Before visiting a new semi-detached home near Varennes, a practical question comes up: how long does it take to get from Varennes to Sainte-Julie, and which way should you go? The answer comes down to one number: Route 229, known in Varennes as Montée Sainte-Julie.

The OSRM route planner, which runs on OpenStreetMap data, measures 17.4 km of road between Varennes city hall, at 175 rue Sainte-Anne, and Geoffrion Street, where BÉAcité has its model homes and sales office. Allow about 22 minutes when the road is clear; as the crow flies, the gap is only 15.2 km.

Below you will find the direct route, a highway alternative, travel times from several parts of town, a rather thin transit offering, and then the visit itself. All travel times are calculated without traffic: at rush hour, allow more time.

The direct route, no highway needed

This is the route the calculation picks from city hall, the aquatic centre or boulevard Lionel-Boulet. Step by step:

Leave the Vieux-Varennes district by rue Sainte-Anne and take Route 132 south for about 2.9 km.
Turn onto boulevard Lionel-Boulet for about 4.9 km. You pass Varennes' research and employment hub: Hydro-Québec's research institute (IREQ), the INRS Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications centre, CanmetENERGY and the Jean Coutu Group.
Follow Montée Sainte-Julie (Route 229) for about 3.5 km; it crosses Highway 30 at exits 87 and 89.
In Sainte-Julie, Route 229 continues as avenue de l'Abbé-Théoret, rue Principale and then Montée des Quarante-Deux, for about 2.2 km.
Turn onto avenue des Bâtisseurs, then take rue Bissonnette to Geoffrion Street.

No highway to take: it's the shortest way, and the easiest to remember.

How long from your part of town?

The time depends on where you start. A few benchmarks, again calculated without traffic:

city hall, in the Vieux-Varennes district on the riverfront: 17.4 km, about 22 minutes;
aquatic centre, chemin du Petit-Bois, in the central area near Le Carrefour high school: 16.0 km, about 20 minutes;
Jules-Phaneuf park-and-ride: 16.2 km, about 20 minutes;
Parc de la Petite-Patrie, in the northeast near boulevard René-Gaultier: 24.7 km by highway, about 23 and a half minutes, or 19.4 km via boulevard Lionel-Boulet, about 25 minutes;
Hydro-Québec research institute, 1800 boulevard Lionel-Boulet: 10.3 km, about 15 minutes.

If you work in the boulevard Lionel-Boulet area, Geoffrion Street would therefore be roughly a quarter of an hour from your workplace, without traffic.

The Highway 30 and Highway 20 alternative

From the northeast end of town, the calculation suggests another way, longer in kilometres but similar in time:

Montée de Picardie for about 2.7 km, to the Highway 30 West on-ramp (Autoroute de l'Acier) at exit 95;
Highway 30 West for about 10.3 km to exit 83, then Highway 20 East (Autoroute Jean-Lesage) for about 6.3 km;
exit 105, for Route 229 (Saint-Basile-le-Grand, McMasterville, Saint-Mathieu-de-Belœil), then rue Bernard-Pilon, Montée des Quarante-Deux, avenue des Bâtisseurs and rue Bissonnette.

Past exit 105, follow the signs for the Vallée-du-Richelieu golf club, then the BÉAcité project signs. Without traffic, both routes are about even; at rush hour, check road conditions before you leave.

From Varennes to Sainte-Julie by public transit

To be frank, the trip is complicated without a car. According to exo's official schedules:

only routes 731 and 732 (Saint-Amable – Longueuil) serve both towns, and on weekdays only: 5 departures each way on the 731, 3 on the 732;
in Varennes, they stop only on boulevard Lionel-Boulet, not in the Vieux-Varennes district or the residential neighbourhoods;
in Sainte-Julie, their stops are in the north end of town, the closest one some 6 km as the crow flies from Geoffrion Street, and none of them reaches Vilamo;
otherwise, you have to go through Longueuil: routes 720 to 723 link Varennes to Longueuil, route 350 runs to the Sainte-Julie terminus, and then the T34 taxibus, by reservation, serves the stops near Geoffrion Street.

Once you live in Sainte-Julie, on the other hand, local buses are free for everyone, at all hours and on every route, and every home in Vilamo is less than 300 m from a stop. As for exo's paratransit service, it covers all six municipalities of the Marguerite-D'Youville RCM, Varennes and Sainte-Julie included.

What the drive means day to day

In Varennes, the car is already the norm: according to the 2021 Census, 91.0% of commuters drove to work, and 61.1% worked outside the RCM. For them, the real question is less the distance from Varennes to Sainte-Julie than access to the main highways.

On that front, Vilamo sits next to exit 105 of Highway 20 and describes itself as 30 minutes from downtown Montreal. Sainte-Julie's park-and-ride is about 7 minutes away, Mont-Saint-Bruno National Park a few minutes away, and the neighbourhood itself puts medical services, a public market, restaurants, a pharmacy and a Caisse Desjardins within walking distance.

The drive is only one factor among others. To compare the two settings, read our article on living in Sainte-Julie or Varennes.

Visiting the sales office at 435 Geoffrion Street

Your destination: the sales office, at 435 Geoffrion Street. That is where BÉAcité welcomes visitors:

Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
evenings, Saturday and Sunday, by appointment.

All four turnkey homes on the street can be toured, by appointment with Eddy Guessous, sales director: 514-812-9633 (call or text) or ventes@beacite.com. Number 423, for instance, is a three-bedroom Duo with a custom wine cellar for enthusiasts, an open office for working from home and a finished basement. Aiming for an evening, a Saturday or a Sunday? A call or text before you set out books the appointment. And if you are still weighing the pros and cons against an existing house, see what comes with a turnkey new home near Varennes.

Conclusion

From Varennes to Sainte-Julie, allow about 22 minutes without traffic via Route 132, boulevard Lionel-Boulet and Montée Sainte-Julie; from the northeast end of town, Highway 30 and then Highway 20 work just as well. Public transit, for its part, offers no direct link from central Varennes to Vilamo. Pick your moment, take Route 229, and the sales office awaits you at 435 Geoffrion Street.

From Varennes to Sainte-Julie via Route 229