Ouachita Parish, LA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

Section 19-5(a) prohibits anyone from obstructing, changing, or closing any road in the parish by placing wood, brush, a log or logs, whole or broken nails, a broken vehicle of any kind, or any other article or thing of any character or description that will obstruct the road. Ouachita Parish's code does not carve out a separate sidewalk classification within its rights-of-way rules, so this prohibition is the section that reaches obstructions along the parish's road margins in the unincorporated area; the parish's incorporated cities, Monroe and West Monroe, enforce their own obstruction rules under their own municipal codes, not this parish section.

The same chapter backs this general ban with related, more specific prohibitions: Sec. 19-6 separately bars throwing timber, brush, or debris into a road or its drainage ditch, or building a fence across a drainage ditch without leaving the water flow unimpeded, and Sec. 19-7 makes it unlawful to obstruct, fill, or otherwise work in a parish ditch or drain without the parish engineer's prior permission. Together these sections give the director of public works and the parish engineer authority to keep the full width of the right-of-way, not just the paved travel lane, clear of unauthorized material.