Slow down: officials discuss speeding in Abbeville

Abbeville residents in neighborhoods around the city have had enough of speeding drivers.
Some of those residents took the issue to members of the Abbeville City Council, with the topic leading to lengthy discussion during last Tuesday’s regular meeting.
Vermilion Parish Judge Laurie Hulin attended the meeting. She said drivers frequently speed down her neighborhood’s street.
“My neighborhood is a common walk and exercise path,” Hulin said. “We have a lot of young children on our street. I am here representing the neighborhood.
“I’m asking the council for a deterrent for speeding.”
Councilwoman Roslyn White’s district includes Hulin’s neighborhood.
“I was there talking to her,” White said, “when a driver came around and almost ran over her and her dogs. White said this issue is a growing concern.
“I put this item on the agenda,” White said. “It’s something that gets brought to my attention quite a bit. It’s one of the things I get questioned about the most in my district. I have gotten a lot of complaints about speeding on Graceland (Avenue). Mount Carmel Heights, Fairview, State Street and South St. Charles are all concerns. I’m sure everyone in here can echo the same thing with speeders in their neighborhoods.
“If there is anything we can do to deter speeders, I would like to have that discussion.”
Councilwoman Terry Broussard said it’s a discussion that needs to be taken up.
“I received a call today about East Street,” Broussard said. “There’s always a lot of speeding on Guegnon and MLK.”
White asked Chief of Police William Spearman what measures are being taken to slow down drivers.
“We are trying to do it,” Spearman said. “As you can see (from this conversation), it’s all over town. It’s not just one area.”
Spearman said, as his department is short-staffed, he does not have an officer dedicated solely to traffic duty. The chief said he has placed officers and vehicles in certain locations.
“If I can put a guy someplace for a few minutes,” Spearman said, “I do. If I hear a complaint, I will go run the radar. At this point, I don’t have a traffic officer or anyone who works specifically on traffic.”
That doesn’t mean that citations are not being issued when drivers are caught speeding or committing other traffic violations. In 2020, officers with the Abbeville Police Department handed out 1,919 traffic citations.
“We have issued almost 50 citations in the last two weeks,” Spearman said. “We’re not trying not to do this.”
White said she did not put the item on the agenda to try to point out what law enforcement is or is not doing.
“This was to allow people to voice their concerns,” White said, “and to have an open conversation with the chief, Mayor (Mark Piazza) and the council.”
Councilman Francis Touchet Jr., who has served on the council since ‘02, brought up speed bumps, something he said has been suggested multiple times over the years. City Attorney Ike Funderburk said speed bumps could cause damage to fire trucks and slow down vehicles of other first responders. Touchet pointed out that Lafayette has speed bumps. Piazza said Lafayette does not run medical calls at the rate that the Abbeville Fire Department does.
“Would someone want ambulances and fire trucks slowing down for every speed bump on the way to their house for an emergency?,” Piazza asked.
Piazza suggested placing signs for “no through traffic.” Hulin said that is a good idea, in theory.
“We had a lot of trees and power lines down in our neighborhood for one of the hurricanes,” Hulin said. “The city came out and put roadblocks up. People were getting out of their cars and moving the roadblocks to drive through our neighborhood. They would drive through our yards.
“If they will do that, I don’t see a sign deterring traffic.”
Hulin said she would like to see some plan of effectively using speed bumps.
“Maybe I didn’t consider some of the reasons why you would not use them,” Hulin said, “but we do see them in other communities and we know that they do work to re-route some of this traffic to our major roads.”
White said she will look further into what communities have speed bumps and how those communities utilize them.
Spearman said another possibility is signs that alert drivers of how fast they are going.
“Those signs will flash your speed and then turn on blue lights,” Spearman said. “At night, they can slow you down when those lights come on. That could be a deterrent. Maybe we can get a couple of those.”
City Engineer Richard Primeaux said there are funds available for such traffic-calming devices.
“The state has a program for traffic-calming devices,” Primeaux said. “They have different methods for different communities. I will look into what is available.
“What the chief mentioned does work.”
White reiterated that she did not bring up this issue to suggest that officers are not working hard.
“You guys are doing a wonderful job,” White said. “This is not to say that you are not doing your job. This was to get us all in a room and discuss solutions.”