Route 136 (R-136), formerly Autoroute 720, known as the Ville-Marie Expressway (English) or Autoroute Ville-Marie (French) is an
Autoroute highway in the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
province of
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 ...
that is a spur route of
Autoroute 20 in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
. Its western terminus is located at the
Turcot Interchange
The Turcot Interchange is a three-level four-way freeway interchange within the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located southwest of downtown, the interchange links Autoroutes 15 (Décarie and Décarie South Expressways) and 20 (Remembrance H ...
, a junction with
Autoroute 15 and
Autoroute 20, and its eastern terminus is near the
Jacques Cartier Bridge
The Jacques Cartier Bridge (french: pont Jacques-Cartier) is a steel truss cantilever bridge crossing the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal Island, Montreal, Quebec, to the south shore at Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. The bridge crosses Saint Hel ...
(
Route 134), where the highway merges with
Notre-Dame Street
Notre-Dame Street (officially in french: Rue Notre-Dame) is a historic east-west street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It runs parallel to the Saint Lawrence River, from Lachine to the eastern tip of the island in Pointe-aux-Trembles, ...
. The Autoroute Ville-Marie designation is named after the downtown
borough of Ville-Marie, through which the expressway is routed. It was designated Autoroute 720 until 2021 when it was renamed to Route 136.
Part of R-136 runs underground (below grade) through
Downtown Montreal
Downtown Montreal ( French: ''Centre-Ville de Montréal'') is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The district is situated on the southernmost slope of Mount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the borough of Vil ...
. This section begins from the west at
Rue Guy (exit 4:
Rue de la Montagne
Rue de la Montagne, also known as Mountain Street, is a north–south street located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It starts at Wellington Street in the south and continues to above Doctor Penfield Avenue in the north, where it stops in a ...
/
Rue Atwater
Atwater Avenue (officially in french: avenue Atwater) is a major north–south street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It links Doctor Penfield Avenue in the Ville-Marie borough to the north, and Henri Duhamel Street in the Verdun borough to ...
) and remains underground almost all the way to its eastern end, except for a short section between Rue Saint-Urbain and Rue Hôtel-de-Ville. The tunnelled section west of this gap is known as the Ville-Marie Tunnel, and the section east of it is known as Viger Tunnel. However, locals regard both tunnels as one, and the term ''Ville-Marie Tunnel'' is often used to refer to both tunnels.
History
It was originally envisioned that Autoroute 20 would extend from the
Turcot Interchange
The Turcot Interchange is a three-level four-way freeway interchange within the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located southwest of downtown, the interchange links Autoroutes 15 (Décarie and Décarie South Expressways) and 20 (Remembrance H ...
, along the route of the 720, to the
Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis (d ...
. Indeed, when the first section of the expressway was constructed and opened in the early 1970s, many Montrealers, anticipating that it would eventually replace the
Metropolitan Expressway
is a network of toll expressways in the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is operated and maintained by the .
Most routes are grade-separated (elevated roads or tunnels) and central routes have many sharp curves and multi-lane merges that requi ...
as the primary connector route to the Lafontaine Tunnel, and onward to
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
, dubbed the then-unnamed roadway the "Downtown
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 ...
". The
provincial transport ministry (Le ministère des Transports du Québec, or MTQ) had planned to extend the Viger Tunnel east to
Autoroute 25 at its Souligny Avenue interchange. The right-of-way has existed since the original layout of the A-720, and buildings along the extension were demolished at that time, even though the 720 was not completed due to cost constraints. The government of Montreal instead converted the portion of Rue Notre Dame east of the Jacques Cartier Bridge into a six-lane ''urban boulevard'', rather than continue a sunken limited-access expressway. The final project was approved, and work began on Souligny Avenue to double the span of the travel lanes.
In 2007, working crews for
Transports Québec
Le ministère des Transports du Québec ( en, Ministry of Transportation of Quebec), known by its short form name Transports Québec, is a Quebec government ministry responsible for transport, infrastructure and law in Quebec, Canada.
Since 2022 ...
discovered major cracks in a support pillar and closed several lanes of the expressway. Transports Quebec announced on August 10, 2007, major repair projects for a large section of the Expressway west of the Ville-Marie tunnel.
On July 31, 2011, part of the roof of the Ville-Marie Tunnel collapsed, sending large chunks of concrete to the road below. This incident occurred at a time with little traffic and no vehicles were damaged. Several construction workers were on site at the time and were unharmed. The tunnel had to be closed for repair of the roof and several other parts of the tunnel. Transport Minister Sam Hamad announced on Friday, August 5 that the tunnel would re-open the following day.
In 2021, the A-720 was renamed to Route 136 due to the highway having reduced lane sizes following the reconstruction of the
Turcot Interchange
The Turcot Interchange is a three-level four-way freeway interchange within the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located southwest of downtown, the interchange links Autoroutes 15 (Décarie and Décarie South Expressways) and 20 (Remembrance H ...
.
[Turcot Project]
(in French)
Exit list
Gallery
Image:Approaching-turcot-interchange-east.jpg, Approaching Turcot Interchange
Image:Through-turcot-interchange-east-1.jpg, Start of interchange
Image:Through-turcot-interchange-east-2.jpg, Near end of interchange
Image:Ville-marie-east.jpg, Ville-Marie expressway, after lanes merge from Decarie
Image:720-rue-guy-exit-east.jpg, Rue Guy exit
Image:720-rue-de-la-montagne-rue-st-jacques-exit-east.jpg, Rue St-Jacques/Rue de la Montagne exit
Image:Start-of-tunnel-east.jpg, Beginning of tunnel
Image:Through-tunnel-1-east.jpg, Entering the tunnel
Image:East-of-downtown-1-east.jpg, East of Palais de Congres
Image:Pont-jacques-cartier-exit-east.jpg, Pont Jacques-Cartier exit
Image:Approaching-end-of-highway-east.jpg, Near eastern terminus
Image:Ville-marie-blvd-east.jpg, Highway at Ville-Marie boulevard
Image:Beginning-of-notre-dame-east.jpg, Terminus at Notre-Dame
References
External links
Ville Marie Autoroute (A-720) at Steve Anderson's montrealroads.comTransports Quebec Map
{{Streets in Montreal
136 136 may refer to:
*136 (number)
*AD 136
*136 BC 136 may refer to:
*136 (number)
*AD 136
Year 136 ( CXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 136th Year of the Common Era (C ...
Roads in Montreal
1972 establishments in Quebec