Where are the various motorway projects in France?

2023-10-16 19:08:01
The government had promised to decide among “around ten motorway projects” currently under review. PHILIPPE TURPIN / PHOTONONSTOP

“We have to be consistent: in this era of ecological planning, we cannot do things like we did before”assured Clément Beaune, at the end of September on France Inter, by announcing that several highway projects “not yet launched” would be “arrested ». Only the most “useful” will be maintained, according to the Minister of Transport. Among these is the future motorway 69 (A69) between Toulouse and Castres, work on which is due to resume on Monday October 16. announcement the Ministry.

What about other projects? Neither the minister nor his ministry have yet revealed which areas would be sacrificed. The government had promised to decide among “around ten projects” currently being revised, the list of which was to be detailed in mid-October.

While waiting for these official announcements, we have listed the main highway projects, according to their progress: some are already under construction, others have obtained a declaration of public utility (DUP), a third category has not not yet this DUP but has already passed the evaluation commission stages, while several others are pending, or even abandoned.

Highways under construction

A69 Toulouse-Castres: Highway 69 between Toulouse and Castres should see the light of day.
Despite the opposition of environmental activists, marked by the hunger and thirst strike of tree defender Thomas Brail, and the grievances of Toulouse scientiststhe Ministry of Transport confirmed, Monday October 16, that the project “decided democratically and systematically confirmed by the judge” would come to an end and the construction site would resume the same day, after having been suspended for the duration of a meeting between local elected officials.

The new “twice two lanes”, which should cost around 450 million euros, including 23 million in public money, should open up Castres and reduce travel time to Toulouse, according to its defenders. The Atosca concessionaire will be able to operate the 53 new kilometers of motorway planned for 2025 for fifty-five years.

Read the decryption: Is the A69 motorway project between Toulouse and Castres justified? 6 questions to understand the debate A104 Roissy bypass: Started in 2014, the construction of the eastern Roissy bypass (Val-d’Oise) should be completed at the end of 2023. The new section of the A104 must ensure the continuity of the Francilienne and improve access to the airport Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle. On the other hand, the project to extend the A104 between Méry-sur-Oise (Val-d’Oise) and Orgeval (Yvelines), long at the draft stage, today seems to have stalled. In 2018, the Infrastructure Orientation Council (COI), which supports the government on investment policies in mobility and transport, recommended “do not plan to complete the motorway extension project before 2038”.

Projects declared of public utility

Benefiting from a declaration of public utility, an essential step which is decided following a public utility investigation and which paves the way for the expropriations necessary at the start of the work, these projects could come to fruition quickly.

A133/134 Rouen eastern bypass: The concessioned motorway project should connect the A28 in the north to the A13-A154 in the south of Rouen in order to divert part of the traffic, particularly heavy goods vehicles, from the heart of the urban area. Declared of public utility in 2017, the new infrastructure is also classified among the absolute priorities of the Mobility Commission 21 (2013). The Infrastructure Orientation Council (2018), which notes the numerous local oppositions, however believes that “the current situation is significantly unsatisfactory enough for the continuation of the project to appear appropriate”.A154 Dreux-Orléans: The 90-kilometer road concession project, via Evreux, Dreux and Chartres, which should make it possible to connect Rouen and Orléans by motorway while relieving congestion in the Paris region, obtained a DUP in 2018. The Infrastructure Orientation Council then judged: “The motorway option is no longer up for discussion today and it is appropriate for the State to pursue the development project as a whole on a concessionary basis. »A412 Machilly-Thonon-les-Bains: The 16.5 kilometer motorway link between Machilly and Thonon-les-Bains aims to improve service to Chablais, in Haute-Savoie, south of Lake Geneva and surrounded by Switzerland. The project benefited from a first DUP in 2006, abandoned in 2010 when the State announced that it could not finance the infrastructure. The project was relaunched in 2010 as an independent motorway concession and obtained a new DUP in 2019. The neighboring city of Geneva is fiercely opposed, fearing the environmental impact, but the project was retained in the latest COI report “2023-2042 strategy”.

