Motorway concession companies will have to put their hands in their pockets: the Transport Regulatory Authority (ART) estimates the amount of investments necessary to make the motorways in good condition at more than 10 billion euros by the end of concessions, between 2031 and 2036.
It is an “unprecedented and complex project”, announces the ART in a report published on Saturday on the crucial question of the end of motorway concessions.
How can we ensure that companies do not slow down their investments as contracts approach expiration, leaving their successors to deal with the problems?
“The end-of-contract obligations must be specified to allow their completion in good conditions,” insists the ART. Because the contracts are “incomplete”. They do not offer an objective definition of “good condition of the motorway upon its return”, and they are “ambiguous” leaving a margin of interpretation “as to the investment obligations remaining the responsibility of the concessionaire”.
The regulator makes recommendations, but it will ultimately be up to the State to decide.
The condition of the concessioned motorways “is objectively good”, underlines the ART, with engineering structures (tunnels and bridges) in better condition than on the non-concessioned network.
The concessionary model is not called into question because it is “an efficient system, where the user is the payer”, allowing investments and quality maintenance, notes the Authority.
– Shorter contracts –
But the imminent end of the contracts for the seven main concessions – which represent more than 90% of the motorways granted – raises new issues.
The duration of these concessions – today operated by the Vinci, Abertis and Eiffage groups – ranges from 65 to 74 years, after a series of extensions.
It must “be much shorter, of the order of 15 to 20 years”, recommends the president of ART, Thierry Guimbaud, in an interview with Le Monde.
The first concession to expire will be that of Sanef (Société des Autoroutes du Nord et de l'Est de la France) at the end of 2031. It must shortly receive its “maintenance program”, which the State is required to notify seven years before the end of the contract.
The concessionaire then has the duty to implement it “during the last five years of the concession”, indicates the ART.
According to his calculations, motorway companies “today spend 800 million euros per year to maintain the infrastructure”. They would therefore have to devote 4 billion over the last five years of their contracts.
– Toll prices –
But that's not all. The ART recommends “an additional maintenance effort” estimated at 1.2 billion euros “on the perimeter of roadways and engineering structures alone”.
They are not dangerous today, but could “present a risk in the long term and (…) require costly work after the concessions expire”, explains Mr. Guimbaud to Le Monde.
This assessment was also revised downwards after comments made by the motorway companies, he specifies.
Finally, and this is where the dispute could emerge, the ART notes that the concession contracts provide for investments, such as for example track widening (change from 2×2 to 2×3 tracks), which have never been made.
These “are no longer relevant, in particular when traffic has not reached the expected level”, recognizes Mr. Guimbaud.
But “the toll price includes their financing. The ART therefore believes that the money collected can be used for another investment, for example by creating carpooling areas”, he continues. This represents an additional 5.1 billion euros to be paid by motorway companies.
Asked about the future of the motorway model and a possible reduction in toll prices at the end of the contracts, Mr. Guimbaud calls for caution. “If we lower it, it could create a draw towards the road, to the detriment of the rail,” he warns. Part of the revenue from tolls could also help finance rail, he suggests.
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