This 2013 photo shows the eastbound A-30 (De L'Acier Autoroute) at EXIT 76 (former EXIT 118) for QC 116 (Wilfrid Laurier Autoroute) in St. Bruno-de-Montarville. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

Length:



Constructed:

144.0 kilometers (89.2 miles);
western section (Vaudreuil-Dorion to Sorel-Tracy)
19.8 kilometers (12.3 miles);
eastern section (Becancour)
1964-2012

Serge Marcil Bridge:
Passenger car toll:


$3.20
$3.10 (with A-30 transponder; EZ-Pass not accepted)

PLANNING THE SOUTH SHORE BYPASS: The election of Jean Lesage as Premier in provincial elections in 1960 presaged a sweeping change in numerous aspects of life in Quebec, including transportation. That year, Lesage first announced support for a new freeway linking South Shore towns along the St. Lawrence River from Valleyfield to Becancour. The freeway, which was designed to serve as a bypass for the former Route 3 (now designated QC 132), initially was called "Autoroute de Contournement Sud de Montreal" (South Belt Autoroute), as it was to form part of a southern beltway around the Greater Montreal area.

In 1965, the Ministere de la Voirie du Quebec (MVQ) conducted an origin-destination survey along the proposed route in the Greater Montreal area. This survey helped determine the initial plans for the freeway's alignment. The MVQ presented the following rationale for building the new autoroute:

  • Improving the safety of users;

  • Bringing designed road capacity more into line with actual traffic volumes;

  • Serving the centers that generate traffic;

  • Facilitating direct access to the highway network;

  • Facilitating access to administrative services and to hospital, school, and commercial infrastructure scattered along the South Shore; and

  • Improving links between the municipalities of the South Shore in order to consolidate their economic activities.
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The freeway received the A-30 designation in 1966, and in 1968, the MVQ gave the road its current name, "Autoroute de L'Acier," or "Steel Highway," in deference to the steel foundries and ports that line the South Shore.

OVERVIEW OF THE ORIGINAL ALIGNMENT: The province acquired most of the land needed to build A-30 from the mid-1960s through the 1970s. The original alignment of A-30 from the Monteregie region to Sorel-Tracy followed the same alignment as it does today, albeit with two key differences:

  • Instead of crossing the St. Lawrence River toward Vaudreuil-Dorion, A-30 extended southwest along the current route of A-530, then southwest along QC 132 to the Quebec-New York border at Saint-Anicet.

  • A-30 was to parallel QC 132 more closely through Chateauguay, Kahnawake, Saint-Constant, Delson, and Candiac. There were to have been direct interchanges with the Mercier Bridge (QC 138) and with a proposed span west of the Mercier Bridge for the extended A-13.

Nearly the entire length of A-30 from the Monteregie region to Sorel-Tracy was designed with two through lanes in each direction, though with a median wide enough to accommodate an additional travel lane in each direction. The sole exception to this was a 9.0-kilometer (5.6-mile) stretch built through Salaberry-de-Valleyfield in the 1970s as an undivided two-lane ("super-2") road; this original section of A-30 was re-designated as A-530 in 2012.

This 2013 photo shows the western terminus of A-30 (L'Acier Autoroute) approaching A-40 (Felix Leclerc Autoroute West) in Vaudreuil-Dorion. The overpass carrying QC 340 over A-30 shown here is a typical design indicative of 1960s autoroute design in Quebec. Until 2012, this section of A-30 was designated as A-540. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

THE FIRST SEGMENT ACTUALLY WASN'T PART OF A-30: Construction of what eventually became A-30 began in 1964. This initial five-kilometer (three-mile) section, which was built entirely through Vaudreuil-Dorion from A-20 (Remembrance Highway) north to A-40 (Felix Leclerc Autoroute West), was opened to traffic in December 1966. This short freeway section allowed motorists from Montreal to continue to Toronto via A-20, or Ottawa via A-40. It was not part of A-30 until the completion of the southern beltway in 2012, at which time the freeway's designation was changed from A-540.

