- "Fifteen years ago, [the city] had about four or five people die, trying to cross Center Street."
- New sidewalks are set to be installed along one of New Iberia's busiest streets.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A project 20 or so years in the making has just gotten its stamp of approval “Anything for safety, that's what I'm after," District 3 Councilman, David Broussard, tells KATC. Broussard has been advocating for sidewalks along Center Street in New Iberia for the last 20 years.
“It's a big asset to the town, to have safety," Broussard explained. "Fifteen years ago, they had about four or five people die trying to cross Center Street."
"I know there've been a few accidents," said New Iberia Marshal Dickie Fremin. "...two, maybe three people crossing from a motel to a restaurant, that have been hit by cars, and fatalities." Prior to becoming marshal, Fremin was a New Iberia Police officer for 25 years, and served as the Iberia Parish Sheriff's deputy for sixteen more.
With multiple businesses in the area, pedestrians continue to have to cross four lanes of traffic, without the aid of any sidewalks or crosswalks. “I heard a lot of families from my hometown died because of it," a man from Abbeville tells KATC. "I'm looking for an occupation like retail.”
Without a vehicle, the Abbeville resident had to walk along a very busy Center Street. "Sidewalks would increase safety and accessibility. It'd be much better instead of crossing traffic, and there's a lot of pedestrians that walk through here; especially kids."
After many years of waiting, on Wednesday, June 5 the city council voted to install sidewalks along from the intersection of Center St. & Queen City Dr. (by Lowe's) down to Center St. & Sucrose Dr. (leading to the PepperPlex).
“All the way in front of the hotels, mostly," Councilman Broussard explained. "for future baseball players that'll walk to the PepperPlex." This $100,000 addition ties into the $3M revamp of the PepperPlex sports complex. “The Pepperplex is growing multiple times over; it's growing more and more. We will be bringing more and more people...to this area."
According to the District 3 representative, the project is being paid for with both federal and city funds.
With this project green-lit, Broussard tells KATC he's now advocating for crosswalks to be added in as an additional safety measure. "I would like to have 4 or 5 put in along that same stretch; but that's all in the future. We're just trying to show people that we're helping New Iberia grow wisely." Broussard says the new, Center Street sidewalk(s) should be "done within a year."
