Hautes-Pyrénées: is the Adé bypass project about to materialise?

It is the first time that the new prefect of Occitania has really immersed himself in the archives of the Hautes-Pyrénées, he who is from the Alpes-Maritimes and has held numerous posts of sub-prefect and prefect in metropolitan France and overseas, including that of sub-prefect of the district of Bayonne and prefect of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. For his first “contact” visit since his appointment as regional prefect, he met the mayor of Lourdes, an elected official of the city of Tarbes, the president of the departmental council, senators, deputies and the presidents of the three consular chambers, in the presence by the prefect of the Hautes-Pyrenees Jean Salomon. And the first impression of him was very positive: “I found very mobilized and quite united actors, who are not in an attitude of renunciation and oppression”. From these “interesting and enriching” exchanges with local decision-makers “which allowed him to complete his knowledge of the department”, several important themes emerged.

“You will have specific announcements soon”

Starting with the 2×2 lane development of the Adé ring road on the RN 21, between Tarbes and Lourdes, a veritable “sea serpent” of the area. In this regard, Pierre-André Durand expects to receive his negotiating mandate “soon” on the infrastructure component of the State-Regions plan contract until 2027, to give the first arbitrations on this crucial dossier. “Be patient for a few more weeks. You will have specific announcements on the subject soon,” he said. If “the Prime Minister wanted a significant railway dimension to be included in this State-Regions plan contract”, the Regional Prefect “will do everything to ensure that the Castex protocol (from the name of the previous Prime Minister) can be taken into consideration “, for this reason the Hautes-Pyrénées finally have a fast track between the two main cities.

Wolf predation and drought

Concern has also been expressed about predation, especially wolves. Our role is to enforce the law and support people in need as much as possible. But this cannot lead to massive wolf cullings,” warns Pierre-André Durand. The theme of drought also worries the agricultural world, especially as “we must expect a difficult summer” underlines the prefect of the Region who announces “quite significant investments by the Adour-Garonne Water Agency on network interconnections, cleaning and burial of the hilly reservoirs, without prohibiting the construction of new reservoirs”. prefect with the main local players.