ABBEVILLE — The city of Abbeville is preparing to install solar-powered crosswalk signs in its downtown area.
A $15,000 grant from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is funding the project. The goal is to make drivers aware of pedestrians in crosswalks.
The first signs will be installed near the Vermilion Parish Courthouse— an area Cristian LeJeune, a spokesperson for the city of Abbeville, described as heavily trafficked.
"It's really highly populated. Like, you have a lot of civic engagement going on and there's meetings. There's early voting, there's voting, people come to city hall. So these are the crosswalks that are used the most," she said.
LeJeune said the area has seen near-misses and accidents involving pedestrians in crosswalks.
“There's people today that say while there’s crosswalks and they’re utilizing them, that some of the drivers are just not aware that that’s a crosswalk. So they’re not yielding to the pedestrians," she said.
Lighted crosswalks were part of the original plans for the area, but cost kept them from being installed sooner.
"In the original downtown project, we had wanted to install some lighted crosswalks because that was part of the original plan," she said. "It's a very pricey object, so it was one of the things that was not originally put in."
LeJeune said the signs should be installed by December 2026.
