How to get around in Montreal - Bridges and Highways

Montreal, November 24, 2000

Montreal is an island located in the middle of the St. Lawrence River. The Seaway and the Port of Montreal are open year round. There is a celebration for the first boat to anchor the Port every year. There are also numerous pleasure ports and sailing clubs on and around the Montreal island and suburbs.

There are 2 main airports : Montreal-Trudeau (Montreal-Dorval Airport), one of the top ten business airports in the world according to the International Air Transport Association, and Montreal-Mirabel, a vacation gateway in the Laurentians. Dorval links to highways 20 and 40, and Mirabel can be reached from Highway 15.

Montreal is in a way a typical North American city. Its streets are mostly like a checkerboard. Nicknamed "The Main", St-Laurent Boulevard cuts east from west. Although culturally very interesting it's usually loaded with commercial traffic. Cars can have a hard time trying to make their way between delivery trucks and busses, not to mention taxis, cyclists and pedestrians who may pop out of nowhere. A better way to head north or south is Park Avenue, just a few streets to the west of St-Laurent. Better still, use one of the highways.

Highways running East-West:
• Bonaventure Expressway and Highway 20 or 220 in the south
• Highway 40 (the T-Can, Trans-Canada, Metropolitan, Felix-Leclerc Highway) in the north
• Highway 440 in Laval
• Highway 640 North of Laval
• Highways 132, 20 and 30 on the south shore

Highways running North-South:
• Highway 15 (Decarie Expressway) to the USA, south and north shores, Laval and the Laurentians
• Highway 13 toward Laval and the Laurentians
• Highway 117 from Laval to the Laurentians
• Highways 25 and 125 (and 25 in Laval) in the eastern part of the island, to the south and north shores
• Highways 19, 335 and 148 in Laval
• Highway 10 on the south shore to the Eastern Townships (Estrie).

Bridges:

•  The Jacques Cartier Bridge links the cities of Montreal and Longueuil.

• The Honoré Mercier Bridge between LaSalle and the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake on the south shore and connects with highways 20 and 132.
• Champlain Bridge links the municipalities of Brossard and Verdun over Nuns' Island, and connects to Bonaventure and Decarie Expressways as well as the various highways linking the USA and Québec City on the south shore.
• Victoria Bridge is the oldest and links the south shore to the old industrial area close to the Old Port where lots of new multimedia and start-ups are now evolving.
• Next to the Champlain Bridge is also the Estacade (or Ice Boom) that is normally not to be used by regular car traffic.
• Pont-tunnel Louis-Hyppolite-Lafontaine Bridge and Tunnel links the south shore to Montreal's Highway 25
• The Pierre-Le-Gardeur Bridge links the east end of Montreal to Le Gardeur
• Charles-De-Gaulle Bridge links the east end of Highway 40 to the main land toward Québec City
• Pie-IX Bridge links Montreal to Laval on Highways 125 and 25 on Pie-IX Boulevard
• Papineau-Leblanc Bridge links Montreal to Laval on Papineau Street
• Pont-Viau/Ahuntsic Bridge links Montreal to Laval on St-Denis Street
• Highway 15 Mederic-Martin Bridge links Montreal to Laval and the Laurentians
• Lachapelle Bridge links St-Laurent Cartierville to Laval
• Highway 13 Louis-Brisson Bridge links Montreal's West Island to Laval
• Ile aux Tourtres Bridge links the west end Highway 40 to the main land toward Ottawa
• Galipeault Bridge links the west end Highway 20 to Ile Perrot

For pedestrians and those who prefer public transportation:
• Busses, metro and train routes can all be planned online using TOUS AZIMUTS from the STM Golden Web Award Winning Site. Disabled transportation and various other services can be found there as well.
• Cyclists can also find quite a network of biking trails in Montreal.

Other interesting links:
• List of all municipalities from the Greater Montreal Region
• Montreal Road Conditions from the Quebec Government Transportation Department
• Montreal Area Traffic from the Quebec Government Transportation Department web cam network
• Cycling Facilities from the Quebec Government Transportation on Road Construction
• Island of Montreal Map including city, MUC and region



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