This 2013 photo shows the northbound Lafontaine Expressway (A-25) at EXIT 4 (Souligny Avenue). This interchange was to built as the intended eastern terminus of the Ville Marie Expressway (A-720 / QC 136) in the 1960s, but the extension of the Ville Marie Expressway was canceled. Construction is now underway to accommodate three travel lanes of A-25 through the "Souligny interchange" in each direction as part of the C$2.2 billion reconstruction project, (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

Length:

Constructed:

16.4 kilometers (10.2 miles); measured from A-20 junction in Boucherville to A-440 junction in Laval
1963-2011

Olivier Charbonneau Bridge:

With Transponder:

Without Transponder:

C$2.96 (off-peak)
C$3.70 (peak)
C$5.92 (off-peak)
C$7.90 (peak)

PLANNING A TUNNEL APPROACH: The Lafontaine Expressway had its genesis in the planning for a northerly bypass of urbanized Montreal via the Trans-Canada Highway. On October 27, 1960, newly-elected Premier Jean Lesage reached an agreement with the federal government that finalized the routing of the transcontinental route through Quebec. The Trans-Canada Highway was to be routed east-west through Montreal along the Metropolitan Expressway (A-40). To the east, the Trans-Canada Highway was to connect to Route 9 (today's QC 116) near Sainte-Hyacinthe. This necessitated construction of a new autoroute link in the eastern part of the city of Montreal.

The provincial government began studies on possible alignments in 1961. It studied three alternate alignments for the St. Lawrence crossing and approaches as follows:

  • HOCHELAGA-MAISONNEUVE TO LONGUEUIL: To the west, the expressway would have been built between Pie-IX Boulevard and Viau Street, bisecting Maisonneuve Park and Olympic Park. It also would have required significant takings of residential properties in the Saint-Leonard and Rosemont neighborhoods. To the east, the expressway would have been rerouted in the area of Roland Therrien Boulevard in Longueuil. Planners rejected this route as it would have disrupted port operations, which would have required construction of a bridge with a high clearance if that alternative had been chosen. The steep drop on the Montreal side of the crossing, as well as the presence of the port also precluded construction of a tunnel.

  • MONTREAL-EST TO BOUCHERVILLE (NORD): To the west, the expressway would have been built roughly along Broadway Avenue, and to the east, the expressway would have touched down in the northern part of the city of Boucherville near De Montbrun Street. Planners rejected this proposal because it would have (1) required the construction of nearly three kilometers (two miles) of earthen fill, as the western approach was on a slope; and (2) the construction of an interchange with the Metropolitan Expressway would have disrupted operations at a nearby oil refinery and storage facility.
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  • POINT-AUX-TREMBLES TO VARENNES: To the west, the expressway would have been built roughly along 81st Avenue. Only about one kilometer (1.6 miles) of new approach road would need to be built to connect to the Metropolitan Expressway, which had appeal to some planners, though this route would have bisected Coulée Grou Park, site of a 1690 battle in the Beaver Wars (Iroquois Wars). The eastern approach would have required a significant detour toward Route 9, and planners feared that the crossing would not provide enough traffic relief for the Jacques Cartier Bridge (QC 134).

SELECTING A ROUTE: Planners finally decided on a fourth alignment from the Longue-Pointe neighborhood in Montreal to Longueuil. To the west, there was a buffer zone through the area of Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Psychiatric Hospital (now the CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal campus) that was almost uninterrupted from the Metropolitan Expressway east to the St. Lawrence River, providing a desirable approach for the expressway and river crossing. To the east, the Longueuil approach provided a direct connection toward Sainte-Hyacinte and (eventually) Quebec City. The alignment also provided a development opportunity for the Port of Montreal, which had plans to extend northward and eastward. Furthermore, this alignment allowed for the use of the Boucherville Islands to be used as a construction staging area, which reduced construction costs and disruptions.

Even before the province decided upon a bridge-tunnel hybrid alternative for the Longue-Pointe-to-Boucherville alignment in 1962, it began to condemn properties for construction of the Lafontaine Expressway. Actual construction of the Montreal approach did not begin until 1963.

This 1970 photo shows the interchange between the Lafontaine Expressway (A-25) and Souligny Avenue. A-25 was to join an extended Ville Marie Expressway at this location. (Photo from the Archives de Montréal and the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec.)

EXPRESSWAY DESIGN: Except for the freeway-to-freeway interchanges at EXIT 4 (Souligny Avenue) and EXIT 8 (A-40 / Metropolitan Expressway), where there are two through lanes in each direction for A-25 traffic, the Lafontaine Expressway was designed with three lanes in each direction. It was planned as one of four north-south freeway axes in the city of Montreal, along with A-13 (Chomedey Expressway), A-15 (Decarie Expressway / Laurentian Autoroute), and A-19 (Papineau Expressway, only a small portion of which was built in Montreal). It was built mostly as a depressed route with flanking one-way service roads to serve local traffic, except through the areas of EXIT 4 and EXIT 8, where complex freeway-to-freeway interchanges interrupted the service roads.

