Rapides Parish, LA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Rapides Parish Code § 20-16 authorizes the Police Jury to issue permits of convenience and necessity for private and utility use of the rights-of-way along parish roads, highways, streets, and alleys in unincorporated Rapides Parish. Three uses qualify: underground pipes, conduits, or cables carrying fluids, telephone or telegraph messages, gas, or electric current; overhead cables, conduits, or wires with their supporting structures for telephone, telegraph, or electric transmission; and structures crossing over or beneath a road for vehicles, pedestrians, cattle, or rail traffic. Section 20-17 requires every installation to follow best modern practice and national underwriting standards, limits each permit to the facility's actual owner, makes every permit nonexclusive, and bars any installation that would interfere with the road's proper operation and maintenance.

Section 20-18 conditions every permit on the owner's agreement to remove or relocate the installation at no cost to the parish whenever the Police Jury orders it to allow road widening, relocation, or other improvement. Section 20-19 lets the Police Jury demand a certified-check deposit before issuing a permit whenever the work requires excavation, or whenever the Jury otherwise judges a deposit necessary to protect the parish's interest; a state, federal, or municipal agency may substitute another satisfactory guarantee instead of a certified check. Section 20-20 lets the Police Jury assess reasonable fees to cover the cost of the parish's own inspections, and section 20-21 reserves authority for the Jury to add further regulations and limitations as it thinks necessary.

This permit chapter sits in Article II, Street Use and Occupancy, of Chapter 20, Roads and Drainage, and governs only the unincorporated parish outside Alexandria, Pineville, Ball, Boyce, Cheneyville, Forest Hill, Glenmora, Lecompte, McNary, and Woodworth, each of which regulates its own rights-of-way.