Phase III of the project, 40-kilometre long from Saint-Antonin to Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, has been under construction since 2018. This is the final stage, which will complete the construction of Highway 85. This phase of work is divided into seven sections, which have been gradually being commissioned since fall 2021 and will continue until 2026. A strategic road link between Quebec and the Maritime provinces, Route 185 was built in the 1970s, over a hundred kilometres between Highway 20 and the New Brunswick border. The government began, at the turn of the millennium, the redevelopment of this road into a highway. Phase I of the construction of Highway 85 was completed in 2011. The work was divided into four sections totaling 21 kilometres. Phase II, completed in 2015 and divided into three sections totaling 33 kilometres, was intended to continue construction of Highway 85 between Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, in the Cabano sector, and the border with New Brunswick.
