BREAUX BRIDGE, L.a. — The bridge that gives the city of Breaux Bridge its name is once again open after being closed for more than a year.
Those living in the crawfish capital celebrated the blessing and rebuilding of the bridge over Bayou Teche Tuesday morning, and local businesses were no different.
Beau and Lisa McDaniel run two businesses together — Antiquity and C.Mac Construction — right around the corner from the bridge. They told KATC that detours during the bridge's construction had an impact on many local businesses.
"So much of our traffic in Breaux Bridge is pedestrian-friendly," Lisa said. "And that is, it was very difficult not being able to get around in Downtown Breaux Bridge."
However, having the bridge back, they say, is a blessing in itself.
"It's crazy traffic and it's all right here coming," Beau said. "You know, now they're all coming straight in front of our shop, in front of our business, to go to downtown, you know, so it's great seeing all the cars."
KATC spoke with the State Representative of District 46, Mike Huval. He said the bridge's repairs were a long time coming — modeled after the original specs from 1950. As for how much it cost?
"It is between 4 and 4.5 million," Huval said.
Demo Demourelle is the man behind repainting the bridge's historic artwork, a crawfish symbolizing what the city is known for. He said the bridge being down for so long was terrible for one reason in particular.
"Because all the good bars are on the other side of the bridge."
A lifelong artist at 75 years old, he told KATC he is sure there are crooked lines, but that's not his concern.
"It looks great and it's at a distance and they got their bridge back so that's all that counts."
Back on the business front, those that KATC spoke with said that the bridge being closed did make things difficult for quite some time, but they are thankful to have foot traffic once again — just in time for the holiday season.
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