Abbeville Police Chief Hardy urges caution on Bypass bridge

It appears Abbeville will have a winter redux.
Abbeville is expected to see a high of 33 and a low of 25, with a 90 percent chance of precipitation. This comes just a few days after icy weather left many of the roads in Abbeville, as well much of South Louisiana, in less-than-desirable conditions.
Abbeville Police Chief Tony Hardy said Monday morning that his department is ready for today. A large focus will be on the Hwy. 14 Bypass bridge, which had ice accumulate on the metal grating.
“The main problem we had (Friday) was the Bypass bridge,” Hardy said. “People think they slow down to 10 miles (an hour) and everything is going to be OK.
“We had four wrecks on the bridge Saturday and Sunday because people just don’t want to slow down.”
None of the crashes resulted in any injuries. Hardy is not taking any chances today, though. As well as having patrol cars near the bridge, Hardy will have a digital sign placed in advance of the bridge.
“We are going to put the speed limit on the bridge as 5 miles an hour,” Hardy said.
It is not technically a speed limit, but rather a suggestion. It is a suggestion that Hardy said should be taken seriously.
“If you are doing anything over 10, your car is going to slide,” Hardy said. “Drivers won’t get a ticket for speeding, but if somebody is driving fast and they start sliding, they will probably get a ticket.
“They will get it for driving too fast for conditions.”
It is up to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) to make the call to close the bridge. The Bypass Bridge, which is already heavily utilized, has proved more vital as the DOTD currently has the Old Abbeville Bridge closed for repairs. Hardy said if it were his call, he would not see a need to close the By-Pass bridge, based on what he saw Friday.
“If people had just slowed down, there would not have been any wrecks,” Hardy said. “People are not used to driving in these conditions.
“They need to pay attention to the roads.”
Hardy said he feels that drivers, having seen these conditions only a few days ago, will help.
“I would ask that those who don’t need to be on the road to not be on the road,” Hardy said. “If you have to, drive very slowly and be courteous of other drivers, as well as officers.”
Abbeville police will be monitoring condition on streets throughout the rest of the city. Anyone in need of assistance can contact the Abbeville Police Department at 893-2511.
Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza said the city is prepared for any instances that could occur.
“We prepare for winter storms similar to the way we prepare for hurricanes during the summer,” Piazza said. “We make sure we have adequate amount of sand, as well as sand bags, if those would be needed. We make sure we have enough sand in case it would be needed at intersections that may ice over.
“The DOTD takes care of state highways and bridges, but there could be some city streets that would be in need of attention and could cause a problem for traffic.
City crews will be on standby.
“The entire electrical crew will be available because power outages are a probability,” Piazza said. “We did have some isolated outages on Friday because of ice accumulation on branches and they snapped or leaned on the lines.
“That created some outages in the city and we are expecting the same today.”