Why is the toll for the new A69 Toulouse-Castres motorway considered so expensive?

The A69 motorway between Toulouse and Castres opened on Friday November 6. Barely launched, it is at the center of criticism, particularly for its excessively high price. It costs more than 20 euros for a round trip.

Even elected officials who were in favor of the construction of this highway criticize this price. They feel betrayed by the promises made to them. Also read: Report Along the A69, which opens after four years of standoff, residents denounce the "enclavement" created by the route of the motorway. However, this price was set before the construction of the motorway.

Indeed, it is its concessionaire Atosca which sets the prices according to the terms of the contract it signed with the State in 2022 to build and operate this 53 km highway. And this until 2077. This contract provides the rules for calculating and changing tolls, with ceiling prices.

Atosca proposes its prices and the State verifies that they respect the contract. So the price has not changed. On the other hand, a reduction in prices had recently been negotiated between the State, local authorities and Atosca.

The idea was to pay 41 million euros in additional public subsidies to the concessionaire. In exchange, the company agreed to reduce the price of tolls on two portions of the highway by around a third. Except that at the end of September, the Council of State issued an unfavorable opinion on this agreement for legal reasons.

As a result, the government suspended this agreement and it is therefore the prices provided for in the initial contract which apply today. A drop in prices is still possible There are still two possibilities to see prices drop. First, local authorities and the State can find a new agreement with Atosca.

The new amendment would this time respect the legal rules raised by the Council of State in its unfavorable opinion. The Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, explained on Friday that he was working with local authorities to find a legal solution to lower toll rates. The second option, which is perhaps more provisional, would be for Atosca to voluntarily lower prices since the prices set in the contract are ceilings and not minimum prices.

Also read: Report "This fight will be useful to those who come after": before the inauguration of the A69, opponents want to learn the lessons of their defeat to fight other "ecocidal" projects The A69 is one of the most expensive motorways in France. With its 16 cents per kilometer, it is significantly more expensive than the average for French motorways which is around 11 cents per kilometer. There are still even more expensive motorways like the A65 between Langon and Pau, with around 19 cents per kilometer.

And in the Paris region, it’s even more. On the A14, for example, the toll can reach 10.80 euros for around twenty kilometers, or 51 cents per kilometer.

Machine-translated from French