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 Autoroute 31 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autoroute Antonio-Barrette | ||||
 A-31 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byTransports Québec | ||||
| Length | 14 km[1][2] (8.7 mi) | |||
| Existed | 1966[2]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   A-40 /R-131 inLavaltrie | |||
| North end |  R-131 /R-158 inJoliette | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | Canada | |||
| Province | Quebec | |||
| Major cities | Joliette,Lavaltrie,Saint-Thomas | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Autoroute 31 (A-31) is anAutoroute in the region ofLanaudière inQuebec. Constructed in 1966, A-31 primarily linksJoliette withA-40 and in turn toMontreal,Trois-Rivières, and other points served by Quebec's autoroute system. A-31 is only 14 km (8.7 mi) long, making it one of the shortest autoroutes in the province. It ismultiplexed withRoute 131 for its entire length.
A-31 carries the nameAutorouteAntonio-Barrette, named for a politician from Joliette who briefly served asPremier of Quebec in 1960.
A-31 begins just south of its interchange with A-40 inLavaltrie. Motorists exiting A-40 can choose to head north on A-31/Route 131 or south on Route 131 alone to Lavaltrie's city centre. The A-31/A-40 interchange has an unusual configuration, built to accommodate tollbooths that were dismantled.
The freeway runs through farmland for much of its length, with exits at km 2, km 7 and km 12 to serve local roads.
A-31 ends at km 15 at acloverleaf interchange withRoute 158. Plans for Quebec's autoroute system initially called for A-31 to meetA-50 at this interchange. Anticipating this outcome, Route 158 in the immediate vicinity of the interchange was constructed as alimited-access highway and signed as A-50. Once plans to extend the A-50 east of theA-15 were abandoned in the 1980s, this stretch of highway was redesignated Route 158. A series of deadly accidents on Route 158 prompted a 2014 petition drive to reconstruct the highway to Autoroute standards and return the designation of A-50.[3]
Motorists exiting A-31 at km 15 may continue on Route 158 west toSaint-Esprit, Route 158 east toBerthierville, or Route 131 north toSaint-Félix-de-Valois. Past this interchange, A-31 ends and becomes Boulevard Dollard, which continues into downtown Joliette.
| RCM | Location | km[4] | mi | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D'Autray | Lavaltrie | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | R-131 south –Lavaltrie | Southern terminus ofconcurrency with R-131 |
| 1 | A-40 / Rang Saint-François –Québec,Montréal | Partialat-grade intersection; A-40 exit 22 | ||||
| 1.6 | 0.99 | 2 | Rang Saint-Henri / Rang du Point-du-Jour | |||
| Joliette | Saint-Thomas | 7.3 | 4.5 | 7 | Saint-Thomas,Saint-Paul | |
| 11.9 | 7.4 | 12 | Rue Ernest-Harnois / Rue Nazaire-Laurin | Northbound exit and entrance | ||
| Joliette | 13.4 | 8.3 | 14 | R-131 north /R-158 –Notre-Dame-des-Prairies,Saint-Michel-des-Saints,Berthierville,Saint-Jérôme | Northern terminus of concurrency with R-131; signed as exits 14E (east) and 14O (west) | |
| 14.0 | 8.7 | – | Boulevard Dollard / Rue Calixa-Lavalleé / Rue Joseph-Arthur –Joliette Centre-Ville | Roundabout; continuation beyond R-158 | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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