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Route 138 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemin Du Roy | ||||
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Transports Québec | ||||
| Length | 1,420 km [1] (880 mi) | |||
| History |  Route 2 (Montreal – Quebec City) Route 2C (through Quebec City) Route 4 (U.S. border – Montreal) Route 15 (Quebec City – Baie-Comeau) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  NY 30 at Constable, New York | |||
  A-30 / R-132 in Châteauguay  A-20 in Montreal  A-15 in Montreal    R-112 / R-134 / R-125 in Montreal   A-25 (TCH) in Montreal  A-640 in Repentigny  R-131 in Lavaltrie   A-40 / R-158 in Berthierville  R-153 in Yamachiche   A-40 / A-55 / R-157 in Trois-Rivières  R-159 in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade A-40 in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures  A-540 in Quebec City  A-40 / A-73 in Quebec City    A-740 / A-973 / R-175 in Quebec City  A-440 in Quebec City  R-170 in Saint-Siméon  R-172 in Tadoussac  R-389 in Baie-Comeau | ||||
| East end |  Route 510 east of Blanc Sablon | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | Canada | |||
| Province | Quebec | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route 138 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Quebec, following the entire north shore of the Saint Lawrence River past Montreal to the temporary eastern terminus in Kegashka on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The western terminus is in Elgin, at the border with New York State south-west of Montreal (connecting with New York State Route 30 at the Trout River Border Crossing). Part of this highway is known as the Chemin du Roy , or King's Highway, which is one of the oldest highways in Canada.[ citation needed ]
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It passes through the Montérégie, Montreal, Lanaudière, Mauricie, Capitale-Nationale and Côte-Nord regions of Quebec. In Montreal, Highway 138 runs via Sherbrooke Street, crosses the Pierre Le Gardeur Bridge to Charlemagne and remains a four-lane road until exiting Repentigny.
This highway takes a more scenic route than the more direct Autoroute 40 between Montreal and Quebec City. It crosses the Saguenay River via a ferry which travels between Baie-Sainte-Catherine and Tadoussac; in the event of a closure of this ferry, drivers must take a significant detour via Quebec Route 172 and Quebec Route 170 to the city of Saguenay in order to cross the river by bridge.
Until the mid-1990s, the highway's eastern terminus was Havre-Saint-Pierre, but in 1996 the extension to Natashquan was completed. A 40 km gravel section between Natashquan and Kegashka opened on September 26, 2013, with the inauguration of a bridge across the Natashquan River. [2] [3]
A second segment of about 17 km extends from Tête-à-la-Baleine's airport, east through Tête-à-la-Baleine, to the ferry terminal southeast of Tête-à-la-Baleine. There is also a 10.7 km roadway, la route Mecatina, from Mutton Bay to a ferry terminal in La Tabatière and continuing beyond.
A third segment of Route 138 extends from Old Fort to the Newfoundland and Labrador border (connecting with Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Route 510), near Blanc-Sablon on the eastern end of the Côte-Nord. [4]
A gap remains between Kegashka and Old Fort, through isolated communities accessible only by coastal ferry. On August 25, 2006, the Quebec government announced a 10-year project to connect the two segments by building 425 km of highway along the Lower North Shore. In 2011, the Quebec government announced an additional $122 million investment for the project over five years as part of the Plan Nord. [5] However, by 2013 difficulties ensued between the Quebec Ministry of Transport and the Pakatan Corporation, who was previously responsible for managing the funding for this project, leading to the termination of agreement between the two. By this time only 12 km of this road had been built, plus some additional engineering work and deforestation. [6] The construction of two segments of the highway (Kegashka–La Romaine and Tête-à-la-Baleine–La Tabatière) was set to begin in 2019. A total of $232 million will be contributed to this project. [7]
