Give the city of New Orleans credit for attempting to do the impossible. This city is attempting to direct pedestrian foot traffic on the wildest street in America - Bourbon Street.
The goal is to cut down on the spread of COVID-19. The idea is that if there is one-way traffic on both sides of Bourbon Street, then there will presumably be less mingling. Chaos rules Bourbon Street on any given night with a mix of people walking and stumbling along in a pattern that would mirror any attempt to herd cats!
The city has placed Mardi Gras-colored discs up and down Bourbon Street directing pedestrians to walk one way down one side of the street and the other way on the other side of the street.
Will the city depend on Bourbon Street foot traffic to follow the disc markers on the street? If that is to happen, it will take the conscious cooperation of the people who are in the street - many with drinks in hand - agreeing to form a unison line of one-direction traffic on each side of the street. Will NOPD officers attempt to direct people to follow the new pedestrian protocol? Or will the partiers have to figure it out on their own. Either way, this should be an interesting exercise in crowd control, in which New Orleans has much experience.
I’m not sure what the betting line is on establishing one-way pedestrian traffic down each side of Bourbon Street, but I will be there to do a video of the new experiment.
I think the city is possibly right with its attempt to establish one-way foot traffic as a way of slowing the spread of the coronavirus - but I am familiar enough with the condition of the patrons on Bourbon Street to be somewhat skeptical that they will agree to follow the directions on the street.
Many people on Bourbon Street are just trying to get to their destination, and doing so in an orderly fashion is not their priority.
