The Autoroute system in the province of Quebec, Canada, is a network of expressways which operate under the same principle of controlled access as the Interstate Highway System in the United States or the 400-Series Highways in neighbouring Ontario. The autoroutes are the backbone of Quebec's highway system, spanning over 1,900 km. The speed limit on Quebec's autoroutes is generally 100 km/h in rural areas and 70 90 km/h in urban areas. The word autoroute means "expressway" in French. In the 1950s, when the first autoroutes were being planned, the design documents called them autostrades, from the Italian word autostrada