DENHAM SPRINGS – Denham Springs drivers have been using a cemetery to cut down on their commute and those who come to visit their deceased loved ones are not happy.
Memorial Cemetery, located on Range Avenue near Cockerham Road, sees many visitors on a regular basis. One visitor, Robert Portier, said that while visiting his loved ones, he has noticed more drivers use the cemetery as a shortcut.
"That's just disrespectful, going through a graveyard, using it as a thorough fare," Portier said.
One man who works across the street from the cemetery, Matthew Greene, said that he even saw a moving truck cut through the cemetery.
The new shortcut has the city cracking down on drivers. Barricades have been placed on the street behind the cemetery to stop them. In addition, Denham Springs Police Chief Shannon Womack, said that he is assigning more officers to patrol the area around the cemetery.
"The people who have have relatives buried in the cemetery don't feel like their cemetery should be used as drive way," Womack said.
Womack said that drivers can be ticketed $185 for disobeying a traffic sign.