Go ahead for new m-way in southwest France
54km stretch of toll road will connect Toulouse and Castres
A new motorway will connect the city of Toulouse and the town of Castres, a declaration in the Journal Officiel has confirmed.
The declaration confirmed a commitment made by Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne in May that the long-awaited but controversial toll-paying artery would become reality, more than 20 years after the first studies were carried out.
The declaration states that all necessary expropriation of private property for public use will have been implemented by 2028.
Called the A69, this toll motorway link will link Castres, in the Tarn, to Verfeil, in Haute-Garonne. It is approximately 54 km long and involves the expansion of existing tracks and the creation of several kilometres of new ones.
The 54km stretch of road, which will be called the A69, will link the Tarn town to Verfeil in the Haute Garonne, where it will join the route into Toulouse. It is expected that the motorway will knock 30 minutes off travel times between Castres and the capital of Occitanie.
Once complete, it will mean that the 44,000-population town of Castres will no longer be the largest in France not to have direct access to a motorway.
Officials and businesses have long supported the project, but opponents have advocated improving the existing route rather than creating a new toll road.