The first section of the Lafontaine Expressway opened in 1966 from EXIT 4 north to EXIT 9 (Bombardier Street), just north of the Anjou interchange with A-40. This was followed in March 1967 with the opening of the Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel, as well as the immediate expressway connections from EXIT 4 south to the A-20 / A-25 / QC 132 interchange in Boucherville. Importantly, the expressway bypass to the immediate north and east of Downtown Montreal--formed by the combination of the Lafontaine and Metropolitan Expressways was completed in time for the opening of Expo 67 the following month. The new Lafontaine Expressway was given the A-25 designation upon opening.

PROGRESS SLOWS TO A HALT: As the Lafontaine Expressway approach to the tunnel was being built, work also had progressed on a "new Route 18" connecting a rebuilt Pie-IX Bridge with Terrebonne. The "new Route 18," which included a rebuilt Pie-IX Bridge and a section of Pie-IX Boulevard that was converted into a freeway, took on the A-25 designation. It was one of many autoroutes planned under Premier Jean Lesage's Liberal government.

The rebuilt Pie-IX bridge and freeway conversion of Pie-IX Boulevard completed in 1967, and four years later, the freeway was extended from Pie-IX to Terrebonne. However, this was meant to be a temporary designation, as short section of the Pie-IX freeway (today's QC 125), along with a five-kilometer (three-mile)-long stretch of the Laval Expressway (today's A-440), were given the "Temporary A-25" designation.

Provincial maps dating back to the late 1960s had envisioned a more direct route from Terrebonne to the Lafontaine Tunnel, but the route was not considered an immediate priority as the province turned its attention to its major east-west axes (A-20 and A-40), the construction of an autoroute toward Mirabel Airport (A-13), and some ring roads around Montreal and Quebec City. Moreover, some local officials and environmentalists feared the loss of farmland in eastern Laval (Ile Jesus).

This 2006 photo shows the southbound Lafontaine Expressway at EXIT 8 (A-40 / Metropolitan Expressway / "Anjou interchange") in eastern Montreal. When this photo was taken, this section of the expressway was a stub route north of A-40 that did not have a designation. (Photo by Laura Siggia-Anderson.)

AFTER A FALSE START, SOME PROGRESS: In 1972, the Ministere de la Voirie du Quebec (MVQ) announced plans for a new A-25 alignment between the Anjou interchange (A-40) in Montreal and the existing A-25 alignment at Montee Masson (QC 125) in Laval. Soon after the announcement, the province began depth soundings along Riviere des Prairies in the area of the proposed A-25 crossing. Ultimately, this announcement proved a false start, even as work continued to extend A-25 north toward the Lanaudiere region.

A couple of new obstacles faced the A-25 "missing link" project in the second half of the 1970s. First, the newly elected Parti Quebecois implemented an eight-year moratorium on new autoroute construction in the province, with work limited to autoroutes that already were under construction. Second, Quebec became the first province to implement environmental review studies in 1978, through what is now known as a BAPE (Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement) study. New infrastructure projects in the province now had to undergo rigorous environmental studies as part of the planning process.

Even after the province ended its eight-year moratorium on autoroute construction in the mid-1980s, finding funds for the construction of A-25 across Riviere des Prairies still proved difficult. The province announced plans for construction in 1992 (that year complete with an environmental impact statement) and again in 2000, but construction had stalled due to the lack of dedicated funding. In the meantime, a coalition of 22 environmental groups organized opposition to the construction of A-25, fearing potential damage to Riviere des Prairies and higher greenhouse gases resulting from increases in not only traffic, but also new development in eastern Laval.

THE PROVINCE'S FIRST PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (PPP): By the mid-2000s, the Ministere des Transports du Quebec (MTQ), the successor to the MVQ, pursued an innovative method to finance completion of the long-dormant A-25 and A-30 projects around Montreal. In 2007, the MTQ signed an agreement with Concession A25, LP, to design, build, and maintain the 7.2-kilometer (4.4-mile)-long stretch from A-40 in Montreal to A-440 in Laval, including a new crossing of Rivieres des Prairies. Concession A-25, LP was comprised of a multi-company, multinational consortium of construction companies, as well as Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, which provided financing for the project. The MTQ financed the purchased of the remaining rights-of-way needed for the project.

The project was comprised of a freeway with four-to-six through lanes (two-to-three lanes in each direction), a signature cable-stay bridge, three interchanges, and 10 grade separations. There was also a multi-use path built for pedestrians and cyclists.

