justice examines a potential suspension of the construction site

The controversial file of the A69 motorway will be examined this Monday by the administrative court of Toulouse, after the public rapporteur ruled in favor of a cancellation of the authorization of the site, which would lead to the suspension of the works started in 2023 in Occitanie .

This independent magistrate, whose opinions are often followed, made known last week to the parties concerned – State, concessionary company and opponents of the project – the conclusions which he must present at the hearing on Monday.

According to the collective of opponents “La Voie est libre” (LVEL), the public rapporteur is in particular in favor of a total cancellation of the decree of March 2023 authorizing the motorway connection between Castres and Toulouse which has been the subject for several months of strong protest from environmentalists.

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«It's quite surprising, but it doesn't predict the decision» of the court, declared to AFP the mayor of Mazamet, Olivier Fabre (various right), one of the Tarn elected officials in favor of the A69. For him, “the possible shutdown of the construction site would be catastrophic» and could “delay the much-awaited road opening up of the south of the Tarn“. This argument is often put forward by supporters of the A69, such as the PS president of the Tarn departmental council, Christophe Ramond, the Macronist deputy Jean Terlier or the PS president of the Occitanie region, Carole Delga.

For their part, opponents denounce the destruction of wetlands, agricultural land, trees, ecosystems and groundwater, and emphasize that the current national road is far from being saturated.

Two investigations for “damage by fire”

Monday morning, shortly before the start of the hearing, these anti-A69 intend to gather in front of Matabiau station, near the court, “to peacefully express (their) confidence in justice“. As early as last week, LVEL said its “hope» to see the conclusions of the public rapporteur followed by “an equally informed decision» of the administrative court of Toulouse.

This court must examine four appeals against the motorway project including two requests for cancellation of prefectural decrees authorizing the A69 and A680 motorway links (link between the current A68 motorway and the future A69) presented by France Nature Environnement. The fact that these appeals have not yet been examined has been for several months one of the main arguments of environmentalists challenging the construction site to oppose its continuation.

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The construction of the A69, a 53 km section of motorway which would reduce the Castres-Toulouse journey by around twenty minutes, is the subject of heated protest punctuated by large gatherings punctuated by clashes between opponents and forces of order. The concessionaire for the future A69, Atosca, claims to have filed complaints more than 150 times for damage to the site which extends over tens of kilometers.

Opponents also reported fires that they consider intentional, leading the Toulouse public prosecutor's office to open two investigations for “damage by fire» in August and September on what was still at the time a “Zone to defend” (ZAD) occupied by anti-A69 activists in Verfeil (Haute-Garonne).

On October 7, this last ZAD on the site was dismantled, the police managing to dislodge the remaining “squirrels», activists perched in the trees in the work zone, in order to prevent their felling.