Toulouse (France) (AFP) – Even before the first groundbreaking, in spring 2023, the A69 which entered service on Friday will remain, like Sainte-Soline or Notre-Dame-des-Landes, a national emblem of ecological struggles, on the ground as well as in the courts.

Published on: 06/11/2026 - 17:36

Here are the main dates of the 53 km axis between Toulouse and Castres, desired by the State and the majority of local elected officials to "open up" the south of the Tarn.

Spring 2023: the first groundbreaking

The project manager, Atosca, now the concessionaire of the A69, is launching work on the barrier-free toll motorway in spring 2023, intended to shorten a journey of around an hour and fifteen minutes by around twenty minutes.

But the protest against the project started two years earlier, with a demonstration in June 2021 by opponents who described it as an “ecological and financial aberration”.

It takes different forms: demonstrations, hunger strikes, occupations of trees in the heart of Zones to Defend (ZAD) and legal recourse.

In November 2022, it was the Transport Regulatory Authority which challenged a contract linked to an access ramp to the A69 for “procedural defects”.

In April 2023, the anti-A69 gathered for a weekend of protest, followed by a major mobilization in October, marked for the first time by clashes with the police.

Environmental activists and scientists denounce the destruction of wetlands, agricultural land, trees, ecosystems and groundwater caused by the construction of the highway segment.

Summer/fall 2024: tensions rise

During the summer, tensions between pro and anti-A69 erupted, in a region where this highway is seen by some as a tool for territorial development, by others as an anachronistic infrastructure in the era of the climate crisis.

Construction equipment is set on fire and clashes with the police occur during large gatherings which will bring together up to 4 to 5,000 opponents in June.

February 2025: the anti-A69 achieve a victory

The Toulouse administrative court, seized by opponents, canceled the environmental authorization of the site, by its judgment of February 27, which led to the total and immediate interruption of the work. This is a “historic” victory for La Voie est libre (LVEL), the main anti-A69 collective.

The State and the concessionaire appeal to the administrative courts.

Summer 2025: construction resumes

Before ruling on the merits, the Toulouse administrative court of appeal suspended execution of the February judgment in May and authorized the resumption of work. The excavators gradually start up again in summer after four months of shutdown.

At the beginning of July, a protest brought together nearly a thousand opponents and briefly turned into a confrontation with the police near the construction site.

December 2025: legal victory for the pro-motorway

The Toulouse administrative court of appeal overturns the February judgment and validates the environmental authorization of the site, allowing the work to continue. “Incomprehensible” for LVEL, which is appealing to the Court of Cassation.

The State compensates Atosca to the tune of 79 million euros for the interruption of the construction site, bringing the total budget between 400 and 500 million euros, according to the Ministry of Transport.

June 2026: final green light from justice

The Council of State authorizes “definitively” the continuation of the project. LVEL comments: “in a world that is burning, climate denial is decreed by the highest sphere of legal power”.

In September, the Toulouse public prosecutor's office announced that Atosca would have to pay more than 860,000 euros for having exceeded the site perimeter without authorization.

The Tarn prefecture is giving Atosca formal notice to reduce its emissions in the manufacturing of coatings which exceed certain authorized thresholds. But the laying of the macadam, launched in January, is almost complete.

Fall 2026: final mobilization of the antis and embarrassment of the pros

During a weekend called the Dé-fête, more than a thousand opponents gathered for a last stand designed as a tribute to the various highlights of the mobilization.

An opinion from the Council of State pointing out the legal fragility of the subsidies planned to lower toll prices leads to an increase in these prices, which makes the most ardent supporters of the A69 jump: a "fiasco", says one of them, "unbearable", according to another.

The price of a Toulouse-Castres round trip, among the highest in France, will be 20.40 euros, according to the Official Journal, on the eve of the A69 entering service on November 6.

© 2026 AFP

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