Destination signs
Destination signs are green with white lettering. These signs guide road users in all regions of Québec.
Destination signs are mainly used to:
give directions to municipalities, streets, roads, etc., at or near interchanges and intersections;
direct drivers to the appropriate lanes when approaching divergence points;
indicate routes and destinations;
indicate the distances to be covered to reach the main destinations.
Destination signs on freeways
Destination signs are designed to help unfamiliar users find the best route to their destination. On freeways, these signs can indicate exit ramps, the main destinations near this exit, mandatory exit lanes, major destinations at interchanges, as well as a certain amount of additional information such as tolls.
Information about the main destination signs at freeway exits
The information is arranged to be read from top to bottom, in the following order:
identification shields with route numbers, usually accompanied by their direction (north, south, east or west);
destinations (names of municipalities, public highways, bridges, tunnels, Indian reserves or resort lakes);
the words “CENTRE-VILLE” which can be displayed to announce the exit leading to a municipality’s main entrance;
the exit number in a yellow trapezoidal sign;
the distance to the exit or an arrow pointing to the exit ramp;
on some signs, downward-pointing arrows to indicate the lanes to take to reach the indicated destination.
Note that the tip of the yellow exit sign points to the right when the exit is to the right and to the left when the exit is to the left.
This sign indicates that to reach Route 141 to Ayer’s Cliff and Coaticook, you need to take Exit 21 on the right in 2 kilometres.
Order of destination signs on freeways
To give drivers enough time to read, understand and react, the messages are spread over several signs installed 200 metres apart. They follow a sequence that allows messages to be read and understood correctly.
On freeways, there are at least three destination signs that use the following sequence:
sign announcing the next exit
exit direction sign
exit confirmation sign
Signs placed at the edge of the roadway.
Exit numbering
Exit numbering is based on the distance, in kilometres, between the start of the freeway and the exit in question.
For example, Autoroute 40 begins at the Ontario border, which is its most westerly point. Exit 203 in Trois-Rivières is therefore 203 km from the start of the freeway.
In the case of a north-south freeway, the southernmost point is considered the starting point.
Destination signs on national, regional and local roads
When approaching an intersection on a national, regional or local road, destination signs display the following information:
the possible destinations from the branches of the intersection;
arrows indicating which direction to take;
the distances from the intersection to the destinations indicated.
Destinations appear in the following order:
destination that is straight ahead
destination on the left
destination on the right
This sign indicates that L’Islet-sur-Mer is 2 kilometres ahead, Cap-Saint-Ignace is 8 kilometres to the left, and Trois-Saumons is 6 kilometres to the right.
The destinations on these signs are chosen because they represent significant landmarks for directing road users.
Order of destination signs on national, regional and local roads
On national, regional and local roads, destination signs are installed ahead of intersections.
For numbered routes, signs are placed in the following order (see the numbers in the following image):
a sign announcing the next crossroads;
a direction sign;
a sign confirming the identification of the roads forming the intersection. It can be placed after the intersection when it is controlled by a stop sign, or before the intersection when it is controlled or not by traffic lights;
a sign confirming the identification of the numbered route.
In some cases, only the direction sign is installed.
Contents of destination signs
When you are behind the wheel, you have less than three seconds to read a sign. Information must therefore be concise, easy to read and easy to understand.
A maximum of three destinations are allowed on a sign.
In addition, several factors determine the size of the signs or the height of the typeface used on them, such as:
the maximum speed allowed on the road where the sign is to be installed;
the distance installed from the road;
the number of words in the message.
For example, on freeways, oversized destination signs can be 9 metres wide and 4.5 metres high, with lettering up to 40 centimetres high. On national, regional and local roads, on the other hand, signs are generally no more than 2.4 metres wide, and the height of the lettering varies between 20 and 27 centimetres.
Directory of Québec road signs and signals
For information on all road signs, consult the Répertoire des dispositifs de signalisation routière du Québec 
.
See also
Last update: October 10, 2023
