After the A69 shutdown, the departments want to "secure major works"

"We are just a few months away from the inauguration of the A69, and yet the project is now in jeopardy. More than 300 million euros have already been invested, and the work is 70% complete (...) Stopping this project would represent an unacceptable waste at a time when public finances are already in the red," notes Départements de France (DF) in a resolution initiated by the Tarn department.

The Tarn Departmental Council has joined the State in appealing the decision of the Toulouse administrative court, which on February 27 ordered the cessation of construction of the Castres-Toulouse motorway (A69), contested by environmental movements.

Although a declaration of public utility had been issued in 2023, the administrative court annulled the environmental authorization issued by the State, considering that there was no imperative reason of major public interest (RIIPM) justifying the damage to the environment caused by the construction site.

"What is at stake with the A69 is the future of the Tarn. It is also the future of other departments that are defending major infrastructure, such as the arrival of the LGV in Occitanie, the doubling of the RN88 in Aveyron, the bypasses of Montpellier in Hérault and Beynac in Dordogne, the reconstruction of the Fleurville bridge between Ain and Saône-et-Loire... the list is very long!" emphasize the departments, who are asking the State to "review the regulatory framework for major projects in order to avoid paralyzing our country."

"The suspension of certain projects already well underway (...) goes against decisions taken democratically by elected officials who are aware of the major public interest in such projects," they assert in a separate press release.

The departments also warn of the "multiplication of sometimes contradictory standards and obligations which weaken public action and economic and human development."