The city of Abbeville was only given a week’s notice by Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development to close the downtown bridge for repairs. Now after being closed for a month now and affecting local businesses, it’s now open and is a positive impact for the local community. 

Councilman Brady Broussard represents District C which includes the east side of the Vermilion River. He says he’s very proud of the historic downtown bridge which helped develop Abbeville’s east and west sides.  

Broussard says, “It’s part of us. It’s something. It’s part of our stories. We’re very proud and happy to see it open again.” 

Broussard adds that although Abbeville had a bypass bridge with a detour route that drivers could use, having to adjust to those changes meant fewer people were doing business downtown.  

“I’ve heard from the downtown businesses that I represent that they felt loss with the closure of that bridge. They felt fewer customers, the banks said their deposits were less. Everybody could see fewer people doing business downtown because of that,” Broussard explains. 

One Downtown Abbeville business owner says the bridge being open will affect their business, especially at night.  

Wendy Oubre, Manager at Dupuy’s Seafood and Steak, says, “We’re happy it’s open and it will do us good especially at night. We noticed a slight change at night. The bridge is very important to us and we are very happy that it’s opened again.” 

The bridge allows important access to Downtown Abbeville.  

“We invite everybody to come and cross that bridge. This is something that most people in Acadiana are aware of. Our Lafayette citizens who eat in our restaurants, this is the route they take. We’re open and we’re ready for business,” says Broussard.