After French Quarter attack, Beale Street safety means bollards, barriers and beyond
The bollards, which go up after Beale Street is open to traffic during the morning hours on weekdays, are designed to stop a 7.5-ton vehicle traveling at 40 miles an hour. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)
Just before tipoff for the University of Memphis Tigers basketball game Sunday, Jan. 5, a table of four at Blues City Cafe ended their meal with some brief speculation about the walk to FedExForum from the corner of Second and Beale streets.
As they looked out the rain-streaked cafe windows on an overcast urban landscape getting still more rain, the topic of the attack that killed 14 people in the French Quarter in New Orleans four days earlier came up.
Directly outside the doors of the Beale Street institution, the street was blocked by a set of six bollards locked into a raised concrete surface with temporary plastics barriers a few feet in front of it.
More substantial water-filled plastic barricades were on the sidewalks with enough of a gap to drive a car through.
Bollards block off an entrance to Beale Street while leaving plenty of space for a vehicle to drive down the sidewalk. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)
The group of four took a look at the mostly deserted district as one said “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that tonight,” and walked the block to the game.
Down the street and around the corner, the line to get through the security measures within FedExForum moved briskly through the maze of metal barriers in the rain. Some of those barriers between the plaza and the alley that runs along the north side of the arena.
Memphis police shifted positions once the game inside was underway, moving to different points in the entertainment district and beyond, through the gaps in the barriers.
That included uniformed officers on B.B. King Boulevard on the western side of the forum who work on a street that remains open to auto traffic, stopping the traffic so those walking to FedExForum can cross the street safely.
With a larger crowd, B.B. King is closed to auto traffic.
Ida B. Wells Street on the eastern side of the stadium was closed Sunday evening from Beale to MLK Jr. Avenue with several layers of barriers including some on the sidewalks.
The day after the truck attack in New Orleans, Memphis Mayor Paul Young described the city’s current security plan for Beale as “robust.” (The Daily Memphian file)
The day after the truck attack in New Orleans, Memphis Mayor Paul Young described the city’s current security plan for Beale as “robust.”
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Beale Street Entertainment District Peter Ashwin Paul Young New Orleans attack Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
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