The A20 autoroute or L'Occitane is a highway through central France.
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The road travels through the areas of Occitania, Limousin and Midi-Pyrénées. It starts at Vierzon in Cher and finishes in the south at Montauban in Tarn-et-Garonne. However further sections between Orléans and Vierzon (A71) and Montauban-Toulouse (A62) could be renamed the A20 in the not too distant future. L'Occitane is free from Vierzon to Brive-la-Gaillarde via Limoges.
The operating companies are ASF between Cressensac and Montauban, DDE in the department between Vierzon and Nespouls. The road crosses the following departments Cher, Indre, Creuse, Haute-Vienne, Corrèze, Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne
The motorway was proposed to reduce the travel time along the RN20 and to avoid congestion during holiday periods at Châteauroux, Argenton-sur-Creuse, Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, Limoges, Uzerche, Brive, Souillac, Cahors and Montauban.
The motorway is managed by the respective DDE in Cher, Indre, Creuse, Haute-Vienne, of Corrèze and Lot. It is a free motorway with 2x2 lanes, with certain sections with 2x3 lanes, for example the by-pass of Limoges.
In the long term, a new by-pass for Limoges is proposed (The A20bis project), in order to return the section of the A20 motorway which crosses the Limoges conurbation to its original planned use as a major urban road.
The motorway is operated by ASF. It is a toll road (closed system) with 2x2 lanes.
This section is managed by the DDE of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is in 2x2 lanes and free. The Montauban by-pass is the last missing link of A20. The link is currently signaled the RN20 which has yet to be upgraded to autoroute standard. To the south of Montauban, the RN20 was upgraded to motorway standard in the Nineties, and has been re-numbered the A62.
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