Shortcut to Abbeville city hall drive-through stopped

A popular shortcut to the drive-though window lane at Abbeville City Hall will no longer be accessible to those traveling west around the Vermilion Parish Courthouse. 

Some drivers have taken a sharp right onto State Street off Tivoli to enter the drive-through at city hall. The state is helping the city put a stop to that action.

Workers with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development  (DOTD) put up Wednesday morning a permanent barricade to keep drivers from taking that illegal path.

“People coming around the courthouse from Charity Street were using that as a shortcut into the drive-through line,” Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza said. “We see that happen pretty often and we don’t want an accident to happen.”

 Drivers will no longer be able to access the drive-through lane by taking a right into the lane from Tivoli Street. It is not meant to be an inconvenience to drivers.

“This is certainly for safety,” Piazza said.

Abbeville Councilman Brady Broussard Jr., whose District C includes the area, agreed. He said constituents brought the issue to his attention.

“This project came about when citizens approached me and demonstrated the problem,” Broussard said. “Traffic flowing from Tivoli Street across South State Street to enter the City Hall drive through is contradictory to safe traffic flow and poses danger to vehicles and pedestrians alike.

“Our pedestrian-friendly downtown area will be safer with this plan.”

The plan is not one the city could implement on its own.

“This is a state highway,” Piazza said. “The DOTD was concerned about it. They also felt that something needed to be done to improve that intersection.”

Piazza said he is pleased with how quickly the state responded to the issue.

“They did a good job,” he said.