Quebec opens final A-85 section, finishing four-lane route toward New Brunswick
The last 8.2-km stretch of the Route 185 conversion opened Oct. 23 in Témiscouata, though one northeast-bound carriageway won't open until mid-November.
Quebec's transport ministry opened the last section of Autoroute 85 to traffic on October 23, 2026, completing the decades-long job of turning Route 185 into a divided four-lane highway between the Rivière-du-Loup area and the New Brunswick border.
The final piece, known as section 7, runs 8.2 km through Saint-Honoré-de-Témiscouata and Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, according to the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable. Work on that stretch began in September 2022.
Why it matters for carriers
Route 185 was built in the 1970s and runs about 100 km between Autoroute 20 and the New Brunswick border. The ministry calls it a strategic road link between Quebec and the Maritime provinces. The upgrade's stated goals are better safety for road users and support for trade, industry and tourism along the corridor.
Not quite finished
Drivers should still expect some work zones:
- Mid-November 2026: a portion of the northeast-bound carriageway in Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! is still under construction and is scheduled to open to traffic.
- 2027: remaining work includes paving autoroute lanes, work on a service road (chemin de la Savane), removing temporary auxiliary lanes built for a partial opening in April 2026, and landscaping.
The ministry says traffic is being kept moving with temporary configurations during the remaining work and that occasional restrictions are possible. It points drivers to Québec 511 for current conditions.
Three phases, 25 years
The government began converting Route 185 into an autoroute around the turn of the 2000s. Phase I, finished in 2011, covered four sections totalling 21 km and cost $338.4 million. Phase II, completed in 2015, added 33 km between the Cabano sector of Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac and the New Brunswick border at a cost of $416 million.
Phase III, the 40-km stretch from Saint-Antonin to Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, has been under construction since 2018 and was split into seven sections that opened one by one starting in 2021. Its cost is $883.3 million, including a federal contribution of up to $389.7 million through the New Building Canada Fund.
The highway has been officially named Autoroute Claude-Béchard since October 6, 2014, after the late minister and member for Kamouraska-Témiscouata.