The A69 motorway project between Toulouse and Castres will go “to completion”, and its work, rejected by environmental activists, will resume on Monday October 16, announced the ministry responsible for transport. “The State is determined to see this project through, which was decided democratically and systematically confirmed by the judge,” the ministry said in a press release.
This decision was taken after a meeting on Friday in Castres during which “a very large majority of local elected officials, legitimate representatives of the territory in our democracy, unambiguously reaffirmed their support for the motorway”, according to the same source. When this meeting was announced, opponents of the project had interrupted their thirst strike, which had begun the day before, and a hunger strike which had begun a month earlier.
Commissioning planned for 2025
Friday, to the jeers of around sixty opponents gathered around the sub-prefecture of Castres, Jean Terlier, deputy for Tarn, welcomed a “very constructive” meeting and said he had received assurances that there would be no would not have “neither moratorium nor suspension of the project” of the A69, which is scheduled to enter service in 2025.
“A thorough dialogue was conducted. The support of the elected representatives of the Republic was reaffirmed. We must therefore move forward. I call on everyone to be responsible and respect democratic and legal decisions. Force will remain within the law and the rule of law,” said the Minister for Transport, Clément Beaune, quoted in the press release.
Several legal actions have been taken against the site, so far without success, but some are still ongoing. “The rule of law was strictly followed at every stage of the proceedings. The judge has so far dismissed all litigation brought against the project and, more recently, a request to suspend work. All suspensive appeals have been judged and rejected,” the government argued.
Opponents of this 53-kilometer stretch of motorway, which would reduce the Castres-Toulouse journey to around one hour instead of one hour and twenty minutes, have called for a weekend of mobilization on October 21 and 22 on the route , without specifying the exact location. “No violence, no incitement to violence can be tolerated (…) in the context of actions that can be carried out individually or collectively,” the government insisted on Monday.
