The proposed pedestrian-only zone on King Street is a step closer to reality and weekday closures to vehicular traffic may be part of the pilot project.
Members of Alexandria's City Council back in October approved a proposal for a pilot program that will close a portion of lower King Street to cars on weekends, beginning in April. The pilot project would close the 100 block of King Street (the block closest to the waterfront) to traffic on weekends through October.
Earlier this month, the Transportation Commission approved the plan. The next steps are outreach to businesses and the public.
A public open house is scheduled for Jan. 23rd from 2 – 4 p.m. at 201 N. Union St., Suite 110 Alexandria, VA 22314 in the ALX Community space. (To learn more, go to the King Street Place project webpage here. More information on the open house is available here.)
The City is asking residents and business owners to send questions or comments to Patricia Washington (Visit Alexandria) at patricia@visitalexva.com and Hayley Burton (City – TES) at hayley.burton@alexandriava.gov.
As part of the program, city officials are proposing new PUDO zones (Pick Up, Drop Off) for valet services, food delivery and rideshare services. The King Street trolly will also need to be rerouted.
The pilot program is set to start in April and continue through October. Whether it becomes permanent and whether weekdays are included will be determined based on the pilot program’s success.
This isn't the first time the proposal has come up — back in 2006, a few blocks of lower King Street were blocked off to traffic on the weekends during the summer as a trial. Entertainment, benches and pedestrians filled the streets. King Street closed at 3 p.m. on Fridays for four weekends and reopened at 6 a.m. Mondays.
"While pedestrian users of the plaza (83%) supported it, the view from merchants was mixed. In particular, some of the merchants in the 200 block of King Street reported a drop in sales, and no merchant in either the 100 block or the 200 block reported a significant increase in retail sales," according to city documents. In fact, several merchants in the 200 block of King Street reported a decrease.
