata is a lake in the Témiscouata region of southeastern Quebec, Canada. It is 40 km long, with a total area of 66 km². The Madawaska River flows from this lake to the Saint John River. The cities of Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, Dé ...

, A-85 passes through

, with exits at km 29, km 37, and km 40, providing access to Lac-Témiscouata National Park. At Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! (km 48), the controlled-access highway ends and the route resumes its designation as Route 185.

Northern segment

The second section of A-85 begins in Saint-Antonin with exits at km 89, km 90, and km 93 as it traverses the

Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands, or simply St. Lawrence Lowlands, is a physiographic region of Eastern Canada that comprises a section of southern Ontario bounded on the north by the Canadian Shield and by 3 of the Great Lakes — Lake Huron ...

. Exit 93 provides access to Route 191 which bypasses Rivière-du-Loup to the south and provides the most direct route for motorists bound for

Rimouski Rimouski ( ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski is the site of Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), t ...

Mont-Joli Mont-Joli () is a city in the La Mitis Regional County Municipality within the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. It is the county seat. The city is located east of Rimouski near the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. History In ...

, and Gaspésie via eastbound A-20. After one last exit (km 97), the A-85 merges with westbound A-20 at the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

. Westbound A-20 assumes the Trans-Canada Highway designation, continuing on to

Québec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is the ...

and

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

, then to

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

via A-20 and

Ontario Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access 400-series high ...

, or

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

via the A-40 and

Ontario Highway 417 King's Highway 417, commonly referred to as Highway 417 and as the Queensway through Ottawa, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It connects Ottawa with Montreal via A-40, and is the backbone of the highway system in the ...

History

The first section of A-85 that was built stretched from km 94 in

to A-20 at km 100. This section opened in 1972 as Route 185. In 2002, a bypass of Notre-Dame-du-Lac was built, then in 2004, a bypass of

was constructed. In 2005, the initial segment saw an extension south to km 88 in Saint-Antonin. The freeway was officially signed as A-85 from km 88 to km 100 in anticipation of the conversion of Route 185. In 2009, bypasses of

Cabano Cabano is a former city in Témiscouata Regional County Municipality within the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. It is situated on Lake Témiscouata on Autoroute 85. On May 5, 2010 it merged with Notre-Dame-du-Lac to form the new city ...

and

opened, and in 2011, those bypasses were connected. In 2013, the bypass of Dégelis was extended both ways, with the new freeway stretching from km 8 to km 22. It would be extended further south and tied into

in 2014. Also in 2014, the Notre-Dame-du-Lac and Cabano bypasses were connected, and then in 2015, the freeway was extended to km 48. In 2021 and 2022, the initial segment saw further extension south, with the new freeway stretching from km 76 to km 100. Another separate segment was constructed between km 56 and km 62. The entire freeway is meant to be connected by 2026.

Exit list

References

External links

Transport Quebec websiteTransports Quebec Map

{{Quebec Autoroutes 85 Quebec 085 Roads in Bas-Saint-Laurent Transport in Rivière-du-Loup