News

October 13, 2019 | From City of New Orleans

MAYOR CANTRELL PROVIDES SUNDAY EVENING UPDATE ON HOTEL CONSTRUCTION COLLAPSE

NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell continued Sunday evening to update residents on the City’s multi-agency response to the collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel building under construction in the downtown area.

Mayor Cantrell confirmed the recovery and removal of one of the deceased individuals Sunday evening and their transferral to the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office. One person remains unaccounted for. Search and rescue continue to be the top priority. Mayor Cantrell continued to meet with and update family members.

Efforts are underway to secure and stabilize the building to help facilitate further rescue and recovery efforts, according to New Orleans Fire Department Superintendent Tim McConnell, who is leading the response efforts.

Watch the Facebook Live video of the Sunday evening press conference here.

Here are updates from other agencies:

NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT (NOPD)

Monday will begin the start of the business week with major road closures in the downtown area as well as adjustments to public transportation service. NOPD wants people to heed all traffic precautions that NOPD has put out as NOPD stabilizes this area.

If it is not necessary to come downtown, residents are urged to avoid the area. If employees have the ability to work remotely, employers are urged to make arrangements to allow them to do so.

Carpooling and sharing rides will also reduce the number of vehicles coming into the area. If you live near co-workers or classmates, ride together to reduce the number of vehicles coming into the 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.

NOPD officers will be out facilitating traffic flow at locations that usually experience higher traffic volume. Drivers are asked to heed officers and follow their directions in order to reduce delays as our city begins to work through the disruption caused by the construction collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel that occurred on Saturday.

The road closures will cause longer commute times. Residents need to account for those delays and area businesses and schools should prepare for the possibility that students and employees will be arriving late to class and work.

The boundaries for the road closures have not changed:

  • 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
  • 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.

NEW ORLEANS PUBLIC SCHOOLS (NOLA-PS)

NOLA-PS Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis issued the following statement:

“NOLA Public Schools would like to send its condolences to the families of the individuals impacted by the Hard Rock Hotel building collapse.

“While emergency crews continue to work the scene, we want to remind families of the traffic restrictions around the site that will likely cause delays to and from our schools.

“We would like to remind parents, students, and school staff who utilize public transportation to give themselves ample time during their morning and afternoon commutes.

“NOLA-PS has also asked school leaders to be understanding of any late arrivals to school campuses due to potential delays.”

NEW ORLEANS REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY (RTA)

RTA is experiencing major service disruptions to all lines impacted by the Hard Rock Hotel building collapse near Canal Street early this morning. The RTA has implemented some immediate, short-term service changes that are currently in effect and will remain until further notice.

“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. Once the weather passes, we will re-evaluate the location of the temporary bus hub,” said RTA CEO Alex Wiggins.

The RTA is also temporarily relocating all central hub operations to RTA headquarters located at 2817 Canal St., where the Emergency Transit Center has been set up. The RTA has implemented these changes to minimize the burden to its riders while continuing to provide safe, reliable service.

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 servicing 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 this morning, the RTA implemented additional adjustments to minimize the burden of this disruption to riders:

  • RTA is temporarily relocating its central transit hub location to the A. Philip Randolph facility located at 2817 Canal St., where an Emergency Transit Center has been set up.
  • The RTA lobby will be open and available to give riders a safe and comfortable place to wait for their bus/streetcar.
  • RTA representatives will be on site and in the RTA lobby to assist riders transferring between lines and answer questions regarding the emergency service adjustments.
  • RTA will provide further updates as the situation changes and we gather new information.

For more info follow @nolaready on Twitter.

 

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