Extension of the metro to Labège: a giant viaduct of more than 2 km

There will be a metro to Labège. This Friday, many of them officially kicked off the construction site which should lead to the commissioning of the B line extension in September 2027. Jean-Michel Lattes, the president of Tisséo Collectivités, the master of works, Pierre- André Durand the prefect, and six elected officials, Jean-Luc Moudenc, president of Toulouse Métropole, Sébastien Vincini, president of the department, Jacques Oberti, president of Sicoval, Thierry Cotelle, regional councilor, and the mayors of Ramonville and Labège, Christophe Lubac and Laurent Chérubin, respectively, they unveiled a piece of the long viaduct’s future metal cladding that will change the landscape of the area.

From Ramonville to Labège, over 2.7 km, the extension of line B will be visible. Only five hundred meters will be underground to pass under the Canal du Midi. This will require the intervention of a tunnel boring machine scheduled for the end of the year.

Then a 2.2 km long viaduct will connect the Ramonville canal technology park, with its station 450 meters from the Bikini concert hall, in Labège with a common terminus station on line C near the Carrefour shopping center.

A few months have passed since the preparatory work began. It’s time for the shell: construction of the pylons, installation of the launching beams and then of the ashlars… A lot of work that will be visible to everyone. By the end of the year, “70% of the 58 piers will be built,” said the shipyard manager of Tisséo Ingénierie.

The viaduct will cover twelve lanes of traffic, in particular the part of the motorway between the toll booth and the ring road.

Labège, symbol of unity

History: none of the many project partners said the word, but all recalled the long and turbulent history of the extension of the metro up to Labège, which gave rise to a Homeric showdown between Toulouse and Sicoval. “It ended up bearing fruit,” slipped François-Régis Valette, president of Sicoval from 1999 to 2014, invited this Friday.

The presence of the seven elected officials and the prefect offers today, however, the face of unity. A unity which, in the face of challenges, seems to have become the rule for the development of public transport. Jean-Luc Moudenc spoke of a “strong and shared will” and recalled that Tisséo’s investment “is the most important after Greater Paris”. During his election in December as head of the Department, Sébastien Vincini said he wanted to “take a full part” in the transport sector, although the community is no longer competent than he is. This Friday he said something more about his intentions: “we are looking for solutions now for the alternative to the car”. The Department, which wants to create a financial leeway, is working in particular on a bus network in peri-urban and rural areas. The outstretched hand has already led to three meetings with the Region and one on the way with Metropolis.