we finally know the cost of the trip on the future Castres-Toulouse motorway
Étienne Guyot, prefect of the Occitanie region, prefect of Haute-Garonne, meeting this Monday, in the presence of François-Xavier Lauch, prefect of Tarn, the first A69 project steering committee. The “COPIL” marked the launch of the operational phase of the construction of this motorway after the signing of the contract with the concessionaire on April 20.
This steering committee brought together the following local authorities: the Occitanie Region, the Haute-Garonne department, the Tarn department, represented by Christian Ramond. Also present, the community of agglomeration Castres-Mazamet represented by Pascal Bugis, and the community of municipalities Sor-et-Agout, represented by Sylvain Fernandez. But the one who provided the most information was obviously the concessionaire, project owner, ATOSCA, represented by Martial Gerlinger.
Decreasing price especially for electric cars
He notably revealed the price of the motorway: 6.77 euros to make the entire journey. A degression of costs will be implemented by the concessionaires. An electric car that cost around twenty trips on this A69 only paid 2 euros, for example. The cost of the journey will be multiplied by three for heavy goods vehicles. The dealer still believes that this ax will be used by 8,400 cars and 800 trucks daily. Cost to which must be added the 1.60 euros for the portion of the A68 to reach Toulouse.
This 2×2 lane motorway, 54 km long, should be put into service by 2025. It should allow motorists to save 35 minutes on this section.
Four gantries, but no tolls
A highway that will have no actual tolls. There will be four ports that allow motorists to pay for their license plates via a subscription. This absence of tolls made it possible to reduce the land impact of the project, which went from 380 hectares to 300 hectares in the latest project.
During this “COPIL” the prefectures particularly insisted on the objectives of the motorway in terms of opening up and economic development of the south of the Tarn. Christophe Ramond insisted in particular: “It’s a great day for the Tarn department. Winning 35 minutes between Toulouse and Castres is a major challenge. And it’s a 20-year fight. And it’s important that this 20th century motorway, and in this context ATOSCA answered our questions and our expectations” said in particular the president of the Tarn department.
All the actors insisted that the project was moving quickly. The studies for environmental authorizations will be expected from September 2022 for a start of construction in the first quarter of 2023. But already, the prefect of Tarn has shown that the concessionaire was in the process of returning “an exemplary record”.