The A-10 carries the name Autoroute Bonaventure from its start in Montreal's city centre to the Champlain Bridge. From there until its terminus in Sherbrooke, the A-10 is called the Autoroute des Cantons-de-l'Est, a reference to the historic name given to the region east of Montreal and north of the U.S. border. The road's main material is asphalt concrete, many parts of the highway are bordered with gravel.
At km 8, the A-10 crosses Taschereau Boulevard. Bus lanesrun in both directions along the median for four kilometers between the southern end of the Champlain Bridge and Milan Boulevard. Crossing Brossard, the A-10 runs along the northern edge of the Quartier DIX30shopping complex before reaching interchanges with the A-30 at km 11 and the A-35 at km 22. The A-10 crosses the Richelieu River at km 28 and enters a rich agricultural region. Between Bromont and Magog the A-10 passes through a mountainous region, close to two of Quebec's major ski centres. Near the northern end of Lake Memphremagog, the A-10 reaches an interchange with the A-55 at km 121. The A-10 continues east as a concurrency with A-55. Between km 123 and 128, Route 112 functions as a frontage road. A-10 and A-55 bypass the city of Sherbrooke to the east and north, reaching interchanges with spur routes A-410 at km 140 and A-610 at km 143. The A-10 reaches its terminus at the junction with A-610, while A-55 continues north to Drummondville. The portion east of Autoroute 55 was renumbered as Autoroute 610 on September 29, 2006.
History
The long Autoroute de l'Est 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 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. 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 the use of the triangular shields was discontinued. Blue directional signs have gradually been converted to standard green signs used elsewhere in North America. In 2013, motorists could still see blue signs at entrances to and exits of the autoroute. Between 1988 and 2006, A-10 departed its multiplex with A-55 at km 143 and continued eastward for 11 km to a final terminus with Route 112. In October 2006, that section of A-10 was renumbered as A-610.
Future
Under a project started in 2016, the Autoroute Bonaventure will be completely reconfigured by 2018. The Société du Havre de Montréal is transforming the autoroute into an urban thoroughfare as part of a broader project to redevelop Montreal's harbourfront. The city of Montreal announced in January 2013 that it would take over the SHM's responsibilities, citing concerns over transparency. A current proposal to build the East-West Highway across central and northern Maine calls for the A-10 to be extended to the U.S. border at Coburn Gore where it would meet the new highway. Doing so would create a new and more direct limited-access highway link between Maine, the Maritime Provinces through New Brunswick Route 1, and Quebec.
