Quebec Autoroute 10 - History

History

The 116 km (72 mi) long Autoroute de l'Est (Eastern Expressway) was opened to traffic in December 1964. Extending from the southern end of the Champlain Bridge to Magog, the highway replaced the old Quebec Route 1 (now Route 112) as the main road link between these two points. An official opening for the highway came one year later, in 1965. The A-10 was the second autoroute (after the Laurentian Autoroute outside Montreal to be commissioned. Both were opened as toll highways by a Quebec government agency. The A-10 featured five toll stations (at current km 22, km 37, km 68, km 90, and km 115). Motorists were charged $1.50 to make the entire trip.

The Autoroute Bonaventure through Montreal opened in 1967 to link approach roads to Expo 67 with the Champlain Bridge.

The Autoroute des Cantons de l'Est was the first autoroute in Quebec to use exit numbers based on distance instead of in sequential order, as had previously been the case. As Canada had not yet adopted the Metric system, exit numbers referenced the distance in miles from the southern end of the Champlain Bridge.

The A-10 did not originally have a route number. Instead, route marker signs featured a red triangular shield featuring the name of the route. Unusually, the directional signs were also originally red. Later, blue shields and signs replaced the red versions.

In 1985, the toll system was abolished and use of the triangular shields were discontinued. Blue directional signs have gradually been converted to standard green signs used elsewhere in North America. In 2011, motorists could still see blue signs at entrances to the autoroute.

Between 1988 and 2006, A-10 departed its multiplex with A-55 at km 143 and continued eastward for eleven kilometers to a final terminus with Route 112. In October of 2006, this section of A-10 was renumbered as A-610.