Québec Roads - A-13

Autoroute 13



SB at the end of A-13; obviously the oldest sign is the Sortie 2 advance, with the diagrammatic inside the exit tab.


When Dorval changed its name to Trudeau, it first got sign patches and then all-new signs. Compare the old, narrow shields like on the left sign to the new, wide ones like on the right sign. Also note that the airplane direction in the airport symbol matches the exit direction - in the U.S. it's generally restricted to up-left-right in 90-degree increments.

Ride (NB) underneath the P.E. Trudeau Airport runway!


When Québec first established the autoroute system in Montréal, highway guide signs were blue, and other highways used regular green signs. As you may have see on the A-10 page and will certainly see on this one, these blue signs were used both on intersecting highways and on the freeways themselves until the 1970's. Now, almost all of the old signage has been replaced, leaving only a few remnants on and along A-13. The first two BBS's (big blue signs) have seen better days; I'm sure the original destination was just Ottawa, and there was an older A-40 shield on each (and not a non-cutout one). True to form, the old signs have diagrammatic exit tabs. The first is better than the second - whatever route the A-15 detour is for, the correct sequence of detours to follow is A-520, A-440, A-640, and then A-40, since A-40 is the only one of the group to go unnecessarily backward. Finally, the third photo was taken in 2002, and that sign is gone now. All are/were northbound.


Construction off the Sortie 8 ramp on Boulevard Henri-Bourassa.


A monstrosity on Henri-Bourassa EB. It almost looks like RIDOT's new font, but uglified 200%.


Northbound and southbound on the frontage roads connecting Boulevards Henri-Bourassa and Gouin. The connecting street between the two is the short Boulevard de Salaberry.


A blue sign northbound at Boulevard Dagenais (over the frontage road), then an old signal on the southbound exit ramp, and then another blue sign on Boulevard Dagenais EB. Click on the first photo for a 2002 closeup.


The last of the mainline blue signs, northbound and then off the exit ramp with an original and now-useless signal warning sign, courtesy Lou Corsaro. I know yellow means go slow, but what about brown? Click on the first photo for a clearer 2008 version that shows two arrows were patched over and replaced with one - even though aerial photos indicate there are still two lanes at this point that then merge, preparing for the end of the C-D road.

A WB sign on Boul. Ste-Rose.


And three on the EB side. Click on the middle photo for a closeup.


The date on the back of that second sign showing how long ago blue signs were last used. It's several years later than I thought.


Okay, I lied. This is also a mainline blue sign (northbound leaving Île de Jésus). It is the only LBS that I saw along the route, so it doesn't really get grouped with the overhead guide signs.


Heavy construction takes out the northbound side through Boisbriand on up to the end of A-13 at Autoroute 640, with Sortie 20 for QC 344 in the middle. This is the only chance I've had in Québec to show you construction barrier. It looks like the new pavement will be a concrete base, which is a good thing for a freeway. Chantier is a section of road work - in this case, here is truck access for the "A" section of the reconstruction. In the last two photos, A-13 NB goes back onto the proper side to end at A-640.


A 3da (3-digit autoroute) in a 2da-width shield, the former Québec standard. The probable cause here is the same thing that happened in the United States, where the 2di/2da shield was developed originally, but it took Québec longer to widen it for the spur/loop routes.


The old sign's gone as of 2008, replaced with ones that actually show the exit number. You can see the culprit - the C-D road that split into a ghost (still visible) and a one-lane EB ramp is now just a two-lane exit, necessitating a new sign layout. May as well bring the whole intersection up to date too, but luckily that didn't entail removing the best parts. Click on the A-640 link below and follow the magic.

Sortie 22 to A-640 and the A-13 stub interchange
NB video underneath Pierre Trudeau Airport's runways

Sortie 1 to Autoroute 20
See more of Montréal
Autoroute Chomedey, A-13, on Steve Anderson's montrealroads.com
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