Laval

The city of Laval, conglomerated from 14 smaller municipalities in 2000, covers the island Île Jésus and some smaller islands to the northwest of Montreal. Largely rural, the city's main population centre is on the Autoroute 15 corridor and its southeast coast, which faces Montreal across the Rivière des Prairies.

Understand
Although a separately-administered city and a separate tourist region from Montreal, Laval is a suburb of the city of Montreal. Much of Laval consists of bedroom communities, shopping malls and big-box stores that need cheaper land than is available in downtown Montreal, making it car-friendly and of limited interest for tourists. There are hotels in Laval which are considerably cheaper than downtown Montreal, although if staying at one of these hotels, a car would be very useful.

History
Laval was named after the first owner of Île Jésus, François de Montmorency-Laval, the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec.

The first European settlers in Laval were Jesuits who were granted a seigneury there in 1636. Agriculture began in Laval in 1670.

The only built-up area on the island, Sainte-Rose, was incorporated as a village in 1850, and remained as the main community for the remainder of the century. With the dawn of the 20th century came urbanization. Laval-des-Rapides became Laval's first city in 1912. Laval began to grow throughout the following years because its proximity to Montreal made it an ideal suburb.

The Quebec government amalgamated the whole island into a single city of Laval in 1965. At the time, Laval had a population of 170,000.

By car
Highways serving Laval:


 * Autoroute 13 takes you to the western part of Laval, including the Chomedey area from western areas of Montreal. This is the closest option from Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.
 * Autoroute 15 (Autoroute des Laurentides), a freeway that reaches Laval heading southeast from Saint-Jérôme and northwest from Montreal.
 * Autoroute 25 takes you from the east end of Montreal into the eastern part of Laval via a toll bridge.
 * Route 117 is part of a branch of the Trans-Canada Highway, that starts from its interchange with Autoroute 40 (Trans-Canada Highway's main route) in Montreal, which becomes Highway 66 in Ontario. Highway 66 ends as part of the Trans-Canada Highway about 14 km west of Kirkland Lake, where Highway 66 intersects with Highway 11, which is another branch of the Trans-Canada Highway.  At Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, travelers heading to Laval can transfer on to Autoroute 15 for faster travel.  From Mont-Tremblant or anywhere else in the Laurentian mountains northwest Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, take Route 117.
 * Autoroute 440, a freeway terminating in Laval that reaches Laval heading southwest. Travelers from Quebec City can reach Laval by following Autoroute 40, then Autoroute 640, then Autoroute 440.

From Montreal, you can also take a bridge to Laval via boulevard Curé-Labelle or avenue Papineau. The bridges to Laval can have very heavy traffic during evening rush hour.

By subway
Laval is connected to Montreal by the orange line of the metro at 3 stations: Cartier, de la Concorde and Montmorency. Parking is available, but be sure to arrive early in the morning on weekdays.

By train
Train service from Montreal is provided by the Agence Metropolitain de Transport (AMT), which operates two lines to Laval (one to the centre of the Laval, the other to the western tip.)

By car
The city is (more or less) laid out in a grid. Autoroute 440 splits Laval roughly in two, north and south sides. Autoroute 15 splits Laval roughly in two, east and west sides. An address with the suffix "O" or "W" (ouest or west) is west of Autoroute 15; the suffix "E" means east of Autoroute 15. If you are going north, address numbers increase; if you are going east or west, address numbers increase as you get farther from Autoroute 15.

The major north-south highways in Laval are Autoroute 13, Autoroute 15 (also known as the Laurentian Autoroute/Autoroute des Laurentides), Autoroute 19 and Autoroute 25. Other large north-south streets are Boulevard Cure-Labelle, Boulevard Chomedey, Boulevard des Laurentides, Boulevard le Corbusier, Boulevard Industriel. The major east-west thoroughfares are Boulevard de la Concorde/Boulevard Notre-Dame, Boulevard Levesque/Boulevard Cartier/Boulevard Samson, Boulevard Ste-Rose/Avenue Perron, Boulevard de Terrasses/Boulevard des Milles-Iles, Boulevard Saint-Martin, Autoroute 440, and Boulevard Dagenais/Boulevard Bellerose. (The "east-west" and "north-south" designations for these routes are not perfectly aligned with cardinal directions.)

By bus
The Societe de transport de Laval provides extensive service on the island of Laval and connects it with the Montreal metro system at Henri-Bourassa metro station.

By taxi The Taxi Chomedey provides cab services in the Laval island and connects it to Montreal.

See




Buy
Laval has many suburban shopping malls, such as Carrefour Laval (the largest), Centre Laval, and Centropolis. Prices are a little cheaper than downtown Montreal, although the cost of gas to travel there tends to negate the price advantage.

Eat
Laval boasts one of the highest concentrations of ethnic Greek populations in the country. As a result, there are plenty of good Greek food options, especially in southern neighbourhoods such as Îles-Laval and Chomedy. Recent waves of Middle Eastern and African immigrants have also contributed to the culinary diversity offered by the city, though it is still often overlooked in favour of the food scene in Montreal.