On March 21, 2025, Deputy Christine Arrighi from Haute-Garonne took a significant step by notifying the public prosecutor about potential issues with the A69 highway project that connects Castres and Toulouse. At the heart of the controversy are claims made by Martial Gerlinger, the director general of Atosca, regarding the supply of materials necessary for the construction of the highway. This project has been plagued by unresolved questions on its financial and legal frameworks, which have drawn considerable public attention.
Deputy Arrighi's actions follow statements made by Gerlinger during a parliamentary inquiry on May 29, 2024, where he allegedly provided contradictory information concerning the sourcing of materials for the A69. While NGE, the construction company involved, had previously stated that optimizations had been proposed to avoid the need for temporary quarries, Gerlinger later confirmed that natural materials such as gravel and rock are, in fact, sourced from local quarries for use underneath the asphalt layers.
This apparent contradiction raises serious concerns about the validity of the information Atosca provided during the contract awarding process and whether proper environmental permits were obtained. As stated by Deputy Arrighi, "In light of the seriousness of the matters raised, which put the integrity of parliamentary inquiry work at stake, I request you to examine this alert and to take whatever action you deem necessary."
Supporting Arrighi's claims is a recent communication from the prefect of the Occitanie region, which clarified that the total material requirement for the A69 has been estimated at around 1.9 million tons. This reinforces the need for an in-depth investigation into potential discrepancies in the information provided by Atosca, especially considering the scale of materials required for a project of this magnitude.
In parallel, debates surrounding the A69 project continue to escalate. In March 2025, a group of deputies and senators from Tarn, advocating for the continuation of the Castres-Toulouse highway, submitted a bill to swiftly resume the construction, which had been halted following a ruling from the Toulouse administrative court.
The ongoing legal battles regarding the project have already led to significant financial implications. The Toulouse administrative court ruled against the A69 and A680 highway expansion projects on February 27, 2025, citing a lack of significant public interest in the proposed developments. This decision has far-reaching consequences, particularly as the state has already invested approximately 300 million euros in the project, with about 45% of earthworks completed and 70% of engineering structures constructed.
Notably, the potential impact of this judgment has also resulted in over a thousand employees of Atosca facing the possibility of unemployment. With work currently stalled, the government is fervently appealing the administrative court's decision, seeking a temporary suspension of the ruling to allow the construction process to continue while the legality of the court’s decision is being evaluated.
In a letter sent to Deputy Arrighi on February 28, 2025, the prefect, Pierre-André Durand, confirmed that Atosca must extract nearly two million tons of materials from regional quarries to complete the project. This starkly contradicts prior assertions made by Atosca about its capacity to proceed without needing to open new quarry sites. Such significant discrepancies are critical to understanding the underlying issues surrounding the A69 project and its potential environmental impacts, as many environmentalist groups and opposition leaders question the overall ecological impact of the highway.
Atosca's commitments to constructing an environmentally friendly highway, initially dubbed a "new generation" that includes features like carpooling parking and electric charging stations, are now under scrutiny. Groups opposed to the A69 have deemed the project as ecologically harmful and socially unjust, arguing that the economic benefits do not justify the environmental costs involved.
As Deputy Arrighi pointed out, the project was initially deemed to save a mere 20 minutes on travel time yet posed a risk of significantly harming nearly 400 hectares of agricultural land and natural habitats. With strong support from local government officials like Toulouse Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc and Castres Mayor Pascal Bugis for the continuation of the project, the divide over the A69 reflects broader conflicts between economic development and environmental preservation in the region.
With the extensive legal battles likely to continue, the A69 project demonstrates the complicated interplay between public interest, environmental responsibility and financial viability. Ultimately, as the situation unfolds, it becomes increasingly apparent that the results of the investigations and ongoing debates will have significant implications for the future of infrastructure development in the Occitanie region.
