Alexandria city staff have been ordered to evaluate turning the 200 block of King Street into a pedestrian zone.
Mayor Justin Wilson and City Council Member John Taylor Chapman asked staff to create a pilot program to turn the 200 block of King Street into a pedestrian zone. The move would effectively eliminate cars from the main thoroughfare next door to City Hall’s Market Square (301 King Street) all the way down to the waterfront.
The City closed the 100 block of King Street to car traffic in 2020 to help small businesses with outdoor seating during the pandemic, and the unit blocks of King Street and Strand Street were later added to the pilot. Council approved the permanent pedestrianization of both the unit and 100 block in 2022.
Wilson said at City Council’s Tuesday meeting that he and Chapman have spoken to business owners in the 200 block, and that he would like to see a pilot program start with the lighting of the holiday tree at Market Square next month and going until New Year’s day.
“There are certainly issues we would have to work through,” Wilson said. “The request right now is just ask staff to come back when they can with a proposal for a pilot of the 200 block, and we can vote on another later date and help us understand all the ins and outs of that.”
A survey of community feedback on the closure of the unit and 100 blocks found that 91% (of 1,853 survey respondents) rated the pedestrian zone as very positive.
A number of business owners and employees working in the 200 block have expressed concern that there are not as many restaurants on the block for outdoor seating as in the 100 block, and that the move would result in less parking. The city’s transportation division chief also said last year that extending the pedestrian zone could be problematic.
The 200 block was most recently shut down at the Scottish Christmas Walk Parade on Dec. 2 of last year. Nearly half of the street parking on the eastern portion of the block is taken up by a parklet rented for outdoor dining by The Warehouse restaurant (214 King Street).
Chapman said that the closure of the 100 block has been successful.
“I hope that we can have this pilot, check it out especially during the holiday season,” Chapman said. “I do think we’ve seen such a successful rollout of the 100 block, it’s caught the attention of not just folks within the city, but folks from around the region, and I think we have a unique opportunity to expand it.”
