Castres-Toulouse motorway. The National Council for the Protection of Nature gives a rejected opinion
By Maxence Dourlen
Published on
L’A69 motorway Between Castres and Toulouse will it see the light of day? For the time being, the project is in no way questioned, but the unfavorable opinion from National Council for the Protection of Nature Should bring water to the mill of its detractors.
“The project does not meet two of the conditions for obtaining a proposal and has many shortcomings in terms of qualification of direct and indirect impacts, making it impossible to assess the impact as a whole. Consequently, the CNPN is issuing an unfavorable opinion on this motorway creation project. »
“Economic attractiveness? A questionable bias »
The Castres-Toulouse motorway link project (LACT) which extends over 62 km is particularly pointed out concerning the economic considerations aimed at promoting its development in the living area concerned and in particular the south-Tarn.
“This bias seems questionable to us”, specifies the National Council for the Protection of Nature concerning the link between the attractiveness of a territory and its attractiveness.
The question of the safety of road users is judged as “necessary”, “but this does not suppose the creation of a motorway”.
Saving time far from being “imperative”
Re improving the comfort of motorists and therefore saving time, the National Council for the Protection of Nature is also reluctant.
“The improvement in the comfort of motorists, which is based on a time saving estimated at 35 minutes over the complete journey and at a constant speed of 130 km/h (time disputed and questionable as it stands), if it is possibly a public interest (although the acceleration of the lifestyle of our modern societies is not correlated to any gain in terms of well-being, on the contrary) cannot however be qualified as Imperative, nor Major. »
“The absence of tangible elements to justify the overriding public interest represents a legal weakness for the file. »
“A project contrary to the objective of carbon neutrality”
Other points are mentioned by the experts, starting with the increase in the cost of the journey and the ecological impact of the new motorway. “the project could appear to go against the general interest”, they explain.
“In terms of greenhouse gas emissions and electricity consumption, the alternative to the use of the private car must be sought by all State policies whenever possible. This project, on the contrary, encourages it, which is contrary to the objective of carbon neutrality by 2050.”
For the experts, the project favored greenhouse gas emissions and electricity consumption… and thereforeprivate car use. “In this respect, a carbon footprint linked to the mobilization and use of the materials necessary for the construction of this infrastructure would certainly be eloquent. »
Several options
In its report, the National Council for the Protection of Nature evokes several alternatives, particularly in terms of the development of the public transport network or rail transport.
“If, in 2022, a territory is looking for the creation of a motorway to open up, rather than seizing the opportunity offered to imagine other methods of opening up, we will seem to miss the exercise requested and in a certain lag with the global reflections and dynamics on this subject. »
The issue of widening the RN126 is also discussed. It would be “dealt with in a very expedited and expedited manner” in the various studies.
“Economic considerations mainly got the better of the arbitration, which is not satisfactory from the point of view of biodiversity. »
“Insufficient arguments”
To conclude, the National Council for the Protection of Nature “does not consider the arguments put forward as sufficient to constitute an RIIPM. This file is in contradiction with the national commitments in the fight against change
climate change, the objective of zero net land take and zero net loss of biodiversity, as well as in terms of purchasing power. The absence of satisfactory alternative solutions ready for debate, and the arguments of the appellant are not justified”.
One thing is certain, the debates around the creation of the A69 motorway should resume in force after the publication of this notice.
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