A report by the Court of Auditors criticizes the management of the road network in France. The report points to the complex organization between the actors, the poor overall maintenance of the roads, and the inadequate budget. The Court of Auditors suggests ways to improve the situation.
” France has approximately 1.1 million kilometers of roads, which makes its network one of the longest and densest in Europe. “. A relentless observation that could almost exculpate the State of its negligence towards our road infrastructures. But the Court of Auditors is watching the grain. In a report, it alerts on the poor maintenance of the network and details the possible elements of improvement, according to the actors and with different deadlines.
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Neglected road maintenance
the 139 page report of the Court of Auditors contains a lot of figures. Thereby, ” the proportion of road surfaces requiring maintenance work has increased in ten years from 43% to 53% No wonder since climate change does not help the problem (freeze-thaw, drought, floods, etc.) and increasingly heavy vehicles are damaging the tar in their path. The diagram below makes it possible to see more clearly in terms of renovation.
Aware of the danger for motorists, the State will release more budget for the next few years. ” On this basis, the mobility orientation law has provided for a financial trajectory until 2027 and beyond – ultimately exceeding 1 billion euros per year (compared to 775,000,000 € in 2016). This increase is substantial. However, according to the estimates of Swiss experts, it would not be sufficient to maintain the average state of the network at its current level. “says the Court of Auditors.
Decentralization causes concern
The entire road network has been managed by 3 different players since its major structural reorganization in 2006 (see diagram above). The departments and municipalities on the one hand retain their power to act on the majority of roads in France. The national network, known as “residual”, is now under the supervision of 11 interdepartmental road directorates (DIR). ” The latter now represents only 1.1% of the national linear (excluding concession motorways), but nearly 19% of traffic », details the report. Responsibilities are thus more and more dispersed throughout France while traffic increases tirelessly over the years. The Court of Auditors therefore took the opportunity to recall the duties of the government. ” The State remains the guarantor, by law, of the coherence and efficiency of the entire road network » : roads are part of the commons, usable everywhere, by everyone and all the time.
Two striking examples demonstrate these problems of decentralization. ” It was not until the 2020 recovery plan that the State, noting its lack of knowledge of the total number of bridges to be checked, decided to implement a national program allowing the inventory and assessment of the condition of these structures to be checked. art in small towns ». No concrete measures have therefore been put in place for 4 years. The second case concerns the State’s scientific and technical network (RST). This group of organizations has seen its workforce halved in twenty years ». It is difficult from this observation to imagine a positive evolution of road management in France.
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The solutions envisaged?
Rather than firing red balls without the will to change things, the report allows itself some recommendations. The latter speaks of a ” national road policy » to be defined by 2025. This would, for example, require the State to deal with the ” imperatives of road safety and the challenge of ecological transition » through an annual report. This would contribute to organize at the national level a mandatory reporting of data relating to all the networks and integrate them into a shared information system ».
The DIR are also in the viewfinder, the Court of Auditors wishing a reform of ” the management of the non-conceded national road network, by setting up a multi-year contractualisation of objectives and means “, by 2024. A whole program that the State, the departments and the municipalities could put in place in order to safeguard our road heritage… and lives.
