All the actions of environmental activists will ultimately not have made the government bend. The contested A69 motorway project between Toulouse and Castres will go “to completion” and its work, rejected by environmental activists, will resume on Monday, announced the Ministry of Transport. “The State is determined to bring this project to fruition, which was decided democratically and systematically confirmed by the judge,” the ministry said in a press release: “The work will continue from this Monday.”
This decision was taken after a meeting on Friday in Castres during which “a very large majority of local elected officials, legitimate representatives of the territory in our democracy, unambiguously reaffirmed their support for the motorway”, according to the same source. When this meeting was announced, opponents of the project had interrupted their thirst strike, which had begun the day before, and a hunger strike which had begun a month earlier.
Friday, to the jeers of around sixty opponents gathered around the sub-prefecture of Castres, Jean Terlier, Renaissance deputy for Tarn, welcomed a “very constructive” meeting and said he had received assurances that he would not There would be “neither moratorium nor suspension of the project” of the A69, which is scheduled to enter service in 2025. “An in-depth dialogue was carried out. The support of the elected representatives of the Republic was reaffirmed. We must therefore move forward. I call on everyone to be responsible and respect democratic and legal decisions. Force will remain within the law and the rule of law,” said the Minister for Transport, Clément Beaune, quoted in the press release.
Several legal actions have been taken against the site, so far without success, but some are still ongoing. “The rule of law was strictly respected at every stage of the procedure. The judge has so far dismissed all litigation brought against the project and, again recently, a request to suspend work. All suspensive appeals have been judged and rejected,” argued the government.
Opponents of this 53 km section of motorway, which would reduce the Castres-Toulouse journey to approximately one hour instead of 1 hour 20 minutes, have called for a weekend of mobilization on October 21 and 22 on the route, without specifying the date. exact location. “No violence, no incitement to violence can be tolerated (…) in the context of actions that can be carried out individually or collectively,” the government insisted on Monday.
