NEW ORLEANS — This city’s famous Bourbon Street is being heavily reinforced in the run-up to Sunday’s Super Bowl after a New Year’s Day attack on the busy thoroughfare left 14 people dead and dozens injured.
As law enforcement and security personnel finalize preparations for the NFL championship game, approximately 3,000 officers from agencies including the Department of Homeland Security and the Louisiana State Police will be stationed throughout the French Quarter and surrounding areas.
New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick announced this week that Bourbon Street would be closed to traffic from at least 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. in light of the Jan. 1 attack, in which a man plowed a pickup truck into the celebratory crowd gathered along the street.
City officials said security barriers that were intended to protect pedestrians from vehicles had been removed for replacement.
She said the decision to close off the street to vehicles during Super Bowl week came after meetings with French Quarter business owners about the potential impact the move could spur.
“You’ll see more and more restrictions as more tourists come into town to enjoy our fabulous city,” Kirkpatrick said this week at a news conference. “No traffic will be allowed and we are going to be blocking every single intersection that feeds into Bourbon Street.”
Bars, restaurants and entertainment venues along Bourbon Street will be open, and performances by artists, such as Lady Gaga, who sang there this week, will go on as scheduled, city officials said.
The closure is one of many security enhancements planned for sites where crowds will gather, including the Caesars Superdome, where the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles will face off, NBC affiliate WDSU in New Orleans reported.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry announced last week that checkpoints will be set up inside the French Quarter, where officers will search people for explosive materials and other dangerous items.
“We must prioritize the safety of every single visitor and resident in the city,” he said in a statement. “These security measures were put in place to balance the security of everyone with the freedoms we all enjoy in this country.”
More than 100,000 visitors are expected in New Orleans during Super Bowl week.
The extra security measure eased the mind of football fan Twila Moore, of Kansas City, who said she considered canceling her trip after the truck attack.
“I feel like this is the safest place in America right now,” she said.
Artificial intelligence will also play a role in detecting public threats and risks, said Jeff Gordon, a spokesman for Dataminr, a tech company that will process millions of pieces of data from the dark web, video, audio and live traffic cameras to identify the earliest signs of a disruptive event.
The company was contracted by Superdome owner ASM Global to detect real-time safety concerns by discovering patterns in data from 1 million public sources, Gordon said.
The technology can ingest the same amount of information in one hour as a 60-member security analyst team working nonstop for a year, he said.
Jesse Kirsch reported from New Orleans and Deon J. Hampton reported from Denver.
