Before you go see a new semi-detached home near Montreal, it helps to know which way to go. The trip from Montreal to Sainte-Julie always crosses the river: over the Jacques Cartier Bridge from downtown, through the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine bridge-tunnel from the east end of the island, or by a combination of metro and bus.

The distances and travel times below were calculated with OSRM, a route planner built on OpenStreetMap, to Geoffrion Street, home to BÉAcité's sales office. They are times without traffic: at rush hour, and for as long as the tunnel work lasts, allow more. Bus schedules come from exo's and the STM's official data for a Monday in November 2026.

From downtown: the Jacques Cartier Bridge

From Place Ville Marie, the fastest route is 31.9 km, about 34 minutes. From city hall on Rue Notre-Dame Est, it's 30.7 km and about 32 minutes.

Head for Boulevard René-Lévesque, then Avenue Papineau.
Cross the Jacques Cartier Bridge (Route 134) to Boulevard Taschereau in Longueuil.
Take the "20 Est, 132 Est" ramp: Highway 20 and Route 132 share a few kilometres here.
Continue on Highway 20 East for about 15 km, to exit 105 (Route 229).
Follow Montée des Quarante-Deux, then Avenue des Bâtisseurs to Geoffrion Street.

On the way back, the planner suggests the reverse: Highway 20 West, exit 82 toward the Jacques Cartier Bridge, then Avenue De Lorimier and the Ville-Marie Expressway.

From the east end: the bridge-tunnel

If you're leaving from Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine bridge-tunnel clearly shortens the drive from Montreal to Sainte-Julie:

from Radisson metro station: 22.9 km, about 21 minutes, via Rue Sherbrooke Est and the Highway 25 South ramp;
from Marché Maisonneuve on Rue Ontario Est: 26.3 km, about 28 minutes, via Avenue Aird, Rue Hochelaga, Rue Dickson and Avenue Souligny.

Either way, Highway 25 South dips under the river, crosses Île Charron and Boucherville, then Highway 20 East takes you to exit 105. From downtown, the same route through the tunnel is 32.7 km and takes about 36 minutes, barely more than the Jacques Cartier Bridge.

A tunnel under repair until 2027

Opened in 1967, the tunnel is undergoing a major rehabilitation, led by Quebec's ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable, to extend its life by about 40 years. What you need to know:

the work began on October 31, 2022, and is due to finish in 2027;
it moves forward in phases: one tube, then the other, then the walls of the central median;
the number of lanes open in each direction changes from one phase to the next;
occasional overnight closures are added.

How many lanes are open toward the South Shore therefore depends on the day of your visit: check the ministry's closures page on quebec.ca before you set out. During the work, cars carrying three or more people may use the reserved lane on Highway 20 toward Montreal, between Chemin du Fer-à-Cheval in Sainte-Julie and Route 132 in Boucherville. Sainte-Julie's park-and-ride lot on Boulevard Armand-Frappier (exit 102) is free and one of the five the ministry highlights.

How do you reach Sainte-Julie by public transit on weekdays?

No bus runs directly between Montreal and Sainte-Julie: every Sainte-Julie route ends at a South Shore terminus or at Radisson metro. There are three gateways:

Via Radisson metro (green line): exo's express 520 reaches Terminus Sainte-Julie in 25 to 31 minutes. There are 29 weekday departures, between 5:50 a.m. and 10 p.m., and none on weekends. It's free until the major tunnel restrictions end.
Via Longueuil metro (yellow line, 6 to 7 minutes from Berri-UQAM): routes 350, 325 and 330 add up to 39 weekday departures; the 350 takes 20 to 35 minutes. On Saturdays and Sundays, there are 15 departures on routes 350 and 340.
Via the REM, from Central Station to Terminus Brossard: exo's route 600 takes over on weekdays, in 22 to 29 minutes.

That leaves the last stretch. The T34 taxibus, on reservation and on weekdays only, links Terminus Sainte-Julie to the "des Pionniers / des Bâtisseurs" stop, 91 m from Geoffrion Street, in 11 minutes. An example from a Monday schedule: leave McGill metro at 6:33 a.m., arrive at 7:36 a.m., about 63 minutes with three transfers; from Terminus Radisson, about 46 minutes. The 520 is free for the time being; otherwise, a trip between the island (zone A) and Sainte-Julie (zone C) requires an All modes ABC fare.

Visiting the model home

Your visit starts at the sales office, at 435 Geoffrion Street. From Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., you can simply walk in; Evening, Saturday and Sunday visits are by appointment. A call or text to 514-812-9633 is all it takes to book one.

At exit 105, follow the signs for the Vallée-du-Richelieu golf club, then the project's own signs. On weekends, no bus goes as far as Geoffrion Street: come by car, or by taxi from Terminus Sainte-Julie. Once there, take a look at the lots; if a yard matters to you, our article on the house with a backyard near Montreal details what the semi-detached homes offer.

Driving from Montreal to Sainte-Julie, day after day

Visiting once is not the same as making the trip every day. At the 2021 Census, 80.2% of Montrealers with a usual place of work worked in the City itself. If that's your case, each day at the office would mean crossing the river, by carpool, on the 520 or in your own car. If you work from home part of the week, the equation changes. To weigh everything involved in leaving Montreal for Sainte-Julie, the figures are gathered in a separate article.

Conclusion

From Montreal to Sainte-Julie, expect some thirty kilometres and about 21 to 36 minutes without traffic, depending on where you start and which crossing you take. The bridge-tunnel, under repair until 2027, calls for some planning, and public transit mainly runs on weekdays. For a first visit, driving is the simplest option; once there, the model home will show you whether the trip is worth it.

From Montreal to Sainte-Julie: bridge, tunnel or bus