In 2019, a private security firm issued a report stating the risk of terrorism in the French Quarter was “highly possible” — specifically for mass shootings and vehicular attacks.
This same report recommended bollards for reducing the likelihood and effectiveness of such attacks.
Curiously, New Orleans implemented bollards in 2017. But as far as the 14 who lay dead on New Year’s are concerned, the city of New Orleans may as well have never invested in them, as most were not functioning at the time of the attack. As Ramon Antonio Vargas reported, “bollards at 11 of 16 locations – including at the foot of Bourbon Street, where the attack began – were down for repairs on Wednesday
New Orleans city officials face many hard questions, questions that must be answered fast: What is the best way to defend against another attempted attack? How much money should be invested to better secure Bourbon Street and the French Quarter? Will these measures be effective?
Tommy Tucker spoke with Collin Arnold, Director of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness for New Orleans, to get the inside story on what solutions are being discussed right now to diminish the damage of future terror attacks.
Bollards
“Bollards are the systems in place between each intersection on Bourbon Street,” said Arnold. “We have a system called the Matador system that's been in place since 2017. However, that system, while robust and effective in certain situations on Bourbon Street, was a real problem.”
Arnold explained the cause of downtime for the Matador system, “From the beginning, we had serious issues with trying to keep them clean underneath from where the tracks that they operated on….just the sheer amount of debris that would get into these things each night. Other situations that were just as bad would be in the morning, around 4 a.m., when sanitation and water trucks and delivery vehicles start coming in, we wouldn't be able to get them open.”
In terms of effectiveness, Arnold explained the tradeoff between strength and ease of operation and maintenance, given bollards are designed to stop vehicles at varying rates of speed. The greater the speed you attempt to stop, the greater the burden of operation and maintenance.
“The pockets in the street support a 10, 20, or 30 MPH bollard. The difference is that the 10 MPH bollard weighs about 45 lbs., and can be installed by one person. The 20 MPH is about 88 lbs.… So you're getting along the edge of what 1 or 2 people potentially can put in place, and there are multiple at each intersection….Then when you get into the 30 MPH, you're up above 100 lbs., which needs a truck with a teller handler or a lift system to put those in place. The higher you go, the more coordination and effort it takes to put those in. But we're going to look at all of that.”
Wedge Barriers
Next up for discussion was wedge barriers, which Arnold explains as “a battery-actuated hydraulic system in the middle of the street. The apparatus lifts a plate steel gate up to about 45 or 50 degrees and then prevents vehicles from entering.”
Arnold continues, “Those are important because they can be manned by one person, a police officer, or even a police recruit if needed. And they can operate that for a public safety vehicle. The issue with any bollard system that you're going to have is if there is a fire on Bourbon Street, that's an automatic two-alarm response… If the police have some big incident happen, they’ll need to get down that street immediately. So what we saw with the previous bollard system was difficulty in incorporating them when it really counted.”
Archer Barriers
The last major defense mechanism discussed was archer barriers. According to Arnold, these contraptions “get tangled under the vehicle and then they dig into the street and they do a massive amount of damage. I think The Archers are a great product that we have had luck with in the past on side streets. We've never deployed them on the sidewalks. That's something we have to look at after the New Year attack.
Arnold explains the unique conundrum of securing Canal Street. He says, “Canal is a much wider sidewalk at Bourbon than the rest of the French Quarter. So that's something that we're going to have to take into account. And I think that's something we can do immediately. But what I will say about the Archers is they are around 400 to 500 pounds each. And so moving them takes significant effort that must be thought of a couple of days before. And then once they're deployed, moving them takes usually 2 to 3 people.
Is there a standout solution?
According to Arnold, a true defense effort will require a variety of solutions, none of which would be cheap. But regardless of price, safety remains the priority.
“It would seem to me that the wedge barrier would be the optimum solution,” Arnold says. “But they start at about $75,000-$100,000 per unit… I've counted that we need about 24 of them if we want to do every intersection. And I'm going to pursue that. I'm just telling you right now, I'm going to pursue it.”
To summarize his approach, Arnold said, “I think the wedge barriers are the best solution for the side streets to limit traffic from coming into Bourbon in the first place. And I think a well-placed bollard system at 20 miles an hour… These are just my initial thoughts. There's going to be there are going to be experts coming here who know a heck of a lot more than me. But being able to keep vehicles out of that area in the first place from getting on Bourbon Street is going to be the best thing.”