Motorway concessionaires should invest up to 10.3 billion euros to leave the infrastructure in good condition before the expiration of their contracts, scheduled between 2031 and 2036, the Transport Regulatory Authority (ART) recommended in a report published on Saturday .
“The termination obligations of the contract must be specified to allow its execution in good conditions,” explains the ART, which considers that the contracts are “incomplete” and “ambiguous.” It proposes supporting the State “in the implementation of this complex and unprecedented project.”
The concession model is “an efficient system, where the user is the payer, which guarantees that the concessionaire has the necessary funds for the maintenance of the infrastructure and the financing of investments,” the ART indicates in the preamble.
The state of the concessioned highways “is objectively good,” he emphasizes, with structures in better condition than those of the non-concessioned network.
Imminent end of contracts
On the other hand, the imminent end of the contracts of the seven main concessions – which represent more than 90% of the highways granted – requires defining the framework.
This deadline “requires unprecedented work, the challenges of which are measured in billions of euros,” states the ART.
The duration of these concessions – today exploited by the Vinci, Abertis and Eiffage groups – ranges between 65 and 74 years, after a series of extensions.
According to the ART, the State must notify “a maintenance and renewal program (…) seven years before the expiration of the concession.” The concessionaire is then tasked with implementing it “during the last five years of the concession.”
These recommendations should also be received shortly by Sanef (Society of Northern and Eastern French Roads), whose contract expires at the end of 2031.
Highway concession companies “today spend 800 million euros a year to maintain infrastructure,” indicates the ART, or 4,000 million in five years.
extra effort
But the authority recommends “an additional maintenance effort” estimated at 1.2 billion euros “only on the perimeter of the roads and structures” to guarantee the continuity of the service, while a new actor could take time to identify infrastructure deficiencies.
Finally, the concession contracts provide for investments, such as the expansion of lanes (change of lanes from 2×2 to 2×3), which have never been carried out.
“According to calculations, the investments that concessionaires could owe are between 400 and 5.1 billion euros,” according to ART. He considers that the upper range, “the most favorable for users,” should be maintained.
However, it completes by stating that it is up to the State to choose which scenario to preserve, “if necessary under the control of a judge.”
Source: BFM TV
