Toulouse-Castres motorway. One of the biggest road aberrations in Occitanie will continue

It is One of the major road aberrations of Occitania. And an aberration which will become even more glaring with the entry into service of the Toulouse-Castres motorway (A69) in the coming months.

Because despite the millions of euros put on the table, the extensive developments carried out between the two cities, and a cost of travel which will explode with the introduction of a toll in Verfeil, to the north-east of Toulousethis great aberration will continue.

This despite regular requests, for more than 15 years, from residents and elected officials from the north-east of Toulouse, to complete the work…

Maintaining an incomplete exchanger

This aberration is the maintenance of a incomplete exchanger at the level of Gragnague (Haute-Garonne), at the junction of the A 68 motorway and the A 680, a section which will soon become 2×2 lanes.

The current situation was inherited from the choice made in the 1990s when the State chose to build the A68 and the A680, and chose to concede part of it to Autoroutes Sud de France (ASF), a Vinci company. Highways, then responsible forstrictly apply the road map defined by the State.

The current situation

At the time, in 1996, after the traditional process of studies and consultations, it was a half exchanger highway and a half diffuser which were put into service at Gragnague.

A development that still puzzles motorists who use these routes.

The half-motorway interchange ensures traffic exchanges between the A68 and the A 680 from Toulouse towards Verfeil and Castres, and those from Verfeil and Castres towards Toulouse. However, it does not allow exchanges from Verfeil/Castres to Albi.

Also a local incongruity

The half-diffuser ensures part of the traffic exchanges between the A680 and the network
local road. It allows you to join the RD20 from the A680, towards the village of Gragnague, to head towards Verfeil. If you arrive from Verfeil via the A 680, it is however not possible to join the RD 20 at Gragnague. This forces motorists and many heavy goods vehicles to take the old departmental road RD 20, which is poorly secured, between the two villages experiencing population growth.

So many incongruities which could have been reconsidered when choosing to create the motorway between Toulouse and Castres.

This will not be the case…

A change not retained

Contacted by Toulouse NewsVinci Autoroutes, which manages the A680, via its company ASF, gives the reason:

“The modification of the Gragnague half-interchange (n°2) between the A68 and the A680, in particular its complement for direct exchanges towards and from Albi, were studied as part of the studies of the the overall operation of the Castres-Toulouse Motorway Link. At the end of the 2017 public inquiry, this additional arrangement for direct exchanges with Albi was not retained and is not part of the program of the operation validated by the State”.

Based on traffic forecasts

On December 22, 2017, the prefectural decree declaring the A680 widening project to be in the public interest further clarified the reasons for the status quo:

“In the light of the studies carried out by the project owner and the results of the traffic forecasts, the advisability of complementing the A68/A680 motorway junction and the Gragnague interchange has not been established.”

“Still doable”

It also specified that “however, the functionalities of the project submitted to the investigation preserve its feasibility”.

While waiting for a hypothetical realization in the future, motorists coming from Castres via the A69, and wanting to head towards Albi, will therefore have to exit at Verfeil to take the winding small departmental RD 20 to join the A68 at the level of the interchange 3 of Montastruc la Conseillère…

Or they will go to the Union toll gate, pay 1.80 euros, turn around at Union exit 1, go back through the toll barrier paying another 1.80 euros, and then head towards Albi via the A 68.

Securing the half-exchanger

Vinci Autoroutes specifies that if the Gragnague half-interchange will keep its current configuration, “the current operations provide for the widening and upgrading of the existing entrances and exits of the half-interchange, oriented towards Toulouse, to meet the technical and safety of a 2×2 lane motorway”.

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