The purpose of this article is to evaluate the role played by transport networks in the spatial organization and dynamics of the Mauricie - Bois-Francs region. After a brief survey of those historical forces which have shaped the development of transportation in the region, the author examines the evolution of transportation networks in the Mauricie - Bois-Francs region during the past twenty years. His basic hypothesis is that transportation has contributed to the region's growing dependence towards the major decision centres of the Canadian and North American economies, primarily at the expense of an economic policy which would cater to the region's developmental objectives. A genuine regional planning policy, of which transportation would be one of the basic ingredients, would nevertheless be in contradiction with the interests of Québec's predominant economic forces. The reinforcement of the latter could only be achieved through a regional development policy whose primary growth pole is the Montréal administrative region. The prerequisite for this policy has been the development of major transport networks around Montréal, and its major objective has been to offset the growing domination of the Québec and Canadian economies by those financial interests based in Southern Ontario and in the United States.