(InvestigateTV) — Following the deadly New Orleans attack in the early morning hours of January 1, workers have now deployed stronger temporary barricades to stop possible, future attacks.
Temporary barricades are necessary because the existing bollard barricades were not working on Bourbon Street on New Year’s Day.
InvestigateTV went to Bourbon Street to view some of the broken bollard systems – some of which are currently slated for replacement before the city hosts the Super Bowl in February.
Where there used to be four bollards in place, there were only two – the outer two that are more than a car width apart. The center two, which slid along a track in to meet between the outer metal barriers, in many cases have been removed.
The city removed these barricades because they not only could get stuck open but could also get stuck closed, blocking all vehicles including ambulances and fire trucks.
Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA) said alternative plans should have been in place to protect the crowd.
“If in fact that’s correct that they were not operating, that is unacceptable. And if they were not operable, there should have been a plan B. There should have been a tow truck, should have been a fire truck, should have been some other item, something steadfast there to disallow any vehicles from being able to plow through the crowd.”
InvestigateTV combed through documents dating back to 2017 revealing that the city knew the French Quarter was deemed to be a potential terror threat.
One assessment described the French Quarter as “a risk and target area for terrorism that the FBI has identified as a concern that the City must address.”
That 2017 traffic study indicated it was important to “upgrade infrastructure to reduce terror risk” and specifically mentioned bollards planned that could make the street “less accessible to those intending harm.”
The city installed the first set of bollards on Bourbon Street just before the 2018 Sugar Bowl game.
The sliding mechanisms worked as designed until they were jammed with all sorts of materials including Mardi Gras beads.
The broken bollards were then replaced with wedge-style barricades that could go up and down to allow delivery trucks and emergency vehicles through during the day but then keep out other vehicles at night.
Our investigators noted that no barricades were on sidewalks to stop cars or trucks. The city did appear to have placed the wedge barricades near pre-existing obstacles like light poles and fire hydrants that might widen the coverage.
The wedge-style barricades were intentionally left down on New Year’s to make sure emergency vehicles could get through as needed, according to officials.
The attacker was able to get his truck on Bourbon Street by driving on the sidewalk around a police car blocking the street. The truck then traveled nearly four blocks down a virtually barrier-free Bourbon Street, striking revelers on the way down the street.
InvestigateTV examined Google Street View historic pictures of the intersection at Canal Street where the driver was able to drive onto Bourbon Street. The photos do not show any bollards in place when examining pictures from mid-2017, though they are visible by 2018 after the Sugar Bowl-timed installation.
In 2022 pictures from Google Street View, the bollards are open, and retracted wedge-style barriers can be seen.
The city also published the fact that the bollards were not working on its Public Works Department website.
Plans for the ongoing project to replace the bollards are online complete with a map of where they are currently missing. A timeline within the plan shows that the new barriers would not be fully in place until just before the Super Bowl.
The Mayor of New Orleans was asked about the bollards at a New Year’s Day news conference, where officials said the fix is nearly complete.
Louisiana’s Governor vowed to identify any lapses in security and close them.
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