Turcot Interchange
| Turcot Interchange | |
|---|---|
Approaching the Turcot Interchange from southbound A-15
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| Location | |
| Montreal, Quebec | |
| Coordinates: | 45°28′04″N 73°35′58″W / 45.467776°N 73.599472°WCoordinates: 45°28′04″N 73°35′58″W / 45.467776°N 73.599472°W |
| Roads at junction: |
 A-15 (Autoroute Décarie) A-20 (Autoroute du Souvenir) A-720 (Autoroute Ville-Marie) |
| Construction | |
| Type: | Stack interchange |
| Constructed: | 1965 – 1967 2008 – 2016 |
| Opened: | April 1967 |
The Turcot Interchange is a three-level stack freeway interchange within the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located southwest of downtown, the interchange links highways 15 (Décarie Expressway), 20 (Remembrance Highway), and 720 (Ville-Marie Expressway), and provides access to the Champlain Bridge. It takes its name from the nearby Philippe-Turcot Street and Turcot village, which were in turn named after Philippe Turcot (1791-1861) who was a merchant owning land in Saint-Henri.
Turcot is the largest interchange in the province and the third busiest interchange of Montreal (after Décarie and Anjou Interchanges, respectively) as of 2010, with numbers averaging a north-southbound flow of 278,000 approximate daily drivers, and over 350,000 west-eastbound in total. Moreover, Turcot is an occasional spot for road accidents as speed is only limited to 70 km/h (43 mph) on any of the interchange's directions (and the limit is often likely to be disregarded by the night drivers going over 100 km/h (62 mph)).
The interchange was projected as part of the first Montreal highway in 1958 and planned to bind it to the Decarie freeway, also designed at the same time. Construction started in October 1965 and Turcot was built in time for the 1967 Montreal Expo, along with other big projects such as the Montreal Metro.
Upon its erection, an old railroad yard belonging to the Grand Trunk Company (today merged into Canadian National) served as location for the interchange and was shortened by 25%, which required the demolition of a roundhouse. In 1969, upon reviewing the situation, city authorities concluded that the project abused unnecessary space and could have co-existed perfectly alongside the buildings that were otherwise demolished (including some 20 residences).
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Wikipedia