A LINK FOR THE EASTERN SOUTH SHORE SUBURBS: The MVQ, and its successor agency, the Ministere des Transports du Quebec (MTQ), then turned its attention to building a link from Montreal's eastern suburbs to Sorel-Tracy. Beginning in the late 1960s, and continuing for the next decade and a half, the province built the following sections of A-30:

  • 1968: EXIT 76 (QC 116 / Wilfrid Laurier Autoroute) in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville to EXIT 83 (A-20 / Jean Lesage Autoroute) in Boucherville.

  • 1968: EXIT 141 (QC 223) to kilometer 144 (Poliquin Boulevard) in Sorel-Tracy. The final kilometer (0.6 mile) of the road was built as a surface arterial with the autoroute right-of-way, with signalized intersections at QC 133 (Gagne Boulevard), Ramezay Street, and Poliquin Boulevard. A dual-carriageway stub immediately west of the QC 133 intersection hints at an unbuilt freeway extension farther east.

  • 1971: EXIT 83 (A-20) in Boucherville to EXIT 87 (Belle-Riviere Road) in Sainte-Julie.

  • 1972: EXIT 135 (Golf Road) to EXIT 141 (QC 223) in Sorel-Tracy.

  • 1975: EXIT 73 (QC 112 / Cousineau Boulevard) in Saint-Hubert to EXIT 76 (QC 116) in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville.

  • 1977: EXIT 87 (Belle-Riviere Road) in Sainte-Julie to EXIT 135 (Golf Road) in Sorel-Tracy.

  • 1982: EXIT 67 (A-10 / Eastern Townships Autoroute) in Brossard to EXIT 73 (QC 112) in Saint-Hubert.

AN ISOLATED LINK IN BECANCOUR: As A-30 was taking shape in Montreal's South Shore suburbs, the MTQ built an 18.3-kilometer (11.3-mile)-long segment from QC 132 and A-55 (Energy Highway / Autoroute de L'Energie) east to the Gentilly River in Becancour. Much of this segment of A-30 was built as a two-lane "super-2" with at-grade and signalized intersections. However, the road widens to a quad-carriageway configuration near the western terminus; this includes a cloverleaf interchange with A-55. There is a quad-carriageway stub just west of QC 132 that hints at a once-proposed extension of A-30 west toward the existing section in Sorel-Tracy.

This 2011 photo shows A-30 looking west toward EXIT 138 (Boulevard des Erables / Boulevard de Tracy) in Sorel-Tracy. This section of A-30 was completed in 1972. (Photo by Scott Steeves, www.asphaltplanet.ca.)

DELAYED BY PQ MORATORIUM: The first major delay for A-30 construction came following the victory of Parti Quebecois (PQ) in the 1976 provincial election. Upon taking power, the PQ imposed an eight-year moratorium on new autoroute construction in 1977. Although advanced engineering and construction were allowed to continue on autoroute segments already under contracts, most initial planning for new autoroutes stopped, including the A-30 gap between Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Brossard.

Despite the moratorium, pressure from South Shore politicians kept A-30 very much alive. In 1982, the MTQ issued a draft environmental impact statement, or "Regulation Respecting Environmental Impact Assessment and Review," for the A-30 segment between Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Brossard. The environmental impact review, which established the province's Bureau d'Audiences Publiques sur l'Environment (BAPE), was borne out of a 1978 law that made Quebec the first province to enact such legislation.

THE LIBERALS WIN AND REVIVE A-30: The completion of A-30 figured prominently in the 1985 provincial elections, and with the electoral victory of the Liberals over the PQ came a return to more active planning for the autoroute. In 1986, the province announced plans to build a 13-kilometer (eight-mile) section of A-30 from Chateauguay to Sainte-Catherine. This section represented a revised alignment; unlike the former alignment along QC 132 through the heart of Kahnawake, which stirred controversy among local leaders, the new alignment was to provide a bypass of Kahnawake while still providing a link to the Mercier Bridge, albeit a less direct one.

