Speaking to the New Iberia Kiwanis Club, Mayor Freddie DeCourt said that road repairs are once again on the way in the city. 

The $17.1 million allocated for roads in the city budget are finally ready to be used after voters in the city approved a tax reallocation from sewer debt to road repairs last year, and the mayor said the past 10 months have been dedicated to studying and preparing for the next batch of repairs. 

“We’ve been talking about roads longer than we’ve had the money to pay for it,” DeCourt said. “Between the testing and putting the plans together, it takes awhile and the plans are out for bid now.”

The first batch phase of the project will be asphalt overlay roads, which will be followed by concrete overlays. The asphalt overlay roads will go out for bid on March 13. 

DeCourt said the $12.5 million used to repair roads four years ago helped to repair about 20% of the roads in New Iberia, and he estimated that the new road project will cover about 30%. 

“That leaves about 50%,” he said. “We only have about 20% of roads that are in good shape and we analyzed and split each of the roads between each district.”

DeCourt said the city will always have a road problem, but his administration is working to get as much done as possible while he begins his final term as New Iberia’s mayor. One of the problems already occurring is that the roads that were repaired four years ago are already showing signs of needing repairs again. 

“You can look at the roads we did four years ago, some are falling apart even quicker than we would want to see,” he said. “I’m constantly looking for more money, we’re repairing panels and patching the concrete streets but when you have to use an asphalt company it goes slower.”

Much like four years ago, DeCourt said local residents can expect to see a heavy amount of construction work taking place in New Iberia this year, and the mayor said he set aside $2 million for capital outlay that he hopes will bring some additional aid from the state to help with the project. 

“I’m going to give people what they want,” he said. “Come a few months, this place will look like a war zone.”

DeCourt also discussed the upgrades to the sewer plant that covers U.S. 90 and the Acadiana Regional Airport area. With the incoming opening of First Solar, the mayor said the city has been upgrading its sewer capacity in order to handle the new company’s sewer infrastructure needs. 

“We scraped together $4 million and we’ll be able to handle that capacity,” he said. “Sewer is very corrosive and this is revitalizing the sewer plant, that project is well underway.”