The Grand Est Region “take control of destiny” 500 kilometers of roads “strategic”a five-year experiment during which it wants to set up an eco-fee for heavy goods vehicles which will finance its maintenance work.
These portions of road and motorway, congested or poorly maintained by the State, include the strategic A31 motorway, which goes towards Luxembourg, or national road 4. They returned to the jurisdiction of the region on January 1st.
“There is a strong saturation of these axes” Who “have not been the subject of sufficient investment, particularly in terms of regeneration” by the State when he was its manager, Thibaud Philipps, regional vice-president in charge of transport, told AFP.
One million euros is notably planned for “carry out studies” on the A31, “hot spot” in Lorraine which allows the junction with Luxembourg, where more than 100,000 French cross-border workers go to work every day, a figure which should increase significantly, according to Franck Leroy, president of the Region.
In addition to road repair projects, equipment sometimes awaited for decades must be put in place by the Region, such as acoustic protection along the A31 in Meurthe-et-Moselle. “We take destiny back into our own hands” roads, assures Mr. Philipps.
Tripling of the annual budget
Generally speaking, the roads will be resurfaced “a little everywhere” according to Thibaud Philipps, with a budget of 92 million euros in investment for 2025, almost “three times more” than what was planned by the State.
Concretely, 75 km of road will be regenerated for 34 million euros this year.
An additional budget has been voted on, so that it does not influence the financing of other projects. A heavy goods vehicle eco-fee, which will be implemented in 2027, will make it possible to finance the work and maintenance of the roads, according to the Region, which in the meantime has recourse to balancing loans, in addition to some 32 million euros provided by the State under the right to compensation.
“A number of black spots have been identified, and are often the subject of projects that have been in the pipeline for sometimes around thirty years”deplores Mr. Philipps.
The resumption of management of certain national roads by the regions was made possible by the 3DS law (differentiation, decentralization, deconcentration and simplification) passed in February 2022.
To date, only the Grand Est and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions are attempting the experiment. The latter takes over the management of 756 km of unlicensed national roads in Auvergne and in the Rhone corridor.
A “extremely important experiment” for the community, emphasized in December the vice-president in charge of Transport for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Frédéric Aguilera.
“We are convinced that in a territory which combines both large metropolises and very rural territories, not opposing mobility, taking care of national roads, this is a major issue for territorial planning and economic development. and decarbonization for our entire region »he summarized.
Eco-tax “promising”
In the Grand Est, the experiment was voted on by a majority during a Regional Council in December. Most of the oppositions, and in particular the Ecologists, voted for. But the group “RN and related” said he was against.
For the group’s president, Laurent Jacobelli, the Grand Est has not “the means of maintaining the roads”. He is also fiercely opposed to the heavy goods vehicle eco-fee, which “risks favoring large companies, often foreign, to the detriment of our family or national structures”.
Depending on the Region, between 60% and 90% of heavy goods vehicles traveling on the routes affected by this type of eco-tax are foreigners.
A similar system already exists in the border countries, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany.
The group Les Ecologistes judged “promising for ecological transition and territorial justice” the implementation of the eco-contribution for heavy goods vehicles.
The European Community of Alsace also plans to introduce a tax (called R-pass) on heavy goods vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes from the start of 2027 on the A35 motorway, which crosses the region from north to south . Indeed, due to onerous taxes on German highways, a significant flow of trucks makes the detour via Alsace.