By the summer of 1988, the completion of A-30 received widespread support from provincial and Federal leaders. Marc-Evan Cote, the provincial transport minister, announced a C$1.7 billion plan that made an initial mention of A-30 as part of a southern beltway that would connect to A-20 and A-40 to the west in Vaudreuil-Dorion. Benoit Bouchard, the Federal transport minister, provided his support for a new C$90 million high-level crossing over the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Beauhamois Canal.

OKA CRISIS ACCELERATES BYPASS CONSTRUCTION: During the summer of 1990, a simmering dispute between the Mohawk people and town officials in the North Shore community of Oka spilled over onto the South Shore, ultimately leading to the closure of QC 132, QC 138, QC 207 through Kahnawake, as well as the closing of the Mercier Bridge. As several South Shore communities were cut off by road closures, Premier Robert Bourassa announced the accelerated construction of the A-30 Chateauguay-to-Sainte-Catherine bypass. After only 12 weeks of construction, the Kahnawake Bypass was completed in December 1990 at a cost of C$10 million. Originally built as a two-lane "super-2" section with full access control, this section was widened to a full four-lane, median-separated freeway in 1992.

BROSSARD TO CANDIAC / DELSON: As the Kahnawake Bypass neared completion, other South Shore officials, grew more impatient as they waited more than 15 years for the Brossard-Candiac section to begin construction. In 1993, the provincial cabinet agreed to begin construction of a 12.5-kilometer (7.8-mile)-long section from A-10 to Brossard to QC 132 at Main Street (Rue Principale) in Delson. Much of the route was to have four lanes, though from the A-15 (Rene Levesque Autoroute) cloverleaf interchange in Candiac west to Delson, the freeway was to have six depressed lanes, flanked by one-way service roads. The freeway and service roads were built within right-of-way purchased by the MTQ in the 1970s.

This 2013 photo shows the westbound A-30 approaching EXIT 58 (A-930, to A-15 and QC 132 West) in Candiac. The ramps for EXIT 58 originally were part of A-30 when they were built in the mid-1990s, but when A-30 was extended south and west of Candiac in 2011, the section leading to QC 132 in Delson was re-designated as A-930. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

DEVISING THE SOUTHERN BYPASS: As the new millennium dawned, the Federal government issued a new study on reducing traffic through Montreal. The 2000 Federal study came to the same conclusion that the province reached in its own BAPE studies: that a southern bypass should be built to connect A-20 and A-40 in Vaudreuil-Dorion with the existing A-30 in Candiac. The study recommended that two bridges be built over the St. Lawrence River and the St. Lawrence Seaway / Beauharnois Canal. The province estimated the cost of building the 33-kilometer (20-mile)-long distance between EXIT 5 (A-20 / Remembrance Highway / Autoroute du Souvenir) in Vaudreuil-Dorion and EXIT 38 (QC 138) in Chateauguay, including two high-level bridges and a tunnel beneath the historic Soulanges Canal, at C$530 million.

Included in the project was a new three-kilometer (two-mile) stretch of freeway linking the proposed A-30 southern beltway to the existing section of A-30 in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. This new link, along with the existing A-30 through Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, received a new designation: A-530. The new link to the interchange was to be built as a four-lane freeway from the A-30 / A-530 to EXIT 9 on A-530 (Pie-XII Boulevard), while the existing A-530 (former A-30) was to be widened from the existing two-lane undivided "super 2" to a four-lane freeway for an additional four kilometers (three miles) from EXIT 9 southwest to EXIT 5 (QC 201).

Following the 2000 studies, the Association du Camionage du Quebec (Quebec Trucking Association), the largest trucking association in the province, undertook its own study. This study recommended construction of the A-30 extension, stating that its construction would take two million trucks per year off the Mercier Bridge, the Champlain Bridge, the Jacques Cartier Bridge, and the Lafontaine Tunnel. Another study conducted by the MTQ estimated that construction of A-30 would save 20 to 30 minutes for the average rush hour motorist traveling from Vaudreuil-Dorion and Boucherville, compared to similar trips on A-20 and A-40 / A-25. From an economic development perspective, the MTQ estimated the construction of A-30 would add C$8 billion to the local economy and generate 13,500 jobs over a 30-year period, primarily through the development of new industrial parks and warehouses.

