How the Super Bowl may help New Orleans become more accessible
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
The Super Bowl has been tapped as an excuse to catch up on years' worth of overdue infrastructure improvements in downtown New Orleans, but it's also kickstarting new projects that can make living here day-to-day a bit easier, too.
Why it matters: Some of those projects are making the city easier to navigate for people with disabilities.
The big picture: New Orleans' hundreds-year-old infrastructure isn't without its well-documented challenges, and historic spaces are already often some of the most challenging to bring up to speed for today's accessibility standards.
- But it needs to happen, says New Orleans & Co. vice president of external affairs Kevin Ferguson.
- "We need to do our part for people who come here or live here so they can live their best lives when they are here," he says.
Between the lines: Being a truly accessible city means thinking beyond wheelchair travel, Ferguson says.
- "People are dealing with a spectrum of accessibility their entire lives," he says. "Sometimes it's temporary, sometimes it's permanent from birth, sometimes people age into it, or if you have a young child, all of a sudden your mobility is limited because you're pushing and carrying them."
Behind the scenes: New Orleans & Co. is the city's marketing and tourism agency, so it doesn't have any power to, say, direct the Department of Public Works to tackle certain projects.
- But it does serve as a partner, and through that it's had some influence.
- Ferguson has been leading a team to create a minutely detailed map of French Quarter streets, including permanent and temporary structures ranging from pavement types to signage. The map has helped direct Public Works priorities as they've made French Quarter improvements, he says.
- It also includes new partnerships with organizations like Wheel the World and Roll Mobility to assess New Orleans businesses' accessibility and share that information with visitors and residents.
What we're watching: One thing New Orleans needs to improve is the number of wheelchair-accessible vehicles among the city's taxi fleet and rideshare vehicles, Ferguson says.
- "Ultimately, you want accessible transportation in the same way that someone who doesn't have a physical disability can have it on demand," he says. "Uber and Lyft have WAV programs in other cities, but not here. … We're looking at other groups to fill that gap."
Go deeper: New Orleans only has 1 wheelchair-accessible taxi