Harlan Kirgan
New speed limits on St. Landry Parish’s newly paved roads may be brought up for Parish Council as early as April, according to Parish President Bill Fontenot.
Speed limits are as low as 20 mph on some parish roads that up until the Smooth Ride Home Program were either pot-holed or gravel.
The parish is to pave about 300 miles of road with a $66 million, 15-year bond issue funded by a 2 percent sales tax collected in unincorporated areas.
Fontenot said he has employed Neel-Schaffer to conduct a study and recommend speed limits for the roads.
“It is more concerning to have the proper speed limits because you have higher speeds naturally with better roads. So, when there are crashes the element of speed limits come up almost every time where there is litigation,” he said.
Fontenot said he would confer Council members and St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz about the speed limit recommendations.
In February, Guidroz asked the Parish Council to raise speed limits on the newly paved roads.
“We have so many roads in the parish now that are blacktop and 20 mph just doesn’t cut it,” Guidroz said.
People are getting speeding tickets and they are complaining, he said.
Council member Harold Taylor suggested the study include speed bumps.
“I don’t think the state has an speed bumps on its highways,” he said.
Fontenot said the state does install rumble strips in problems area.
Council member Timmy Lejeune said the Council has approved speed bumps and on several roads that have not been installed.
“I’m getting some heat,” he said about the delay in installing the speed bumps.
“We told them to follow this procedure and we are not doing nothing about it,” he said.
Fontenot said the parish needs a better procedure for approving speed bumps rather than doing them by petition.