These 2006 photos were taken along the Monteregie Autoroute (A-15) in the area of kilometer-post 49 in La Prairie. There was to be a "directional-Y" interchange with the western terminus of the Richelieu Autoroute (A-6) at this location. Reconstruction work at this location in 2004-2005 removed the wide grassy median that was to be used to connecting ramps to A-6. (Photos by Laura Siggia Anderson.)

FROM MONTEREGIE TO THE EASTERN TOWNSHIPS: During the mid-1960's, the Ministère de la Voirie du Québec (MVQ) proposed a second east-west autoroute connecting the South Shore suburbs of Montreal with the Eastern Townships. The 55-kilometer (34-mile)-long Richelieu Autoroute, which was to receive the A-6 designation, was to parallel the existing QC 104. It is interesting to note that A-6, which was to link A-15 in La Prairie with A-30 in Longueuil and A-35 in St.-Jean-sur-Richelieu before ending in Farnham, did not appear in regional plans for Montreal-area autoroutes.

Early in the planning stages, the MVQ purchased rights-of-way for A-6 in La Prairie. Engineers also performed preliminary work on two interchanges:

• A-15 (Monteregie Autoroute): When the MVQ built A-15 in the mid-1960's, it left a wide grassy median in the area of kilometer-post 49 for a "directional-Y" interchange with A-6. Movements from southbound A-15 to eastbound A-6, and from westbound A-6 to southbound A-15, were to take place in the left lane of southbound A-15.
  

• QC 134 (Taschereau Boulevard): The MVQ graded ramps for a proposed partial cloverleaf interchange at this location.
  

Three important factors likely worked against the construction of A-6. First, traffic from A-6 would have overwhelmed the Champlain Bridge (A-10, A-15, and A-20) and its eastern approaches. Second, the toll-free A-6 likely would have siphoned traffic from nearby A-10 (Eastern Townships Autoroute), which at the time was a toll road operated by the Office des Autoroutes du Québec. Finally, further development of the A-6 right-of-way through La Prairie and Longueuil would have caused environment damage to the banks of the St.-Jacques River, which A-6 was to parallel.

By the mid-1970's, the newly reorganized Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) canceled the western section of A-6 from A-15 east to A-35. Meanwhile, the MTQ developed preliminary plans to build A-6 from A-35 east to Farnham. The rise of Parti Québecois (PQ) after the 1976 elections formally ended many stillborn autoroute projects including A-6. The PQ diverted most of these funds to develop mass transit.

During reconstruction of the Monteregie Autoroute (A-15) in the mid-2000's, the two carriageways of A-15 were moved closer together through the area of what was to be the A-6 interchange, removing the wide grassy median and thus any likelihood once and for all that A-6 would be built. However, the MTQ still owns right-of-way in this area and operates a park-and-ride lot at the site of the QC 134 (Taschereau Boulevard) interchange.

Further east along QC 104 in the municipality of Farnham-Rainville, a local skydiving club uses the graded but unpaved section of A-6 right-of-way. This section is closed to vehicular traffic by large concrete blocks.

This 1975 map shows the proposed route of the Richelieu Autoroute (A-6) from the southern tip of the existing Vallee des Forts Autoroute (A-35) east to Farnham. An interchange was planned with QC 227 in Mont-St.-Gregoire. The section of A-6 extending west from A-35 to A-15 appeared to have been canceled by this time. (Map © 1975 Transport Quebec.)

SOURCES: "A Study of the Existing Montreal Expressway System" by Dominic Mignogna, McGill University (1969); Félix-Mathieu Bégin; Ministère des Transports du Québec.

• A-6 shield from Wikipedia.
  
• Lightpost photo by Douglas Kerr.
  

RICHELIEU AUTOROUTE (A-6) LINKS:

• Autoroute 6 (Félix-Mathieu Bégin)
  
• Proposed Montréal Area Autoroute Network (1960's) (Ministère des Voirie du Québec)
  

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