By Mattie Chenevert

AUGUST 5th, 2026

Avoyelles Parish has seen a rise in road and construction projects over the past few months. Some of those being repaved roads, new or growing businesses, and new pavement lines and rumble strips, but one question remains in Avoyelles: “Will this be the start of a new Avoyelles?“

That question cannot be answered at the time, but let’s gather what we know from the past few months in Avoyelles:

• Y-Not-Stop Marksville adding new, bigger building

• Fixing Hwy 115 between Marksville and Hessmer

• Funding to add rumble strips and pavement lines along Hwy 29 and Hwy 1.

• Many new business being built and founded in the Mansura area.

• Repaving of Hwy 107 from Marksville to Effie.

• Funds given to open parishwide Animal Shelter

What does this mean for Avoyelles?

If it weren’t for Rep. Daryl Deshotel, none of these road improvements would happen. Rep. Deshotel has been helping Avoyelles a lot recently, between the massive flooding in June, securing $350,000 in funds for an animal shelter, and helping fix Avoyelles’ roads. Now, not only does Deshotel deserve credit, but the State of Louisiana does, as well. They gave us the funds for the shelter, they funded the recent road work in Avoyelles, and they put in earful in, along with Rep. Deshotel, with FEMA to secure funding to help Avoyelles’ flood victims.

This means Avoyelles is evolving into a better place to live. More businesses forming means more jobs provided to those living in the area, better roads means smoother and faster commutes, and an animal shelter keeps nuisances away and people save from stray animals.

Avoyelles is turning a new leaf, and I’m excited to see where it goes. Not to mention our schools continually get better each year. Bunkie High School has reached a school performance score of 101.2 A, which is the highest out of Avoyelles, Rapides, St. Landry, and Evangeline Parishes. Cottonport Elementary is even picking up their SPS. Also not to mention, but Bunkie High principal Chuck Normand was a finalist in the State Principal of the Year Award. Avoyelles Parish has never been so well.

What can we look forward to later on?

As of now, Avoyelles’ population has been slowly decreasing, and honestly, we can’t tell whether it will rise again, or fall back down. It all depends on the “curb appeal”, or how we look to non-Avoyelleans. To us, this is home, our families are from here and we are proud to be from here. We think our little communities are nice, despite some crime and some politicians we may not like, but we still love the sense of community and the overall vibe of Avoyelles. But, those not from here may look at us as a corrupt, trashy place with bad crime rates and no job opportunities. We want to change their minds. And if we keep on this path of upgrading and expanding, we will change their minds. But, if you want to keep Avoyelles on the right path, you have to help. Our public officials can’t just do all the work, you have to fight for Avoyelles, too. Nobody in Avoyelles wants us to be known as “the poorest” parish or the parish with bad crime rates. So, let’s do something about it. This new chapter for Avoyelles means we all have to embrace it and make it even better.

The construction, the possible animal shelter, and the road work is a big step in bettering the “curb appeal” of Avoyelles. And it’s up to you to make it better.

Addressing the Elephant in the Room

A lot of you, and I know it, do NOT want Avoyelles to grow (In the way of population/urbanization), and I get that, but we still don’t want to lose our neighbors, friends, and families, and we don’t want to be known as the poorest parish. So, whether you like it or not, Avoyelles is changing, and you have to accept that change and move on.

So, I’ll leave you with this: What kind of Avoyelles do you want? One that’s recognized as one of the worst parishes to live in, or one where we have great job opportunities, no potholes in our roads, and lower crime rates? By deciding which one you want, you have to take action for it to happen.

This article was originally published by Avoyelles Update.

Any opinions in this article were not meant to offend anyone. If you did not like the above
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