This footbridge connects Orleans Parish (county) to Jefferson Parish. This is the infamous 17th Street Canal whose levee broke just a block away from this bridge the day after Hurricane Katrina and flooded miles of New Orleans. The water did not recede for several weeks and many people were rescued from their attics or rooftops where they had fled to escape the rising water.
Throughout the fierce winds and tidal surge of the hurricane, the picturesque little light standard on the bridge remained intact.
A view of this bridge from the Lake Pontchartrain side is highlighted in the sunset at http://www.pbase.com/image/50855311. I have also done a gallery on this area "West End and Bucktown After Hurricane Katrina."
This is a piece of history; history of the greatest natural disaster to ever strike the United States.