THE OLIVIER CHARBONNEAU BRIDGE: The cornerstone of the project was the construction of a cable-stay span across the Riviere des Prairies. Named after a French frontiersman and the first inhabitant of Ile Jesus (Laval), the Olivier Charbonneau Bridge was built with a main span of 280 meters (918.6 feet) between towers, two flanking side spans of 116 meters (381.5 feet), five steel girder spans measuring 90 meters (295.3 feet) each, and two smaller concrete spans. The 36-meter (118.1-foot)-wide deck accommodated six travel lanes and a multi-use path.

Engineers made concessions to environmental sensibilities. Construction of the main towers was limited to a height of 55 meters (180.5 feet). Supports for the bridge were drilled into the rock, and care was taken to not only a nearby sturgeon breeding area, but also a high-voltage 315 kV Hydro-Quebec transmission line running parallel to the construction site. Engineers also built noise walls and earthen berms along the corridor to reduce noise in nearby neighborhoods, and used recycled excess cut material for regrading.

The A-25 "missing link" was designed with all-electronic tolling (AET) in mind. The high-speed tolling system allows for variable tolling depending on time of day traveled, vehicle class and height, and number of vehicle axles to encourage its usage outside of rush-hour periods. A separate agency was established to collect tolls; although the bridge is not part of the EZ-Pass consortium, it does employ a bill-by-plate mechanism for vehicles without an account. (In 2016, a toll exemption was granted for electric vehicles.)

According to the MTQ's calculations, the 35-year PPP agreement was to provide C$226 million in cost savings while shaving two years off the construction period. Concession A25, LP and the MTQ promised to share equally in toll collections over the 35-year period.

Construction of the C$500 million Olivier Charbonneau Bridge and its approaches began in 2008. The A-25 "missing link" was completed on May 21, 2011, finally providing a direct freeway link between the South Shore and Lanuadiere regions.

This 2013 photo shows the northbound Lafontaine Expressway (A-25) at EXIT 10 (Henri-Bourassa Boulevard) in eastern Montreal. This was part of a short extension north of A-40 that opened in 2002. EXIT 10 is the last northbound exit before the electronic toll gantry for the Olivier Charbonneau Bridge. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

REBUILDING THE LAFONTAINE TUNNEL AND APPROACHES: In 2017, the province announced a major C$1.4 billion reconstruction of the Lafontaine Tunnel and its approaches. In addition to rehabilitating the tunnel superstructure, and upgrading the electrical and fire protection systems, the province is rebuilding five kilometers (three miles) of A-25 on both sides of the tunnel from A-20 in Longueuil to EXIT 5 (QC 138 / Sherbrooke Street).

The key improvement to the northern A-25 approach is the reconstruction of EXIT 4 (Souligny Avenue), at which three through lanes will be provided in each direction, up from the pre-construction two lanes in each direction. Additional work at the interchange includes the replacement of ramps and flyover structures and the installation of sound barriers.

Work on the project began in the summer of 2020, but in early 2023, the province announced that the projected cost of the project had increased to C$2.2 billion, citing more advanced deterioration in the tunnel structure than had been anticipated. The project currently is slated for completion by late 2025.

This 2013 photo shows the northbound Lafontaine Expressway (A-25) at the Oliver Charbonneau Bridge. Completed in 2011, the bridge carries A-25 across the Riviere des Prairies between Montreal and Laval. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

SOURCES: Prolongement de l'Autoroute 25 Entre l'Autoroute 440 et le Boulevard Henri-Bourassa: Rapport d'Analyse des Impacts; Ministere des Transports du Quebec (2001); "A Coalition Against the Extension of Highway 25" by Louis-Gilles Francoeur, Le Devoir (2/10/2005); "$1 Billion Highway Extension a Step Closer to Reality" by Irwin Rapoport, Daily Commercial News (11/16/2006); Autoroute 25: Request for Proposals, Ministere des Transports du Queb ec (2006); "Quebec Sets Toll Limits for the Proposed Laval Bridge," The Montreal Gazette (6/11/2007); "A Bit of History: Autoroute 25," La Revue (1/09/2015); "Lafontaine Tunnel To Undergo $1B in Renovations Starting in 2019;" CKMI-TV (6/28/2017); "Canada's Busiest Highway Tunnel Gets $1.4B Upgrade," Daily Commercial News (ConstructConnect.com) (4/14/2022); "Louis-Hippolye-Lafontaine Tunnel Work To Last Until 2025" by Brendan Kelly, The Montreal Gazette (8/04/2022); "Lafontaine Tunnel Renovation Costs Increase by $1 Billion," The Montreal Gazette (3/21/2023); CIMA; Scott Steeves.

  • A-25, A-440, and QC 125 shields by Wikipedia.
  • Lightpost photos by Steve Anderson.
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LAFONTAINE EXPRESSWAY LINKS:

LAFONTAINE EXPRESSWAY CURENT TRAFFIC CONDITIONS:

LAFONTAINE EXPRESSWAY VIDEO LINKS:

THE EXITS OF METRO MONTREAL:

  • Autoroute 25 exit list by Steve Anderson.

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