Route 143 | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Maintained by Transports Québec | ||||
Length: | 165.8 km (103.0 mi) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end: | US 5 in Derby Line, Vermont | |||
Route 247 in Stanstead A-55 / Route 141 in Stanstead-Est Route 208 in Hatley Route 108 / Route 147 in Lennoxville (Sherbrooke) A-10 / Route 112 / Route 216 in Sherbrooke Route 222 in Bromptonville (Sherbrooke) Route 249 in Windsor Route 116 / Route 243 in Richmond Route 139 in Saint-Nicéphore (Drummondville) A-20 (TCH) / A-55 / Route 122 in Drummondville Route 224 in Saint-Bonaventure |
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North end: | Route 132 in Saint-François-du-Lac | |||
Location | ||||
Counties: | Memphrémagog / Coaticook / Sherbrooke / Le Val-Saint-François / Drummond / Nicolet-Yamaska | |||
Highway system | ||||
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Route 143 is a north/south highway on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Until the mid-1970s when the province decided to renumber all highways other than autoroutes, it was known as Route/Highway 5. Its northern terminus is in Saint-François-du-Lac, at the junction of Route 132, and the southern terminus is in Stanstead at the border with Vermont where the road continues past the Derby Line-Stanstead Border Crossing as U.S. Route 5 through Derby Line to New Haven, Connecticut.
Since Autoroute 55 closely parallels Route 143 for most of its length, much commercial traffic chooses the former. However, it is a very busy route and takes much traffic from the border to the Sherbrooke local area. Route 143 closely follows the Saint-François River between Sherbrooke and Ulverton.
The road is often in notoriously poor condition, since its original cement was laid directly on a gravel road in the mid-1920s. It has been extensively resurfaced to the point the pavement is now more than three feet thick in places. Nonetheless, it heaves extensively each spring thaw.