Heavy traffic takes toll on old buildings

Damage to buildings and other problems have been caused for many years by 18-wheelers forced to negotiate the narrow turns around St. Martinville’s cramped square. The issue has officials looking again for alternate routes.
Dist. 1 councilman Mike Fuselier raised the
question at the Sept. 18 city council meeting. The corner pillar of the now-closed Alligator Bar and Grill was hit twice in one week last month. A viable solution to the problem has eluded officials and business owners here and in Breaux Bridge for many years.
“There is nothing the city can do on its own,” Mayor Thomas Nelson said. “That is an intersection of two state roads. We can’t touch it.” The damaged building is located at the intersection of La. 31/ Main Street and La .96/ Bridge Street. Efforts to protect the columns with concrete bollards or a raised curb have been disallowed due to liability concerns.
The best solution, Nelson said, would be the construction of a bypass route. But that costly option has been out of reach for financial reasons. The city has applied for grants to finance a new road but has not been successful so far and the proper location of such a bypass is not clear.
The city will apply again for a Municipal Planning Organization grant to finance a bypass or find another solution. The council gave approval for Thomas to organize a meeting with the DOTD, along with state legislators Terry Landry, Fred Mills and Mike Huval, to seek a solution.
Fuselier also received council approval to temporarily convert part of the soccer field area at Magnolia Park into a practice field for the St. Martinville Elite Tigers football team. A promised practice field planned for the organization at Adam Carlson Memorial Park has not been completed.
Space is available at Magnolia Park due to the demise of the St. Martinville Soccer organization. The conversion will only require redoing the grid lines. Two soccer fields will be left intact. The city’s plan to prepare the field at Adam Carlson, Thomas said, has mostly been delayed by wet weather. He said that when all the dirt is delivered, the city will call the parish to do the grading and the field can be finished.
Also, the council discussed a problematic vine that has grown out of control and threatens to damage two buildings on Main Street just south of the Duchamp Opera House. After failing to find a landscape company willing to remove the huge vine, the only fallback plan is to cut it off at the trunk, poison it and let it rot away.
Removing it risks damaging the brick facades of the buildings. Nelson said it would only be undertaken if hold-harmless agreements can be secured from the buildings’ owners.
Finally, Dist. 5 council member Edmond Joseph said steps need to be taken to better maintain city vehicles. Joseph said he has seen work trucks that are dirty inside and out, have bald tires, lights that don’t work and other maintenance issues.
Joseph suggested that it might be necessary to hire another employee. Public Works Superintendent Kirk Lasseigne said the problem can be solved by giving crew foremen the responsibility of seeing to it that vehicles are kept in proper condition.