Not to be overlooked, the province also drew its attention to the eastern "missing link" from the Kahnawake Bypass east to Candiac / Delson. The province conducted a separate BAPE study in 2002 to build this segment, and through this study, considered two separate alternatives.

  • NORTHERN ALTERNATIVE: Stretching eight kilometers (five miles) from the east end of the Kahnawake Bypass in Sainte-Catherine, A-30 would continue east along the existing QC 132 through Saint-Catherine, Saint-Constant, and Delson before continuing onto the already built section of A-30 just west of A-15. A four-lane freeway would be built below-grade for A-15, while flanking service roads for QC 132 would be built within rights-of-way purchased by the MTQ in the 1970s for the eventual construction of A-30. (This alternative thus would keep new land appropriation to a minimum.) Seven new bridges would be built, and four new interchanges would be built for QC 132, Leo Street (at the Walmart shopping center entrance), Portage Street, and QC 209 (Boulevard des Ecluses). This alternative was estimated to cost C$178 million and take four years to complete.

  • SOUTHERN ALTERNATIVE: This alternative would require the construction of 11 kilometers (seven miles) of new four-lane freeway stretching from the Kahnawake Bypass in Saint-Constant to the existing A-30 in Candiac, including a second interchange with A-15 (Rene Levesque Autoroute) in Candiac from the southern bypass. There would be eight bridges, but no intermediate interchanges between the Kahnawake Bypass and A-15. A total of 100 hectares (247 acres) of land, most of which was farmland, would need to be appropriated. This alternative was estimated to cost C$185 million and take six years to complete.
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Under the southern alternative, the remnant sections of A-30 built in the 1990s would receive new designations. The 4.2-kilometer (2.6-mile) segment from A-30 in Saint-Constant north to QC 132 in Sainte-Catherine would be designated A-730, while the 2.5-kilometer (1.6-mile) segment from A-30 in Candiac west to QC 132 in Delson would be designated A-930.

The province had to weigh concerns raised by Kahnawake leaders about increased noise and pollution around the northern alternative, which bordered Kahnawake, against concerns raised by farmers about the loss of farmland. Ultimately, the MTQ selected the southern alternative as its preferred alignment.

A TALE OF TWO BRIDGES: These two spans were built as part of the public-private partnership between the MTQ and Nouvelle A-30. Both bridges were completed in 2012.

TOP: This 2013 photo shows the Madeleine Parent Bridge on the westbound A-30 over the Beauharnois Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway.


BOTTOM: This 2013 photo shows the Serge Marcil Bridge on the westbound A-30 over the St. Lawrence River.

(Photos by Steve Anderson.)

AT LONG LAST, AN AGREEMENT: On March 6, 2003, Federal and provincial ministers reached an agreement, at least in principle, to complete A-30. The eastern segment from Saint-Constant to Candiac originally was scheduled for completion in 2008, while the western segment from Vaudreuil-Dorion was scheduled for completion in 2009. At the time, the cost of the projects had risen to C$730 million, including an anticipated contribution from a private partner. Even after this agreement was reached, the Federal and provincial governments required additional environmental studies to be done, and additional agreements had to be reached with Kahnawake leaders regarding land acquisition.

On November 3, 2005, the "Highway 30 Bridges Completion Act" was enacted into Federal law, authorizing construction of the western "missing link" between Vaudreuil-Dorion and Chateauguay. Three major crossings were to be built as follows:

  • A 2,550 meter (8,202-foot)-long, 43-span high-level bridge was built to connect Beauharnois with Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (Grand Ile), crossing the Beauharnois Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway. The average length of the 25 over-land spans is about 40 meters (131 feet) long, while most of the 18 over-water spans measure about 80 meters (262 feet) long, with the longest measuring 150 meters (492 feet). The bridge eventually was named after Madeleine Parent, a Quebec labor activist who died in 2012.

