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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Quick Facts Route 138, Route information ...

Route 138
Chemin Du Roy
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
Major intersections	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
Quebec provincial highways Autoroutes List Former
← R-137 → R-139

Close

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.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the first routes of what would become Route 138 (formerly Route 15) were laid in the vicinity of Sept-Îles. In 1961, a section was added from the Franquelin region to the tip of the Moisie River, some 20 kilometres east of Sept-Îles.

On the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, until 1976, there was no continuous route to go further east than the Moisie River. Only bits of paths here and there connect a few coastal villages to each other, Natashquan connects to Aguanish by a dirt road (1959).

Route 138, from Moisie River to Havre-Saint-Pierre, opened in the spring of 1976, from there access to the islands of the Mingan Archipelago by sea.

In 1984, to commemorate the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's arrival in New France, the Commission de toponymie gave this name to the part of Route 138 located east of the Saguenay River, that is, the part that extends from Tadoussac to Havre-Saint-Pierre.^[2]' ^[3]

• Route Jacques-Cartier - Route 138 East - Route des Baleines 1976
• Donald-Gallienne bridge over the Moisie River, Sept-Iles (City), Matamec Hamlet, towards Moisie
• Fill of Highway No. 138, Sept-Îles (City), Hamlet Matamec
• Roadside restaurant sign
• Pole transport by helicopter

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 Kegaska opened on September 26, 2013, with the inauguration of a bridge across the Natashquan River.^[4]' ^[5]

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.^[6]

A gap remains between Kegaska 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.^[7] 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.^[8] The construction of two segments of the highway (Kegaska–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.^[9]

• Quebec Route 2 (historical) and Chemin du Roy
• List of Quebec provincial highways