Following a New Year’s Day vehicle attack in New Orleans, Mobile, AL, is bolstering safety measures in advance of its annual Mardi Gras celebration in March.
The attack in New Orleans, focused new attention on bollards as a routine part of traffic control for downtown events. However, in a cautionary tale for downtowns everywhere, New Orleans had installed bollard systems to prevent just such an attack — but its retractable barriers had fallen into disrepair when the January 1 attack took place.
Downtown Idea Exchange reports that Mobile is buying 18 bollards and borrowing six blockades from the city of Tuscaloosa, AL.
The 18 bollards are supplied by Delta Scientific Corp. The company says they are capable of stopping a 15,000-pound truck traveling at 30 mph.
The devices on loan from Tuscaloosa are about as wide as a traffic lane. When the blockades are lowered, vehicles can drive over them at low speeds. Tuscaloosa uses the blockades for traffic control during University of Alabama football games. The city will also engage some makeshift blockades, using emergency response and public service vehicles.
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