“I think we can develop the project”: could the western bypass of Montpellier still be an alternative? ?

58 new plots purchased

58 plots that were not included in the declaration of public utility have, however, been acquired. “This was done for two reasons: firstly, to re-establish existing roads, and secondly, to create a retention basin. From my point of view it is completely justified” specifies Salvador Nuñez whose services are now waiting for the new planned land division to be carried out by the land registry before a transfer order is issued by the prefect.

At the same time, the expropriation process has therefore been launched. "The private sector represents a third of the plots concerned. The price of the Domaines is proposed, so we have a lot of files for expropriation whose main reason is the price. In general, the proportion of expros is high. We are in an urban area and on land like this people keep them and hope that a future PLUI will make them buildable” observes the head of the project owner, not surprised by the number of procedures.

Salvador Nuñez believes that he took the time for amicable discussions, launched in mid-2022, and justifies the launch of the expropriation procedure for timing requirements. “You have to be in a position to control it. Today it is respected if we think about the probable date of commissioning. On the intermediate stages not necessarily. We had planned to do an environmental survey this fall. There is a good chance that it will take place a little later. For the moment I cannot say that there will be a significant delay in the start of work, at the beginning of 2026. The objective of commissioning in 2029-2030 remains. I am optimistic by nature".

Elected officials intend to weigh in on the issue 

Last May, several elected officials of the Métropole requested the establishment of an information mission on the Métropole's road infrastructures, including the COM. “The existing systems are now very heterogeneous and often dated. They must be redesigned to be harmonized with each other and made consistent with the mobility and PCAET policies implemented by the Métropole”, write Manu Reynaud, René Revol and Isabelle Touzard.

The issue was raised last week in the Métropole office. The principle of hearings of the stakeholders concerned, in particular the prefect and Vinci managers, was proposed by Michaël Delafosse. “If all the efforts that we voted for in Metropolitan France with the Climate Plan are affected in a considerable way, we cannot sweep them aside with the stroke of a pen. We need to study the impacts of this project in more detail. We are not against the western bypass but against putting a motorway in the middle of a low-emission zone”, specifies Manu Reynaud who advocates the establishment of a 2-lane urban boulevard, with a speed limit of 70 km/h. “We want to have all the elements on the table. “I think we can develop the project,” believes René Revol.

The prefect: “I will defend it tooth and nail”

Like his predecessor, the prefect François-Xavier Lauch defends the COM project as it has been defined. “It is an essential infrastructure for Montpellier, I will defend it tooth and nail. We are lucky to have an economic model which is the concession strongly demanded by local elected officials. I will do everything to ensure that the COM comes into being within the concession contract deadlines. We must act in consultation and ensure that this infrastructure is seen for what it is: an urban boulevard to avoid traffic jams and therefore greenhouse gas emissions” indicates the State representative.

“The final objective will be to include it in a more global project which is the Montpellier Serm labeled just before the summer. The president of the Metropolis does a lot on mobility. We must also provide an answer to our fellow citizens who come to Montpellier for leisure or work and guarantee the accessibility of the city coming from Sète, Lodève, Gignac…"

The question remains whether the community chaired by Michaël Delafosse, himself in favour of the initial project, can still have influence on a file taken on by the State and entirely financed by Vinci for an amount estimated at 300 million euros. 

On the ground, local residents mobilised 

With the administrative green lights, the latest of which is the favourable opinion given on the land survey, the project owner Vinci is continuing its work of acquiring the land needed for the right-of-way of the road and the necessary equipment, in particular the basins of retention.

Residents: “I find it a bit violent”

“I find it a bit violent. I don't understand their interest in putting me before the judge”. Like others, this owner located near the Rieucoulon roundabout received a letter indicating that the expropriation judge had been notified for the repurchase of part of her property.

She did not accept the amicable offers proposed by Vinci and its service provider and disputes the amount for the non-constructible land. “We are being offered one euro per square meter when it was negotiating between 60 and 80 euros. “People are still ready to defend themselves,” she says.

A residents' association was created before the summer, which brings together around forty members, including some business leaders affected by the route, at Rieucoulon but also at the Condamine roundabout. “The buyout offers are not at all correct, they are unrealistic and there is a different treatment from one farm to another” explains its president Romain Bouvier.

The disagreement also concerns the substance of the case: “The discontent is fueled by the absurdity of the project as it stands. A structuring agglomeration route would correspond to what is done everywhere. “We do not understand why this study has still not been made public,” adds Romain Bouvier.

An area of ​​1.2 million m² reduced by 457,000 m² compared to the declaration of public utility. Two-thirds of these areas belong to public stakeholders while 397 private owners are concerned. Some of them, dissatisfied with the amicable negotiations entered into with Vinci and its partner (read elsewhere), have formed a residents' association.

According to the project owner, 134 files will be submitted to the expropriation judge who has just begun his field visits. According to the announced schedule, the COM is scheduled to be put into circulation in 2030.

Still three appeals pending

In parallel with the political pressure being exerted on its implementation, the COM is the subject of three separate appeals brought in particular through the Autre-COM collective. 

The first concerns the declaration of public utility of the project. In December 2023, the administrative court of Montpellier dismissed the associations' request. "Given the importance of the project, and in view of the prevention, compensation or mitigation measures planned by the project owner, the disadvantages it presents, however significant they may be, particularly in terms of cost, consequences or risks for the environment and nuisances for its immediate residents, are not excessive enough to deprive it of its character of public utility" the judges had ruled. This decision was the subject of a non-suspensive appeal before the Administrative Court of Toulouse and has not yet been heard.

Another appeal is being brought before the Paris administrative court in order to obtain the results of the VSA 70 study, in short the creation of a structuring urban road limited to 70 km/h, ordered by the Ministry of Transport but which has not been made public and does not appear in the declaration of public utility. "If the study has been done, why doesn't the State communicate it to us??" asks Céline Scornavacca of the Autre-COM collective. 

The associations, which are campaigning in particular for the place of soft mobility and public transport to be taken into account more in the file, are finally contesting the terms of the financing method provided for in the 20th amendment to the agreement between the State and the Société Autoroutes du sud de la France (ASF). A mechanism, validated by the Council of State, which plans to introduce a surcharge at the barriers of Baillargues and Saint-Jean-de-Védas for users of the A9.

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