Driving across New Orleans can occasionally require a little more strategy than the GPS suggests.
The map says twelve minutes.
New Orleans says there’s a second line on St. Charles, construction three blocks over, a festival nobody remembered was happening, and somebody has temporarily parked a delivery truck in the only lane still moving.
Now it’s thirty-two minutes.
I’m Milton Walker Jr., owner of Alert Transportation, and transportation around the Greater New Orleans Area involves understanding something that anybody who has spent enough time here eventually learns: the shortest route isn’t necessarily the fastest route.
Sometimes it isn’t even a route anymore.
Second lines, parades, festivals, construction and street closures can change traffic patterns quickly. When transportation involves a wedding, airport trip, corporate event or scheduled group movement, those changes become important.
Second Lines Are Moving Street Closures
A second line is part of New Orleans culture, and seeing one coming down the street is something special.
Unless the destination is on the other side of it and the clock is ticking.
Unlike a construction closure that stays in one place, a second line moves through the city.
As the procession progresses, intersections may temporarily close and reopen. Cross streets can become inaccessible. Traffic gets redirected.
That means a street that was completely clear fifteen minutes earlier may suddenly have several hundred people, a brass band and a police escort moving through it.
Google Maps can do a lot.
Predicting exactly where the tuba player will be at 3:17 p.m. is asking a little much.
One Closed Street Can Affect Ten Others
One common mistake is looking at a closure and assuming only that particular street will be affected.
Traffic doesn’t disappear when a road closes.
It relocates.
Drivers who normally use the closed street move to the next available street. Then everybody who already uses that street gets additional company.
That can create congestion several blocks away from the actual closure.
The same thing happens when lanes are reduced because of construction.
Technically, the road is open.
Technically.
When three lanes become one and everybody discovers that fact at approximately the same moment, travel times can change considerably.
The French Quarter Has Its Own Rules
Transportation around the French Quarter requires particular attention.
The Quarter wasn’t exactly designed with modern transportation in mind.
There are narrow streets, one-way streets, delivery vehicles, pedestrians, carriages, bicycles and people wandering into the roadway while trying to determine which direction Bourbon Street is.
Add a special event and things become more interesting.
Some streets may close completely. Others may have restricted access. Large crowds can make an open street move almost as slowly as a closed one.
Pickup and drop-off locations sometimes need to change as a result.
A passenger may need to walk a block or two to reach an accessible location.
That’s not necessarily an inconvenience caused by transportation planning. Sometimes that’s simply the closest point a vehicle can physically reach.
Weddings Require Extra Attention
New Orleans weddings can involve a lot of moving parts.
- There may be a hotel.
- Then a church.
- Then a second line.
- Then a reception.
- Then transportation back to several hotels.
Now put a festival somewhere between two of those locations.
Transportation scheduling starts looking less like driving and more like air traffic control.
Timing matters because wedding schedules don’t have unlimited flexibility.
If a ceremony begins at 5:00, arriving at 5:17 isn’t really an alternative interpretation of the schedule.
That’s why known events and closures need to be considered when transportation times are established.
A trip that normally takes fifteen minutes may need considerably more time depending on what is happening nearby.
Sometimes the Wedding Has the Second Line
Of course, sometimes the second line creating the transportation complication belongs to the wedding itself.
That’s New Orleans.
A ceremony ends, the brass band starts playing and suddenly a few hundred wedding guests are dancing through the streets.
From a transportation standpoint, that changes where vehicles need to be positioned and when passengers will actually be ready for pickup.
A bus parked directly in front of a venue isn’t particularly helpful if the entire wedding party is currently six blocks away dancing behind a trombone.
Coordinating transportation around the second line route can keep vehicles and passengers from playing hide-and-seek afterward.
Construction Adds Another Variable
New Orleans has an interesting relationship with road construction.
There always seems to be some.
Utility work, drainage projects, street repairs and emergency work can create temporary closures or lane reductions throughout the city.
Some are well established.
Others seem to appear sometime between breakfast and lunch.
Construction may also eliminate normal curb access.
That can affect pickup points at hotels, restaurants, event spaces and other locations.
Knowing about these conditions before a vehicle arrives makes finding an alternative considerably easier.
Big Events Affect More Than the Event Location
Concerts, Saints games, festivals, conventions and Mardi Gras activities can create traffic well beyond the immediate event.
Thousands of people are moving toward the same general area.
Then, several hours later, thousands of people decide to leave at approximately the same time.
- Parking activity increases.
- Pedestrian traffic increases.
- Police may control certain intersections.
Ride-share vehicles collect around popular pickup areas.
Suddenly, a route several blocks away starts slowing down even though none of the streets along that route are officially closed.
That’s why looking only at a list of closures doesn’t always tell the entire story.
Sometimes the Pickup Point Has to Move
When a street becomes inaccessible, the practical solution may be changing the pickup location.
- Maybe the bus can’t reach the hotel entrance.
- Maybe police have closed the block.
- Maybe an event has restricted commercial vehicle access.
Moving the pickup one block away can sometimes solve the problem.
The important part is making sure everybody knows about the change.
Twenty-five passengers waiting on one corner while the vehicle waits on another corner is technically very close.
It is also completely useless.
Communication becomes just as important as routing.
Give New Orleans a Little Extra Time
Building some flexibility into transportation schedules is rarely a bad idea in New Orleans.
- Traffic conditions change.
- Second lines move.
- Events let out.
- Construction appears.
- Rain can slow everything down.
The goal isn’t to predict every possible traffic condition. That’s probably impossible.
The goal is to know what major events are happening, understand likely trouble spots and have alternate routes available when necessary.
New Orleans transportation isn’t simply about getting from Point A to Point B.
Sometimes it’s Point A to Point B, around a parade, past a construction crew, through three one-way streets and behind a brass band.
That’s just part of getting around New Orleans.
And on the right day, the brass band isn’t such a bad delay.
