10 hours ago
'America's worst road' has pot holes that are a FOOT deep, with mail carriers now refusing to drive down it
Residents on a Louisiana road are being plagued by 'dangerous' potholes so deep postal workers are refusing to deliver their mail.
Locals in St. Landry Parish say they are having to swerve to avoid the massive potholes, which measure up to three feet wide and one foot deep.
Matthew and Jessica Roberts, who live on Copper Road, have been complaining about the bumpy stretch of roadway 'since before COVID.'
'This is dangerous,' Jessica told KATC. 'Frustrated is the biggest word for us because we have tried all avenues when it comes to getting it fixed.'
The couple are afraid for the safety of their two teenage children, who are new drivers and they have had to spend money repairing their vehicles because of the road's sorry state.
'When you drive on it, you have to weave back and forth,' Matthew added.
The family said that Copper Road is in such poor condition that postal workers have stopped delivering mail to their home.
'The road is so bad, we were told that it's damaging the mail trucks, so our mail doesn't get delivered,' Matthew said.
Jessie Bellard, the president of St. Landry Parish, told KATC he wasn't aware that residents living on Copper Road weren't getting their mail.
Bellard, who has been parish president since August 2020, explained that in situations like this, the post office usually notifies his office. He claimed he did not receive a call.
The US Postal Service confirmed that its drivers had been instructed not to drive down Copper Road to not risk their safety. However, service was resumed on Tuesday after temporary fixes were made to the road.
The couple said that crews poured fresh asphalt into potholes that day, but argued that wasn't enough.
Matthew pointed out one of the temporary patches and demonstrated how inadequate it was by putting his foot into it. The asphalt gave way immediately.
'If I step on it, it moves. A car just pushes that right out. That's what they fixed this morning,' he said.
Even before this quick fix from the parish, Matthew said local officials have repeatedly claimed they'd get the road back to working order, only to do nothing.
'Honestly, the worst thing for us is that they say they fix it or they say they're gonna come out and fix it, they don't, and they put on a work order online that they've surveyed it and fixed it. They haven't done anything,' he said.
In an interview, Bellard acknowledged that Copper Road, 'has been like this for a while.'.
Bellard said this project will take two days to complete and cost roughly $89,000
'We patched it, and of course, it don't hold. It's an old road,' he said.
Bellard said he is aware of the complaints from residents and plans to take permanent action - as soon as the rain stops.
'Last month in this area, we had 6.8 inches of rain,' he said, claiming the delay to fixing Copper Road was due to weather.
'And I am not going to do any overlay in the rain, nor with the threat of more rain,' he said.
He said this project will take two days to complete and cost roughly $89,000.
Matthew and Jessica are so sick of waiting that they now plan to move away, pointing out that they pay their taxes to the parish and their road hasn't been fixed for years.
'We have been just getting the full runaround, and we are appreciative but it's the length of time we had to wait for this,' Jessica said.
The Daily Mail has contacted the Public Works Department of St Landry Parish for comment.
