Officials: New Orleans crash barriers were under construction during deadly attack
NEW ORLEANS - Officials had begun replacing security barriers in New Orleans' French Quarter weeks before a deadly New Year's Day crash killed 15 people, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
The $40 million safety system, first installed in 2017 to protect pedestrians on Bourbon Street's narrow roads, was undergoing construction when a driver rammed through a crowd of revelers.
Project timeline raises questions
What we know
The city started removing and replacing bollards - adjustable steel columns that block vehicles - along eight blocks of Bourbon Street on November 18, according to city records obtained by the Associated Press.
City officials said some original barriers "proved unreliable and have been non-operational," leading to the replacement project.
What we don't know
Officials have not confirmed whether the intersection where the truck entered was under active construction or if the project created vulnerabilities.
Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies work the scene on Bourbon Street after at least ten people were killed when a person allegedly drove into the crowd in the early morning hours of New Year's Day on January 1, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisi
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The bottom line
The French Quarter barriers were designed to close streets to vehicles during peak pedestrian hours. Similar systems protect crowds in Times Square, London and Paris, the Associated Press reported.
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"You can't prevent something like this when someone wants to kill people," Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser told the Associated Press, "but I'm hoping we take a hard look at what we do."
Future security plans
What's next
The barrier replacement project is scheduled for completion by early February 2025, before New Orleans hosts the Super Bowl. Eleven of 16 bollard locations have been replaced so far, city officials said.
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