the essential
Supposed to facilitate work along the RN88, the Occitanie Region has decided not to take over its management. It will therefore be up to the State to decide between the different scenarios for bypassing Albi… and to find funds to carry it out. Back to square one.
Will a quick solution be found for the major Albi bypass? The recent decision of the Occitanie region in terms of road transport is enough to sow doubt. “After much procrastination from the ministries concerned, we have indeed decided not to proceed with the provision of national roads. They will remain the responsibility of the State.” Jean-Luc Gibelin, vice-president of the Occitanie region in charge of transport, confirmed his president's comments this Monday.
Carole Delga had indicated this a few days earlier to the president of the Lozère departmental council. While the State had allocated 360 km of national roads to the Occitanie region, the community is backtracking due to uncertainties over the State's commitment to finance up to 50%. The agreements were ultimately not signed.
They had to govern this experiment over a period of 8 years, define the conditions for making staff available as well as the financing plans. Jean-Luc Gibelin recognizes that the current period of government crisis and the constraints linked to state debt reduction may have played a role. But this decline in the region is also due to “conflicts that have not been resolved and give rise to disputes on the routes of national roads”.
What project for the Albi bypass?
The Tarn is affected by this decision on several sections of road: the A 68 between Toulouse and Albi, the RN 88 and its continuity in the neighboring department of Aveyron, for the “South” portion (Viaduc du Viaur/Rodez) ; the “East” portion of the Lachet interchange up to the A 75 having been transferred to the Aveyron departmental council. This decision will have impacts in the Tarn, particularly on conflict points such as the Albi bypass.
In 2023, Carole Delga welcomed this transfer of management. The region believed that it could provide a more rapid response to the developments to be undertaken. “We had a greater capacity for adaptation than the Ministry of Finance at Bercy can have,” believes Jean-Luc Gibelin, regretting the absence of arbitration on the part of the ministries. “The announced clarifications did not come.”
The vice-president clarified that this experiment was not a transfer of property in any case. “We could have had to implement major operations but the decisions rest with the ministry.” However in 2023, François-Xavier Lauch, then prefect of Tarn, seemed to rather pass the ball towards local decision-makers. He then repeated the words of the Secretary of State for Ecology who had estimated that it would be up to the region “to position itself on a suitable development plan” once it manages the section.
With the reversal of the Occitanie region, the question is settled. The State is solely responsible for the RN 88. It will be up to it to choose between a large western bypass of Albi or the Lescure ramp. Or do nothing at all. More than 20 years later, this file is still at the same point and we are still waiting for studies that would allow us to see more clearly between the two projects.
