Over the weekend I took a drive on 87 North- New York State to Montreal to visit the Notre-Dame Basilica. I was very happy that my GPS on the XK included the map of Canada! (Some cars require you to do a map update which could cost a couple of hundred bucks).


Driving through the beautiful Adirondack mountains on 87 North was fabulous until I got to the USA / Canadian border. After I showed the agent my passport and crossed the border, I began driving on Rt 15 (on the Canadian side) and it was a real nightmare. I first noticed that my car began weaving side to side and I didn't have full control of the steering. It was seriously unnerving. Something was wrong here. Maybe I had flat, or low tire pressure? So I pulled over to inspect all four tires and to my surprise they were perfect.


That's when I realized the road was all screwed up. I then got back into my car and continued ahead cautiously for the next 30 minutes with my car being pulled left and right against my will. Not a pleasant feeling at all. To make things worse, the Quebec drivers around me were the worst I have ever seen in my life. They were dangerously speeding bumper to bumper with barely a foot between them, and to compound matters when making lane changes, they did not use the turn signals at all and they would cut you off and have you drive into a ditch without any hesitation.


I finally made it to the church after passing through some horrendously disorganized road construction and I am happy to say it was a beautiful church and the 20 minute tour was very interesting. I then walked around Montreal and took in the architecture and shops which were both very nice.


However, in the back of my mind - I was dreading my drive back. Driving that horrible road Rt 15 at night made things even worse. It had almost no lights, insane drivers and the road lines were almost impossible to see. That was definitely the worst driving experience of my life and I would not recommend it to anybody. If you must visit Montreal find another road.


I was so happy to reach the border and cross over back to USA - Rt 87 where the road was normal and the people drove much safer. I won't be making that mistake again.

 

Montreal is going to be under serious road construction for the next few years. The 2 largest transportation projects in North America are currently in Montreal. It's like their version of Boston's "Big Dig", but hopefully for not as long.

 

If you think Montreal is bad, then I hope you never drive in Italy or anywhere else in Europe or Mexico City or any other South American city or any major Asian city.

 

I have driven in Italy and I found it a lot better than in Montreal.

 

Italian roads at the coast are very beautiful - Cinque terre for example.

 

i do that drive a few times a year, i hate RT 15. the bridge is also under going some major construction, causing a nightmare of traffic delays

 

Was driving around Bangalore a few months ago; crazy!

 

I'm thrilled to hear there's no bad roads or drivers in New Jersey. When did they fix them all?

 

i dunno what you're talking about, but we have plenty of bad roads in NJ

 

No need to get bent out of shape because I stated the truth about Rt 15 and the local drivers. As for our roads in NJ, they are pretty good actually. Each town has its own mayor and they do a decent job of getting their local roads fixed. Sure some towns don't have a lot of money to make their roads perfect but such is life. The drivers are pretty good as well compared to the drivers on your side of the fence. There is the occasional bad driver but that's the exception and not the rule. Yours is the rule and not the exception. There is not one road that I know of in NJ that is actually too dangerous to drive- unlike Rt 15 in Montreal.

 

Welcome in Montreal!
Sorry you had a so bad experience! But you are right. We have serious problems with our roads and specially the road 15 around Montreal. The city is a nightmare with all those works in (slow) progress. Living 1hour outside Montreal, we try to avoid the bridges and we stay outside the island. Pretty bad for the business.
Road 15 is a hub for all the trucks going to the USA and with so much heavy traffic, the road get tracks which are the perfect size to get my XKRS feeling sick! I don't have that feeling with my F Pace or my other cars. Pretty weird as feeling and no fun at all.

I suggest you to take a ride to Quebec City. You'll enjoy it for sure and the Highway 20 is better then the 15.
And no, every drivers are not so stupid, but try to stay out of the island..
Guy

 

I will definitely take your advice and take Highway 20 and visit Quebec City. I enjoy traveling and that is on my list of places to visit. Thanks for the excellent info!

 

When you decide to come back, do not hesitate to PM me. I will help you to find good hotels and restaurants. Maybe we will be able to have a ride together...
If you want to do the Great tour, take road 132 all around Gaspesia. You'll be good for a 1000 miles tour with breathtaking scenery.
Guy

 

Guy - thank you for you generous offer. I will PM you for sure when I made the trip.