  • A 1,860-meter (6,102-foot)-long, multi-span causeway bridge was built to connect Salaberry-de-Valleyfield with Vaudreuil-Dorion, crossing the St. Lawrence River. The bridge eventually was named after Serge Marcil, a Quebec educator, administrator, and politician who died in the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

  • A 100-meter (328-foot)-long, cut-and-cover tunnel was built underneath the historic Soulanges Canal in Vaudreuil-Dorion. The Soulanges Canal, which opened in 1899, was used by long-distance ships until the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958.

A toll plaza was constructed on A-30 between the Serge Marcil Bridge and the Soulanges Canal Tunnel.

On September 25, 2008, the MTQ signed a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement with A30 Express (also known as Nouvelle Autoroute 30)--a consortium comprised of two leading firms, Acciona and ACS Infrastructures--to build, operate, and maintain the "western missing link." The agreement set a completion date of 2012, at which point A30 Express would assume control over the autoroute until 2042. The estimated cost of completing this missing link was C$1.54 billion. Separately, the MTQ announced it would complete the "eastern missing link" from Saint-Constant to Candiac under a more traditional contract; its cost now was estimated at C$230 million.

The first of the missing links, from EXIT 47 (A-730) east to EXIT 55 (A-15) was completed on November 19, 2010. The eastern missing link was completed on November 7, 2011, with the completion of the short section through Candiac from EXIT 55 east to EXIT 58 (A-930 spur to QC 132).

The western missing link built under the A30 Express PPP was opened to traffic on December 15, 2012. This construction included the extended A-530 link from EXIT 9 (Pie-XII Boulevard) to the A-30 / A-530 junction in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (Saint-Timothee).

This circa 2010 photo shows construction of the cut-and-cover tunnel under the Soulanges Canal. (Photo by Andrew Cushing, PE.)

This 2013 photo shows the westbound A-30 approaching the newly completed Soulanges Canal tunnel. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

SOUTHWEST TO THE US BORDER: The original 1960s plan for A-30 had the highway extend southwest along QC 132 from the current western terminus of A-530 in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield to the Quebec-New York border at Saint-Anicet. Owing to low traffic counts on QC 132 southwest of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, as well as the lack of an Interstate highway connection on the New York State side of the border near Fort Covington, the MTQ did not pursue this extension.

FROM SOREL-TRACY TO BECANCOUR: The MTQ has no current plans to fill in the 64-kilometer (40-mile) missing link between Sorel-Tracy and Becancour. However, several municipalities along the QC 132 corridor advanced the following proposal to extend A-30:

  • In 2017, the MTQ proposed widening QC 132 from Poliquin Bouelvard east to the Saint-Robert municipality border. The project would expand the existing QC 132 to five lanes; the existing four-lane section would get a left-turn lane, while the two-lane section would be widened to accommodate two lanes in each direction and a left-turn lane. Officials in Sorel-Tracy objected to this proposal, suggesting that the proposal would lead to land takings along QC 132. Instead, officials in Sorel-Tracy, joined by counterparts in Saint-Robert and Yamaska, proposed that the MTQ extend A-30 east from Poliquin Boulevard in Sorel-Tracy east to the intersection of QC 132 and QC 122 in East Yamaska (Yamaska-Est). It was not revealed if the proposed A-30 extension, which would entail a new Yamaska River bridge, would be a conventional four-lane freeway, or an unseparated two-lane "super-2" roadway. However, it would divert traffic from a section of QC 132 with several dangerous curves between Sorel-Tracy and East Yamaska.

  • Several years earlier, in 2011-2012, officials in Nicolet recommended that the MTQ extend A-30 west from its current terminus at QC 132 and A-55 in Becancour west to the intersection of QC 132 and Route du Port in Nicolet. According to a 2000 MTQ survey, this segment carries approximately 8,200 vehicles per day. Although the MTQ has not canceled this section, the agency does not see an A-30 extension west to Nicolet as a priority, instead its focusing area priority on expanding the existing segment of A-55 to a four-lane, median-separated freeway, from the existing "super-2" configuration.

