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Road conditions

Colour codes
Definitions of road conditions and visibility
RSS Links

These pages provide you with information on road conditions on Québec’s autoroutes and highways south of the 49^th parallel. Québec roads in James Bay territory (Nord-du-Québec region) are under the responsibility of the James Bay Native Development Corporation (in French).

Road conditions are colour-coded and associated with advice on road safety. A road condition is a combination of a visibility condition and a road surface condition. You’ll also find definitions of the terms used to describe road conditions. The information on road conditions is updated as often as required and is presented by region, by road and for all regions. You can also consult a java map for road conditions.

Also provided is a list (in French) of points on the road network in the Montréal region affected by road closures and traffic obstructions due to snow removal operations.

Source of information

The network covered by the road conditions information service is divided into 325 sections. For each section, the department has assigned a person to observe road conditions and send them to one of 9 road condition centres at least twice daily (very early in the morning and in the afternoon) and each time changes occur. The data are then entered at each of the 11 road condition centres and transmitted throughout our computer system. The system changes, within a maximum of 3 minutes, the messages on the Internet road condition pages. The data are also sent regularly to the media and to MétéoMédia and Vidéoway, which broadcast a bulletin on road conditions twice every hour.

Roads covered

For obvious organizational reasons and to be able to provide high quality, up-to-date information, we had to limit the number of roads about which information is provided. We decided to cover through roads, since the road conditions information service is used mainly by people travelling outside their region. In addition, in the case of two parallel roads, we provide information only on the most frequently used road. In such a case, it is generally possible to deduce conditions on the other road.

Season

Information on road conditions are posted in a continuous manner from November 8 of each year to March 31 of the following year. Outside this period, that is to say between October 15 and November 7 and between April 1 and May 15, posting of road conditions vary from one road condition center to another and according to specific regional weather conditions. Thus, during these so-called pre and post-seasons, the description of road conditions and visibility may be replaced by the Out of season message, except in the event of precipitation, in which case posting of road conditions is mandatory and remains so until conditions are back to normal, at which time the Out of season message is posted again.

Colour codes

Condition	Road conditions and visibility
Good	Clear road Good or reduced visibility
Fair	Clear road Zero visibility in places Snow patches or Ice patches Good, reduced or zero visibility in places Partly snow-covered or Partly ice covered Good, reduced visibility or zero visibility in places Snow-covered road Good or reduced visibility
Critical	Icy road Good or reduced visibility Snow-covered road Zero visibility in places or zero visibility Partly snow-covered or Partly ice covered Zero visibility Snow patches or Ice patches Zero visibility Clear road Zero visibility
Closed	Road closed
	Coming soon
	Out of season
	Heavy trucks prohibited on the road

Definitions of road conditions and visibility

	Clear road All traffic lanes are free of snow and ice except for limited traces that may, in particular, cover road markings.
	Snow patches or Ice patches In isolated spots one or more traffic lanes are partly or completely covered with snow or ice likely to catch motorists off guard.
	Partly snow-covered road or Partly ice covered road Snow or ice partly covers one or more traffic lanes but the pavement is clear almost everywhere in at least one wheel path.
	Snow-covered road Snow covers all traffic lanes on a significant part of the road.
	Icy road Ice covers all traffic lanes on a significant part of the road.
	Good visibility Visibility over 500 metres.
	Reduced visibility At specific points or along a major portion of your travel route, visibility ranges from 100 to 500 metres.
	Zero visibility in places At unexpected points, atmospheric conditions likely to catch you off guard reduce visibility to less than 100 metres.
	Zero visibility Along a major portion of your travel route, visibility is less than 100 metres.