The Galipeault Bridge is a bridge on the western tip of the Island of Montreal, spanning the Ottawa River between

Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue () is an on-island suburb located at the western tip of the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is the second oldest community in Montreal's West Island, having been founded as a parish in 1703. The old ...

and L'Île-Perrot,

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 ...

, Canada. It carries four lanes of Autoroute 20, and was named after

Antonin Galipeault Antonin Galipeault (August 7, 1879 – May 12, 1971) was a Québécois politician, lawyer and judge . Biography Antonin Galipeault studied at a seminary in Joliette and at Université Laval, later being admitted to the Bar of Quebec in 19 ...

, who was minister of public works under

Louis-Alexandre Taschereau Louis-Alexandre Taschereau (; March 5, 1867 – July 6, 1952) was the 14th premier of Quebec from 1920 to 1936. He was a member of the Parti libéral du Québec. Early life Taschereau was born in Quebec City, Quebec, the son of Jean-Thoma ...

. Incidentally,

Taschereau Bridge Taschereau Bridge is a bridge linking Pincourt, on Île Perrot, to Vaudreuil-Dorion, in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges RMC across the West Channel of the Ottawa River. The bridge was originally built in 1925, and was doubled in 1964, as part of the s ...

, along the same highway, was part of the same project. The first span was built in 1924, a girder bridge that was replaced in 1991 by another structure of the same type, using the same foundations. It was doubled in 1964 with a

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...

, which carried the eastbound lanes of Autoroute 20 until its demolition early in 2008. Feature

The 1964 doubling of the structure was done to appease business interests in L'Île-Perrot and Dorion who were worried that the abandoning of the unfinished Île Bray Bridge in favor of the nearby

Île aux Tourtes Bridge The Île aux Tourtes Bridge is a bridge on the western tip of the Island of Montreal, spanning Lake of Two Mountains between Senneville, and Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada. It carries 6 lanes of Autoroute 40 and is the main transportation link ...

, which avoids Perrot Island completely, might hurt their activities. The original plan for a freeway out of Montreal to the west called for upgrading the highway between Galipeault and Taschereau bridges to freeway standards, the doubling of Taschereau, and the construction of a new bridge in the vicinity of Galipeault, which would have connected with Autoroute 40 on the Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue side. The bridge in question, Île Bray Bridge, which was never finished, was already under construction when the transportation ministry changed its plans in favor of a long span across

Lake of Two Mountains Lake of Two Mountains (French: ''Lac des Deux Montagnes'') is part of the river delta widening of the Ottawa River in Quebec, Canada, at its confluence with the St. Lawrence River. Lake of Two Mountains has four outflows: Rivière des Mille Îl ...

. The 1991 span carried the westbound lanes until the demolition of the eastbound structure forced its use as a two-way span. The eastbound span's construction was finished in early October and opened November 28, 2009. Like Taschereau, Galipeault was built next to a

Grand Trunk Railroad The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...

bridge that was part of the first fixed link from Montreal to the outside world. The bridge is used by 54,000 vehicles every day, or 19.7 million a year, making it among the busiest bridges in Montreal.

References

See also