Different speeds, different direction, same road causing confusion

As a motorist drives on Crochet Road on the Loreauville side, the speed limit is 45.

Leaving Loueauville in Iberia Parish and driving on the same road and same bridge to Jeanerette, the speed limit is 35.

When residents started getting speeding tickets for driving the same miles per hour they drove on the same road in the same place, members of the Iberia Parish Council listened to their complaints.

Councilman Brian Napier confirmed the road is separated on two sides with a bridge that has a 45 miles per hour speed sign on end and a 35 miles per hour speed sign on the other.

Initially, council wanted to meet the speed in the middle and put up 40 MPH signs. However, that speed limit doesn’t exist in Iberia Parish.

Wednesday night, the Iberia Parish Council tabled an introductory ordinance to change the speed limit on Crochet Road after a recommendation that a traffic study could be needed to better understand the issue.

Napier said Sheriff Tommy Romero had informed him and Councilman Scott Ransonet, who represent both sides of the road, that he was getting complaints from local residents who were being cited for speeding in the area.

“People were griping that the speed wasn’t the same from the Loreauville side to Old Jeanerette Road,” Napier said. “Scott and I talked about it and we met in the middle to change it to 40 (miles per hour).”

That measure did have some contention from Councilman Eugene Olivier, who said that the parish should be mindful of keeping uniform speeding standards.

“Riding around the parish, we have a consistency with signs,” Olivier said. “We have 35, 45 and 55, I’m not even sure we have 40 mile signs. To me it’s not a consistent speed limit.”

Councilman Chad Maturin also asked about the procedure for setting the speed limit, which legal counsel said was typically done through a traffic study.

“I don’t think we should arbitrarily set up speeding limits,” Councilman Scott Saunier said. “We’re not engineers.”

Parish President Larry Richard, who also owns a traffic control company, recommended that getting a study done on the road to understand what an appropriate speed was the best course of action.

Richard added that the number of houses on one side of the road was much greater than the number of houses on the other side.

“You have a lot of houses on one side of Crochet Road and once you pass that bridge there’s maybe five or six houses,” Richard said. “It would be hard for me to do what you’re doing right now without a traffic control study.”

Richard recommended that the issue be tabled until he could get an estimate on what the cost of a study on Crochet Road would be, which the council unanimously agreed on.