NEW ORLEANS — Several blocks of Downtown New Orleans remain closed to traffic after part of the Hard Rock Hotel construction site collapsed Saturday.
The New Orleans Police Department is asking residents to avoid the area near Canal and Rampart Streets as rescue operations continue. Drivers are encouraged to carpool to reduce the number of vehicles coming into the Downtown area.
"If there is no way to avoid coming to the area for work, it is vital that drivers exercise extreme caution and patience as the number of road closures is expected to cause significant delays and slowdowns," the police department said.
Road Closures:
All roads inside the following boundaries are closed to traffic:
- Common Street is closed from Basin Street to Dauphine Street
- Dauphine Street is closed from Common Street to Conti Street
- Conti Street is closed from Dauphine to Basin Street
- Basin Street / Elk Place is closed from Conti Street to Common Street.
- Canal Street is closed between Elk Place and Dauphine Street
Canal Street is open both directions between the Mississippi River and Dauphine Street. Drivers traveling lake bound will be required to turn back and use St. Charles Avenue, Magazine Street, and Tchoupitoulas Street to travel Uptown.
Streetcar and Bus Changes:
The road closures have caused several changes to the streetcars and buses in the Downtown area:
Streetcar service is suspended/altered until further notice for the following lines:
- Riverfront Streetcar – service suspended along entire streetcar line
- Rampart- St. Claude Streetcar – service suspended along entire streetcar line
- Canal streetcar-Cemeteries – streetcars will continue to run as normal from Liberty to Cemeteries or City Park, all streetcar service is suspended from Liberty Street to the river
- Canal streetcar-City Park/Museum – streetcars will continue to run as normal from Liberty to Cemeteries or City Park, all streetcar service is suspended from Liberty Street to the river
Supplemental Bus Service provided on impacted lines:
- Bus bridges are in place and service the entire Rampart-St. Claude streetcar line.
- Bus bridges are in place and servicing the suspended portions of the Canal streetcar-Cemeteries and Canal streetcar-City Park/Museum streetcar lines. Canal streetcars will continue to run as normal from Liberty Street to Cemeteries or City Park.
- RTA is recommending that riders use the 55-Elysian Fields or the 5-Marigny-Bywater in place of the suspended Riverfront Streetcar line.
Central Transit Hub will be Temporarily Relocated to RTA’s A. Philip Randolph facility at 2817 Canal Street:
“Beginning with the Monday morning commute, it is certainly going to be a major change for our riders. I’m confident everyone will get into the rhythm after a few days.,” RTA CEO Alex Wiggins said.
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