A69 motorway: “Grotesque and irresponsible”… opponents are once again demanding the suspension of the construction site via an interim order before the court

New episode in the battle for the A69. Monday, December 16, the groups opposed to the motorway connection project between Castres and Toulouse filed an interim order with the administrative court, requesting the immediate suspension of the work. This announcement was made by the collective “La Voie est Libre” during a demonstration in Toulouse on Sunday. The judge should examine this appeal within a period of between 48 hours and one month.

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This approach is a continuation of the decision taken the previous week by the Toulouse administrative court. He had reopened the investigation of this controversial file, allowing work to resume. This situation has angered opponents, who are contesting the legality of the environmental authorizations granted in March 2023 by state services.

“Grotesque and irresponsible”

Last week, the court justified its decision by the presence of “notes under advisement” added to the file at the end of the hearing on November 25. These documents relate to the cost of the future toll, as indicated last week by the resigning Deputy Minister of Transport, François Durovray.

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“When I saw this file, we spoke with local elected officials and we considered that the toll was too high. A reduction of 33% is on the table, that is part of the discussions and that is what I I wanted to indicate to the judge so that he has all the elements in mind before judging”, affirmed the minister on Thursday, at the microphone of South Radio.

“Since when has the law relied on simple declarations of intent to postpone a hearing indefinitely and give free rein to the forced passage of a construction site on which there are strong presumptions of illegality, such as the public rapporteur has clearly expressed this?”, question the collectives in a press release. “Reopening the investigation on such insignificant elements is grotesque and irresponsible.”

The A69 motorway, designed to open up the south of Tarn, is already well underway according to the Atosca concessionaire. This states that 55% of the earthworks and 60% of the sanitation works have been completed. Furthermore, only 12 structures remain to be assembled out of the 200 planned along the route.