New Orleans attack: First look at Bourbon Street where bollards were being replaced

NEW ORLEANS - Cameras were allowed down Bourbon Street on Thursday morning to capture the final stages of the cleanup process one day after a U.S. Army veteran went on a bloody rampage killing 15 people.

FOX 8’s Rob Krieger was one of the first reporters allowed down the famed row where the attack took place.

What are bollards?

Visible were the areas where steel columns known as bollards were in the process of being replaced. The bollards were not engaged early on New Year’s Day when 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar steered around police vehicles and into a crowd of revelers.

The project to remove and replace the bollards along about eight blocks of bustling Bourbon Street, from St. Ann Street to Canal Street, began Nov. 18, city records show.

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Some of the old bollards had "proved unreliable and have been non-operational," the city said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. "In the interim, white gate barriers have been used in these areas, managed by the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) to secure the street and regulate vehicle access for safety purposes."

How do the barriers work?

Initially installed beginning in Dec. 2017 as part of a $40 million safety plan, the New Orleans’ bollards system consisted of four sets of barriers placed at either side of Bourbon Street intersections. 

The inner two columns can be pushed back when unlocked by a ground-level control panel, allowing for a roughly 13-foot (4-meter) berth for vehicles to navigate through, according to the Associate Press.

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Were the bollards in place during the attack?

Wednesday’s rampage happened amid the ongoing Bourbon Street Bollard Assessment and Replacement Project, which includes "removing the old bollards, replacing concrete pavement, constructing concrete bases, installing metal sleeves for the new bollards, and repouring the roadway," according to the city’s Wednesday statement. So far, 11 of the 16 bollard locations have been replaced, the statement said.

The intersection of Bourbon and Canal is where the pickup swerved around a blockade prior to the attack, police said.

Jabbar was shot to death by officers and the FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism.

The city is pressing ahead with plans to reopen Bourbon Street. The Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame and Georgia, initially set for Wednesday night and postponed following the attack, was still on for Thursday. The city also plans to host the Super Bowl next month.