EAST TO SAINTE-CECILE-DE-LEVARD: In its 1971 autoroute plan, the province contemplated an eastern extension of A-30 from the Gentilly River east to QC 218 in Sainte-Cecile-de-Levard. Although A-30 theoretically could have been extended south and east toward the intersection of A-20 and the proposed A-65 near Villeroy (near kilometer-post 248 on A-20), the province did not specify such a plan.

These 2011 photos show the western terminus of the Becancour section of A-30 at QC 132, looking east (left photo) and west (right photo). The unused center roadways were to carry the mainline A-30 west toward Sorel-Tracy. (Photos by Scott Steeves, www.asphaltplanet.ca.)

SOURCES: "Caughnawaga Road Plans Have Indians Angry Again" by Gordon Barthos, The Montreal Gazette (5/16/1972); "Mayors Blast Unfinished Autoroute," The Montreal Gazette (7/12/1977); Extension of Autoroute 30, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (1995); "Met's Help Is on the Way" by Carroll McCormick, Today's Trucking (6/01/2000); "Highway 30 End in Sight" by Levon Sevunts, The Montreal Gazette (3/07/2003); "Montreal Might Be Disappointed: Experts" by Irwin Block, The Montreal Gazette (3/07/2003); "Saga of Highway 30 Takes Us Back to 1966," The Montreal Gazette (3/07/2003); "Autoroute 30 Completion "a Contentious Issue" in Kahnawake" by Dan Rosenburg, The Eastern Door (3/14/2003); "This Time, It's for Real," The Montreal Gazette (11/06/2006); "Highway 30 Timeline," The Montreal Gazette (11/06/2006); "Highway 30 Bidders Line Up," The Montreal Gazette (1/26/2007); "Quebec Gives Highway 30 Extension Green Light," CBC News (6/03/2008); "Quebec Farmers Join Mohawks in Opposing Highway 30 Expansion" by Stefan Christoff," The Hour (8/14/2008); "Nouvelle Autoroute 30, SENC Signs 35-Year Partnership Agreement" by Peter Kenter, Daily Commercial News (9/24/2008); "Quebec Touts Highway 30 PPP Benefits for Taxpayers," The Montreal Gazette (10/08/2008); "Value for Money Report: The Completion of Autoroute 30," Ministere des Transports du Quebec" (2008); "When Is the Extension of Highway 30" by Marcel Aubry, Le Nouvelliste (9/26/2011); "Will the Extension of Autoroute 30 Be Next?" by Nicolas Ducharme, L'Echo de Trois-Rivieres (1/27/2012); "New Highway Has Region Dreaming Big" by Jason Magder, The Montreal Gazette (10/22/2012); "Highway 30 Will Open December 15" by Jason Magder, The Montreal Gazette (11/29/2012); "Quebec Highway That Skips Montreal About to Open" by Mike Armstrong, Global News (12/09/2012); "Final Section of Highway 30 Opens Today," CBC News (12/15/2012); "Four Quebec Towns Fight Province Over Land Given to Mohawks" by Emily Brass, CBC News (6/27/2013); "R�fection de l'Autoroute 30 entre Sorel et Contrecoeur" by Julie Lambert, Le Journal de Montreal (7/05/2013); "Ground Engineering for the Autoroute 30 PPP Project," Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology (2013); "Sorel-Tracy Wants To Start Extending the A-30" by Julie Lambert, Le Courrier Sud (8/31/2017); "Soulanges Canal Tunnel, Autoroute 30" by Andrew Cushing, PE, LinkedIn.com (10/16/2019); Dragados USA; Ministere des Transports du Quebec; Richard Dupuis; Scott Steeves.

  • A-30, A-530, A-540, A-730, and A-930 shields by Wikipedia.
  • Lightpost photos by Steve Anderson.
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DE L'ACIER AUTOROUTE LINKS:

DE L'ACIER AUTOROUTE CURENT TRAFFIC CONDITIONS:

DE L'ACIER AUTOROUTE VIDEO LINKS:

THE EXITS OF METRO MONTREAL:

  • Autoroute 30 exit list by Steve Anderson.

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