“my village is going to be cut in two”, indignant a mayor
The motorway project between Toulouse and Castres is causing a lot of tension. Under the leadership of the group Atosca-NGE, project concessionaire, the motorway initiative continues to be presented to local elected representatives directly concerned by the future axis.
After a presentation at the CCI du Tarn and elected officials from the Verfeil basin (Haute-Garonne), the group met, this Monday, December 20, the elected officials of the Community of communes Tarn-Agout, in particular of Montcabrier, Teulat, Villeneuve-lès-Lavaur and Bannières, at the village hall of the Tarn village of Teulat.
Opposition on all fronts
On the occasion of the meeting on December 20, more a hundred opponents of the project, including Sandrine Mousson, mayor of Teulat, had gathered in front of the village hall of Teulat to express their anger. They symbolically made a funeral march, that of the Girou Valley, outraged by “the destruction of agricultural land and the artificialization of soils”.
During this action, the Confédération paysanne, the collective RN 126 and the collective La Voie est libre (created in December 2021) were present.
“No real consultation”
At the end of the project presentation meeting, Sabine Mousson, the mayor of Teulat, did not hide her dissatisfaction. According to her, the A69 will “to cut in two” his village, with a highway buried six meters away and the construction of a bridge to reach its town.
Despite a classic protocol (public inquiry, public debate, concessioning), the mayor of Teulat, contacted by The Independent Opinion, deplores the lack of real consultations between the concessionaire, Atosca-NGE, and elected officials, but above all the lack of clear answers from the concessionaire.
ATOSCA-NGE warns that the balancing subsidy will be divided by 10, so it would cost less for users. However, when asked to explain the reasons for this cost reduction, no response was given. When we launch such a motorway project, and at this stage of the protocol, if we cannot respond clearly to elected officials, it is very worrying, “protests Sandrine Mousson.
The mayor still wishes to emphasize that the residents are for “the opening up of Castres”, which is the main motivation of the project according to the dream (Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing) Occitanie, “without adapting to the construction of the motorway”. Sandrine Mousson for example mentioned redevelopment of the RN 126, “the idea is to create arrangements on the existing.”
“Protecting the Girou Valley”
From an ecological point of view, the motorway project also poses: “We all know that the construction of this motorway leads to ecological environmental problems and in particular pollution and noise pollution linked to the Girou Valley which presents a hollow relief “, detail the elected to The Independent Opinion.
Thereby, “leave the Girou Valley and agricultural land intact” and privilege “free solutions for people” are the two main grievances of the elected. Sandrine Mousson explains that the implementation of the current RN 126 twice, for which opponents of the motorway see only advantages, with no toll to pay, would be a more reasonable alternative to open up Castres.
At present, a plot investigation which constitutes the preamble to the expropriation of all the land along the route is in progress. If the schedule is respected, the concession agreement will be signed in the first quarter of 2022, the expropriations began in June and July 2022 and work began in 2023. The entry into service of the motorway is estimated at the end of 2025.