Projects deemed priority

These files do not yet have a declaration of public utility, but they have received positive evaluations by the study commissions which guide the executive’s choices.

A31bis Toul-Luxembourg: The A31bis project between Toul (Meurthe-et-Moselle) and the Luxembourg border could soon benefit from a DUP, after the organization of a public consultation with stakeholders in the territories affected by the routes. It was classified among the priority developments by the Mobility Commission 21, and the Infrastructure Orientation Council estimated in 2018 that the construction under concession of the northern part of the route, between Thionville and Luxembourg, should be initiated. ” as fast as possible “, in view of very degraded traffic conditions. The latest COI report once again recommends “launch the DUP”.A54 Arles bypass: The Arles bypass project (Bouches-du-Rhône) via the A54, which would complete the transit axis between Spain and Italy, has been classified among the priorities of the Mobility Commission 21. The new section must relieve the busy and accident-prone national road 113 and free the city of Arles from part of the traffic, but the presence of sensitive natural areas, notably the Camargue Regional Natural Park, complicates the realization of the project. The “2023-2042 strategy” report from the Infrastructure Orientation Council recommends “deepen the studies to launch the public utility investigation of the Arles diversion ».A63 widening of the Bordeaux-Salles section: The Infrastructure Orientation Council considers the project to widen Highway 63 necessary, on the Bordeaux-Salles section, which provides access to the Arcachon basin. Without public contribution, the option envisaged is the concession of 35 kilometers in “two times three lanes” whose construction cost could exceed 300 million euros.

Projects on hold

Sometimes discussed for years, and presented in different formats, these projects are no longer really on the agenda.

Lyon bypass: The old Lyon bypass project, where the motorway crossing the city center (now urban boulevards) causes congestion and significant pollution, is still in the preliminary stages. Neither the bypass to the west, nor the one to the east, is a consensus. The “Ring of Sciences” project, an urban highway defended by former mayor Gérard Collomb, which was to connect the campuses and research centers of the Lyon metropolis, also fizzled out. In December, Clément Beaune suspended the project to widen the A46 south of Lyon while holding new consultations. Some elected officials are now calling for the extension of the A432 to the east of the city.LEO Avignon : The creation of an east-west link from Avignon in order to complete the southern bypass of the agglomeration is the subject of a declaration of public utility. After having postponed the file until after 2030, the Infrastructure Orientation Council is now requesting new studies so that the project can be relaunched for good.A56 Fos-sur-Mer – Salon-de-Provence: La construction of a road route between the port area of ​​Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône) and highway 54, which would contribute to the “economic dynamism” of the region and “would improve travel” residents, was ranked among the priorities of the Mobility Commission 21. The latter, like the Infrastructure Orientation Council, however, rather favors the development of existing roads.A319 Langres-Vesoul: In the pipeline for several decades, deemed a non-priority by the Mobility Commission 21 and the COI, and dismissed by the then Minister of Transport, Elisabeth Borne, the A319 no longer has much chance of succeeding.A147 Poitiers-Limoges: The latest COI report does not include the A147 Poitiers-Limoges project in its 2023-2042 strategy, which it advises to abandon definitively. In May 2023, Clément Beaune, guest of France Bleu, described him as “a bad project”.Bordeaux bypass: The major Bordeaux bypass plans to remedy congestion in the metropolis and decongest its ring road. Abandoned in 2008, the project resurfaced as preliminary reflections.

Several projects abandoned in recent years

The projects which will be rejected by the Minister of Transport will join the long list of motorway projects abandoned in recent years: the A45 between Lyon and Saint-Etienne, which had nevertheless received a DUP which expired in 2020, the A24 Amiens-Lille, the southeast bypass of Lille, the extension of the A51 between Grenoble and La Saulce, or the A831 in Charente-Maritime.

Hadrien Valat