If some farmers wanted to continue their protest movement this Friday, many blockade points were lifted after the latest government announcements.
“Traffic resumed on several highways in France on Friday, after two weeks of blockades by thousands of farmers and important government concessions, particularly on pesticides, to the great dismay of environmentalists,” noted for example the AFP at the end of the day this Friday, February 2. .
The convoys of tractors heading to Paris or other large cities, or stopped on the highway, will continue to be a strong image of this movement. In this context, operators are beginning to take stock of the damage suffered.
Teams mobilized since January 23
This is particularly the case of the APRR network, which mentions in a press release “an unprecedented and large-scale movement” that has mobilized its teams, 24 hours a day, since January 23, about 700 people.
“Despite the announced lifting of the blockades, the reopening of the roads will occur very gradually. On the one hand, because many blockades have not yet been lifted. On the other hand, because where the protesters have abandoned the places, it is now roads need to be cleaned and sometimes repaired, safety equipment checked and waste removed,” the company continues.
Among the tasks to be carried out: cleaning occupied premises. APRR cites in particular waste deposits, used tyres, cut plants, concrete blocks and metal bars or even the spreading of slurry on motorways or at tolls, such as in Beaune on the A6.
On behalf of SANEF, its general director, Anraud Quémard, spoke on Tuesday in RMC of an additional cost of cleaning that will be carried out at the blocking points in the order of 150,000 euros.
The farmers left behind “hundreds of tons of waste,” a Vinci spokesperson told AFP.
Repairs and postponed work
Now is the time to clean and repair the equipment.
“We will be forced to redo the road in several places, as a result of braziers or tire fires, for example,” notes APRR.
Contacted, the DiRIF (Ile-de-France Highway Directorate), which manages the non-concessioned national roads and highways in the region, indicates that it has not found any damage that requires repair after the blockades, which have most affected the concessioned network.
“However, these blockades had an impact on our work schedule, it was necessary to cancel and postpone certain planned closures,” adds DiRIF.
What cost and what compensation?
Between the cleaning, the repairs that must be made and the loss of activity resulting from the closures, the financial cost could be quite high. But in the case of APRR, it is still too early to quantify it.
“The evaluation work will be carried out in due time. To give an idea, normally, on a working day, 60,000 customers use the Beaune-Mâcon section, which remained closed for several days due to the mobilizations. These “are all clients who were prevented from traveling during the mobilizations,” indicates the press release.
A representative of the motorway companies mentioned last Tuesday in Le Parisien a cost “in millions of euros” and the measures to be taken to obtain compensation.
“When the time comes we will ask for compensation, whether friendly or litigated,” he explained.
With an invoice sent to farmers? This is the question posed this Friday morning by Apolline de Malherbe to Arnaud Rousseau, president of the FNSEA:
“Avec les jeunes agriculteurs, nous avons demandé qu’on puisse avoir un état des lieux de ce qui a été cassé ou dégradé (…) et que partout, au moment de quitter les points de blocage, dans la mesure du possible, on nettoie, it seems that this is the spirit of responsibility that is faire”, at-il répondu, appelant also the sociétés d’autoroutes à une forme de solidarité et à “être comprahensifs par rapport à ce qu’ se passed “.
Source: BFM TV
