Iberia Parish’s declining population, coupled with growing concerns for roads and infrastructure, has led to a lack of investment in infrastructure and transportation safety from local, state and federal agencies.

The Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration estimates that 40 percent of roads in rural areas are inadequate for current travel while 50 percent of bridges more than 20 feet long are considered structurally deficient.

Bridges in the Department of Transportation and Development shows about 6 percent of bridges in the Acadiana area being deficient and needing some type of repair, according to a 2014 study.

The state of transportation infrastructure has gone on to affect roads and even safety in the area. In New Iberia alone, there were 976 vehicle crashes in 2020 and 1,006 in 2021, according to statistics from the New Iberia Police Department.

In 2018, 46 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths occurred in rural areas nationwide.

In recent years, a push from municipal and parish governments to create better infrastructure to increase economic activity and put less harm on vehicles has been taking place.

The city of New Iberia is currently in the middle of a road study program to discover some of the worst off roads in the city. The study will be followed by floating a bond that will go toward several road repair projects in each district.

Iberia Parish Government has been at work for years trying to secure grant funding for the Acadiana Regional Airport access road project that is meant to greatly benefit convenience for businesses that use the area.

The new five-lane access road and two new roundabouts will begin at the intersection of the Frontage Road for U.S. Highway 90 and Jefferson Island Road and connect the intersection of Grand Prairie Road and La. Highway 3212.

“The start of construction for the new access road to Acadiana Regional Airport is the result of our focus on improved infrastructure and economic development and is also a result of the hard work of our administration, our legislative delegation, the parish council and our governor,” Iberia Parish President Larry Richard said during the groundbreaking event for the access road last year.

For organizations that serve those that don’t have their own transportation services, population density has also proven to be an issue in Iberia Parish.

For non profit organizations like SMILE, Arc of Iberia and the Iberia Council on Aging, a declining population also means less funding in the grant formulas they receive as well.

Grants like the Rural Transit Assistance Program provides a source of funding to assist in the design and implementation of training and technical assistance projects and other support services tailored to meet the needs of transit operators in non urbanized areas.

Programs like the RTAP are distributed based on a formula determined by population and other factors, and with the decline of population in Iberia Parish, the amount of money received for parish transportation programs are less and less.

“We have less people because people are leaving but we also have an aging population,” COA Director Carol Whipp said.

Iberia Parish’s roadways and bridges are largely subpar, according to the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration.

40 percent of roads in rural areas in the parish are judged as inadequate for travel.

50 percent of bridges in the parish more than 20 feet long are considered structurally deficient.