IBERIA PARISH — If you live along Hill Road in New Iberia, you’re likely familiar with ongoing issues tied to the one-lane bridge connecting the neighborhood to the rest of the city. Now, residents are once again facing a serious concern: a substantial, growing hole where the bridge meets the road.
“This is the only way in and out to our property,” said resident Katie Runnels. “The road is a dead-end road, so there’s no alternative route.”
When asked if she felt like their concerns were being taken seriously, Runnels said, “I feel like because we are where we are, we kind of go on the back burner. There are not as many taxpayers who live on the other side of the bridge. I really would like to see them come out and maybe even bring an engineer, find the best way to sort this out.”
With no other access point, the hole isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s a source of anxiety for many living nearby.
“I don’t want to take off more days of work and push clients back because I can’t get off the bridge,” Katie Runnels shared. “My grandfather, he still lives here. He’s 90-something years old. My biggest fear is, what if something happens to him and no one can get across?”
While visiting the site, KATC encountered the Iberia Parish Public Works Director, who came out to assess how the limestone used in a previous repair was holding up. He explained how the hole first appeared and what the parish plans to do.
“The reason that it happened the first time was that we had a heavy rainfall event and it blew the back side of the bulkhead out, which caused the hole in the road,” he said. He added that the bulkhead being knocked out of place caused all the soil that was supporting the pavement to be washed away, leaving the road suspended in the air.
I reached out to Caymen Chappell, the Parish councilman presiding over the district, but he declined to comment. When I spoke to Parish President Larry Richard, he confirmed that long-term plans are in the works to repair the bridge. However, the repair will require a full shutdown — something that will need to be carefully coordinated, as the bridge is the only route in or out of the neighborhood.
To prevent future erosion and stabilize the bridge, the parish plans to add wing walls— structural elements designed to direct water flow and reinforce the bridge’s foundation. After these repairs, they will re-asphalt the damaged section.
Until those long-term plans are finalized and construction begins, residents say they’ll continue keeping a close eye on the bridge, hoping the damage doesn’t get any worse.
