Several environmental organizations – La Voie est libre, the Confédération paysanne, Extinction Rebellion (XR) Toulouse and the Uprisings of the Earth – are meeting this Saturday against the A69 motorway project between Castres and Toulouse for a weekend of mobilization. In February, the prefectures of the departments of Tarn and Haute-Garonne gave their agreement to the concessionaire Atosca to start work, after more than twenty years of debate and several thousand pages of expert reports, thus relaunching the objections.
Site “useless and destructive”, as environmental associations claim, or infrastructure essential to opening up the region, as well as the support of the builder and local elected officials? The Express looks at the arguments of each other.
Why this project?
This motorway project is not new. It plans to build 54 kilometers of dual carriageway roads, between Castres and Toulouse, crossing the departments of Haute-Garonne and Tarn. The initial goal is to open up this economic basin, which represents approximately 50,000 jobs according to the prefecture of Haute-Garonneby strengthening and securing road accessibility.
The project would thus allow road users to avoid going through the two dual carriageways of the current RN126, and would reduce the number of accidents on this stretch of road. It would also reduce the journey between Castres and Toulouse by around twenty minutes from 2025, whereas this requires just over an hour today. “With safer journeys reduced from 25 to 35 minutes, the A69 will restrict traffic around urbanized areas”, also assures Atosca, the company which obtained the concession.
What were the different stages of validation?
The first reflections began in 1994, with the ministerial decision approving the summary preliminary draft itinerary file. Subsequently, the government confirmed this development, and two sections of track were completed between 1994 and 2008. From October 2009 to January 2010, the National Commission for Public Debate organized a debate on the completion of the motorway project which led to the ministerial decision to continue and complete the link between Castres and Toulouse. Subsequently, several studies were carried out, on the route, the alternative routes, up to the reference route approved by the regional prefect in 2014. Since then, the project has received the various authorizations necessary for its continuation: with including a favorable opinion from the public inquiry commission in 2017, the declaration of public utility in 2018, and the concession contract between the State and Atosca which was approved and published in April 2022.
Finally, a new public inquiry which was to allow the environmental authorization to be given was carried out between November 2022 and January 2023. This committee issued a favorable opinion to the project, while noting many reservations, and emphasizing that “the subject of the investigation did not relate to the principle of building the motorway or not, but to the question of how to build it”.
What are the reviews?
For nearly two years, however, the project has experienced strong opposition, notably led by the La Voie est libre collective, which judges it “destructive, ecocide, useless, imposed and unjust”. On the one hand, the opponents denounce the significant artificialization of the land of an infrastructure which should affect, according to them, 400 hectares, “of agricultural land, forests, and wetlands”.
The La Voie est libre collective also believes that the construction of the A69 could lead to a high demand for water, and would thus not take into account “the current and future drought”. The new track would risk preventing the refilling of the water tables due to the asphalt covering of the road.
The environmental study conducted in 2022 also raises several critical points. “The project, which promotes travel by car and truck and consumes a lot of agricultural and natural land, does not comply with the regulations in force and does not contribute to compliance with our international environmental commitments”, notes t -She. According to the commissioners, the project is expected to result in 343 hectares of agricultural and natural losses. Remarks that go in the direction ofopinion of the National Council for the Protection of Naturedelivered in September 2022, and which noted that “this file is in contradiction with the national commitments in terms of the fight against climate change, the objective of zero net artificialisation and zero net loss of biodiversity, as well as in purchasing power”.
Among the oppositions is also the cost of this project for motorists. For a round trip between Toulouse and Castres, the price could reach nearly 17 euros (including 6.77 euros for a one-way trip on the A69 section, plus 1.60 euros corresponding to the portion of the A68 allowing join Toulouse). This price, “will exclude the most modest and will be expensive for the assets”, warn the conclusions of the environmental commission of inquiry.
Accordingly, the conclusions of the public inquiry commission of last February, based on 3,800 contributions, note that “many observations […] oppose the motorway project and demand […] development of the RN126 and sometimes also the development of public transport”. This development was also deemed “more relevant” in environmental terms by the National Council for the Protection of Nature (CNPN) and the environmental authority. But “the motorway solution […] is retained and defended as the only solution essentially because the State and the communities do not want to support the financing “of a development of the RN126, she affirms again.
How does the company respond?
The private concessionaire Atosca describes its project as “exemplary” in terms of listening to the population concerned, respect for the environment and job creation. According to general manager Martial Gerlinger, the footprint has been reduced from “380 to 300 hectares”, and ensures that only 100 hectares will be artificialized.
In Mediapart the latter adds: “We will make an exemplary motorway from the point of view of the impact of the route, with clear and strong compensation, a monitoring committee where everyone has their place, including nature protection associations” . Regarding the price of the journey, a preferential rate for electric cars (at €2.71) should be applied, and carpooling areas and charging stations installed to reduce the carbon footprint of the infrastructure.
Regarding the impact on water reserves, Martial Gerlinger explained in the Depeche du Midi, wanting to make “maximum use of the retention basins that we are going to create”, and indicated that they had “made agreements with the water management unions to draw on their reserve if necessary”. A grip on the resource less than the irrigation of the fields on which the highway will pass, he assures.
Who supports the project?
The main elected officials of the Tarn, of all political persuasions, support the motorway. “Most of the people of Tarn are happy with this project”, vector of jobs, underlined Bernard Carayon, regional councilor Les Républicains d’Occitanie, mobilized for 30 years for the construction of this highway. According to this elected official, “Castres-Mazamet is the only economic area with more than 100,000 inhabitants today without a motorway or TGV service”.
Finally, the project has received support from the pharmaceutical group Pierre Fabre, whose historic headquarters are located in Castres, and is one of the largest private employers in the region. According The Midi Dispatchmore than 700 Pierre Fabre Group employees, partners and service providers travel daily between Toulouse and Castres.