Originally called Highway 3,[3] the A-30 was designed to replace Route 132 as the main artery linking the communities along the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River.

[4] In the late 1970s an eight-year moratorium on new autoroute construction in favour of public transport by the Parti Québécois prevented implementation of that plan.

From the junction of Autoroute 20 in Vaudreuil-Dorion to Route 138 in Châteauguay a completely new freeway was constructed between 2007 and 2012, opening to traffic in December 2012.

An approximately 21-kilometre (13 mi) long section bypasses the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake and the South Shore communities of Saint-Constant, Delson, and Candiac.

An 18.3 km super two segment in Bécancour, from Route 132 immediately west to an interchange with Autoroute 55 (near Laviolette Bridge, south of Trois-Rivières).

The A-30 parallels the St. Lawrence River, bypassing the communities of Sainte-Angèle-de-Laval and Des Ormeaux and linking the Port of Bécancour to the autoroute network.

Multiplexed with Route 132, the A-30 continues as a two-lane road for a short distance further before ending at the western approach to Gentilly.

The completion of Autoroute 30 as a southern bypass was intended to better integrate greater Montreal's network of autoroutes, significantly reduce transit time to and through the region, boost economic activity in Montérégie, and improve access to markets in Ontario (via Ontario highways 401 and 417) and the United States (via Interstates 87 and 89).