VIDEO. Ariège: Jean Castex has undertaken to finance the safety of the RN 20 – LaDepeche.fr

No more returning from weekends, holidays or slow-moving work-home journeys crossing small Ariège villages and Tarascon-sur-Ariège, located on the RN 20, a source of permanent congestion. We will still have to be patient but, around 2030, the valleys of the department will regain their tranquility. Motorists who take the north-south axis – which crosses the department to reach Spain from Toulouse and serves Andorra – should save around twenty minutes on their journey.

This is the whole point of the Tarascon diversion project. It is about to take a new turn, as Prime Minister Jean Castex pointed out. He reaffirmed his desire to see this dossier completed and, this Saturday, February 5, he signed a new financing protocol concerning the RN 20. “My presence here and this signature attest that this operation is one of the priorities of the State under the mobility component of the State-Region plan contract project, ”insisted Jean Castex.

A project worth 194 million euros

Where is the project today? As we know, the time for studies is over. Admittedly, they were long. Five years have passed since the first protocol. It was signed in March 2017 by Bernard Cazeneuve, then Prime Minister, and concerned the Tarascon diversion through the Quié tunnel. The studies proved to be useful since they brought to light additional costs. The project now reaches 194 million euros. It will be 60% financed by the State, with the Region and the Department contributing 20% ​​each.

“Good 2017, it’s a bit old, lance, tongue-in-cheek, the Prime Minister. But we must not throw stones, we are in the norm! What happened? Studies ! This is understandable because I remind you that it is a question of digging a tunnel, and we have progressed, we are ready for the truth of the costs. There is an overbidding and therefore it must be assumed. The big difference with the great protocol signed by Mr. Cazeneuve is that I am going to go to the end of the exercise, that is to say include it in the methods of financing mobility. »

Start of work in 2024, commissioning in 2029 or even 2030

A calendar has been drawn. It plans to start work in 2024 with commissioning in 2029, or even 2030. It is not a question of starting from scratch. Developments have been carried out to modernize this axis and change the RN 20 to two lanes as far as Tarascon.

Jean Castex recalled the strategic interest of this axis. He also launched an appeal with his foot to the Region which could, he said, have the responsibility “if it decides to engage in the experimentation that the legislator will soon make possible. »

Another step, in the same vein, “to open discussions with Andorra so that an agreement of the same nature as that which applies to this road can apply to the RN 116 since this axis also leads to the service of the principality . “With an unchanged objective, improving safety and traffic on the RN 20.