Nearly eight months after a self-radicalized terrorist drove a truck down Bourbon Street, killing 14 people before dying in a shootout with police, a decision has yet to be made on whether the historic strip should remain open to motor vehicles or be closed to all but pedestrians.
Not long after the attack, the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation paid for a study, led by former New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, on ways to make Bourbon Street more secure. They recommended closing the street to motor vehicles and making it a pedestrian mall from Canal St. to Dumaine, but the city has made no decision either way.
"Whether it's full pedestrian, partial pedestrian, one block of Bourbon, cross street," said foundation president Melanie Talia, "this decision needs to be made, and it needs to be made by the city administration taking into consideration everyone."
Talia told WWL's Newell Normand that whether they enact Bratton's recommendations or not, the city owes it to its residents and the millions who visit each year to make up their minds.
"There's probably no perfect plan, at least not from the get-go, and it's not going to be an easy plan, but we've got to start somewhere," she said.
